Ontario Green Leader Mike Schreiner is staying in his job after a weeks-long saga that saw many prominent Ontario Liberals try to draft him into the Grits' leadership race.
Schreiner made the announcement over Twitter on Tuesday morning and was later seen at Queen’s Park wearing his usual green tie.
“I want to thank the 40 Liberals who had the courage to take the unprecedented step of writing me a letter encouraging me to run for Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) leader, opening a conversation about how progressive parties might work differently,” Schreiner said in the video.
“I've asked myself and others how I can best make a positive difference in building the Ontario we truly want and the answer for me is as the leader of the Ontario Green party, because we need strong Green voices at Queen's Park to remain focused on the need for climate action.”
Liberal interim leader John Fraser said Schreiner’s decision didn’t come as a surprise.
"I have gotten to know Mike Schreiner over the last four-and-a-half years, and we have worked well together. I am not in any way surprised by his decision. I will continue to work collaboratively with Mike to hold the Ford Conservatives to account,” Fraser said in an email statement.
Kate Graham, one of the leaders of the #DraftMike movement and a former Liberal candidate and leadership contestant, told The Trillium she was “disappointed to hear Mike’s decision,” but was also “delighted to hear his call for more cross-party cooperation in Ontario.”
Schreiner didn’t say when he made the final decision, but it wasn’t one he made alone.
“That’s a private matter that my wife and I decided together,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
One senior Liberal organizer, who signed the eventual letter, told The Trillium over the weekend that Schreiner was still deliberating and wasn't sure where he’d land. The Trillium granted the source anonymity to speak candidly about sensitive intra-party matters.
During Schreiner’s news conference with reporters, he got visibly emotional when talking about the reasons he first got into politics, which were the same reasons he chose to stay with the Greens.
“I got two young daughters and I'm worried about their future,” he said.
“I'm worried about the climate they're going to inherit. That's why I came to this place and that's what I'm going to continue to do, fighting in this place as the Ontario Green leader. People told me that our voice and my voice makes a difference. And I'm going to continue making a difference here.”
Over the weekend, the Greens interviewed potential Schreiner replacements, a source told The Trillium. Schreiner confirmed that on Tuesday, also.
“Our provincial executive at the Green Party did the responsible and professional thing … they planned out different contingency scenarios,” Schreiner said.
In late January, 40 people with deep ties to the Liberal party — including three former cabinet ministers, a sitting Liberal MPP, and past campaign directors — signed an open letter asking Schreiner to switch sides and run for leader of the OLP.
“Our party needs to rediscover a politics of purpose and principle. We need to reach out to a new generation of voters. We need to open up to new people and new ideas and to embrace the kind of energy and enthusiasm that is driving grassroots activism and engagement across the province,” the letter said. “And that’s why we’re turning to you.”
The switching sides idea was first floated by TVO’s Steve Paikin last September.
Paikin himself admitted the idea was a little “nutty.” He also said it was “unorthodox” and “creative,” and maybe just enough of the former to work.
Schreiner initially said he had no plans to switch and was happy leading Ontario’s Green Party. As the weeks went on and some prominent Liberals warmed to the idea, it got more serious.
“It was very clear that he was not going to consider it in backroom discussions,” the source said. “He would only do it if he could openly have discussions with the Green Party, the people of Guelph, and Liberals,” the senior Liberal source said.
“So we thought, how do we get this into the public domain? That’s how we decided on the open letter.”
Schreiner reached out to Greens, the people of Guelph, and Liberals, through late last year and into the early part of 2023, the source said.
Some of those prominent Liberals also took the time to build a campaign team that was ready should Schreiner have made the jump. After the letter came out, Schreiner said publicly that he was seriously considering the idea, marking a big change from his earlier public statements.
“They have reached out across party lines in a unique way in the spirit of doing politics differently,” Schreiner said at the time. “So, I’m going to ask people to give me time to think about their arguments.”
Had Schreiner chosen to switch sides and run for OLP leader, he would’ve been greeted by a proposal at the Liberals’ annual general meeting to keep him out for good.
Liberal MPP Stephen Blais put forward an amendment to require leadership candidates to have been an OLP member since at least the beginning of the year in which a leadership election is held.
Blais’ amendment was interpreted by three Liberals to whom The Trillium spoke as a direct shot at Schreiner. None felt it would receive the two-thirds of votes needed for it to pass.
— With files from Charlie Pinkerton
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This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a new Village Media website covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
