Green party appears unable to regain Fredericton seat lost when Atwin defected

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TORONTO — The Green party appears to have failed to snatch back the Fredericton riding it lost when Jenica Atwin defected to the Liberals this summer.

Early results show Green party candidate Nicole O’Byrne, a professor at the University of New Brunswick, trailing in fourth place.

Atwin crossed the floor in June after clashing with the Greens and their leader over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The move left the party with only two seats in the House of Commons: Saanich–Gulf Islands, held by former Green leader Elizabeth May, and Nanaimo–Ladysmith, represented by Paul Manly.

Today’s vote caps off months of strife within Green party ranks, which included an unsuccessful bid to oust leader Annamie Paul just weeks before the campaign got underway.

Paul is running in Toronto Centre — a riding considered a Liberal stronghold — for the third time in as many years.

She came in second to Liberal Marci Ien last October, and observers have said her performance at the polls today will have a significant impact on her position in the party.

The Greens have failed to gain momentum during the campaign even though climate issues were a key topic. The party also failed to run a full slate of candidates, with Greens on the ballot in only about two-thirds of the country’s 338 ridings.

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Paul’s party has also targeted the Ontario riding of Kitchener Centre after Liberal candidate Raj Saini withdrew from the race earlier this month. Saini bowed out in light of allegations he harassed a female member of staff — allegations he denies and that The Canadian Press has not independently verified.

The Green candidate in that riding, Mike Morrice, came in second behind Saini in the 2019 election.