Ontario Green Party leader and newly-elected Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner says he has no interest in joining the Liberal Party.
Schreiner was forced to clear the air on Monday after he said his words were misinterpreted during an interview over the weekend that he was open to the idea of forming a coalition.
“I opened the door to misinterpretation around that we were joining forces with the Liberals or I was hoping to have that conversation,” Schreiner admitted. “So I just wanted to be very clear with people that I have had no conversations with the Liberals around working together.”
With only seven seats at Queen’s Park, the Liberals fell one seat short of official party status, and Schreiner said it was the Liberals who wanted to discuss a coalition with the Green Party.
Without official status, Liberal MPPs are limited in debates and during Question Period, and also lose out on funding.
Schreiner said he has no problem working across party lines, but he plans on representing Guelph as a Green MPP.
“My interests in cooperation are not around structural issues, around party status, but are around how I can work with the Conservatives, the NDP, and/or the Liberals to advance legislation that benefits Guelph and benefits Ontario,” Schreiner said.
He said he has yet to speak with the leaders of the other three parties, but sent letters out on Monday.
“We’ll see where that conversation goes,” Schreiner said. “I’m hoping they will take the time because I think there are ways in which we can do politics differently.”
Schreiner overwhelmingly won the Guelph seat during Thursday’s election to become the first Green Party member elected to the Ontario legislature.
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