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Mike Schreiner becomes first Green Party candidate to be elected in Ontario

Click to play video: 'Ontario Election: Mike Schreiner addresses Green Party supporters after projected win'
Ontario Election: Mike Schreiner addresses Green Party supporters after projected win
WATCH ABOVE: Mike Schreiner addressed Green Party supporters on Thursday evening after he had won the party's first seat in the Ontario legislature – Jun 7, 2018

Mike Schreiner made history on Thursday night, becoming the first Green Party candidate to win a seat in an Ontario election.

READ MORE:  Who will be Ontario’s next premier? Voters head to the polls after wild election campaign

The Green Party earned official party status in 1983 with Schreiner taking over as leader in 2009.

“We started out obviously a couple decades ago as a very small party running very few candidates. Now we’re running a full slate of candidates, a gender-balanced slate of candidates,” Schreiner told Global News during the campaign.

Raised on a farm in Kansas, Schreiner moved to Canada in 1994, when his wife took a job at the University of Toronto.

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READ MORE: Ontario election results 2018: Live, real-time riding vote map

A few years ago, he made the move from Toronto to Guelph, where he has been working for decades. The city was the ultimate spot to go Green, with clean-tech startups and a city council focused on renewable energy and protecting its water.

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WATCH: Mike Schreiner discusses Green Party’s vision for Ontario

Click to play video: 'Mike Schreiner discusses Green Party’s vision for Ontario'
Mike Schreiner discusses Green Party’s vision for Ontario

The city is ripe for a Green representative, Schreiner told The Canadian Press before the election.

READ MORE:  A primer on recent Ontario elections — wins, losses and swaps in power

The third time proved to be the charm for Schreiner as this was his third attempt to win the Guelph seat.

In the last election, Schreiner finished third but secured a healthy 19.29 per cent of the vote, ahead of the NDP.

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