Elizabeth May
- Born
- June 9, 1954 — Hartford, Connecticut
- Family
- Married to John Kidder
- Education
- Dalhousie University (Law Degree); St. Francis Xavier University (attended but dropped out); Saint Paul University (attended but withdrew)
- Career
- Environmental lawyer; Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada
- Political Experience
- Leader of the Green Party of Canada; Member of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands since 2011
- Notable
- Officer of the Order of Canada; Author of eight books; First Green Party MP elected to the House of Commons; Longest-serving female leader of a Canadian federal party
Based on publicly available information — may contain inaccuracies
Business & Financial Interests
Before entering politics, Elizabeth May had a long career as an environmental lawyer and activist. She served as the Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She has also authored several books on environmental and political topics. Her public disclosures with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner have listed assets such as a home in Sidney, British Columbia, and a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).
Key Relationships & Connections
Elizabeth May has well-known connections within the environmental movement, including a long-standing public association with scientist and broadcaster David Suzuki. In Parliament, she formed a cooperative arrangement with former Liberal cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott after they became Independent MPs in 2019. Her husband, John Kidder, was a co-founder of the Green Party of British Columbia and has also been a candidate for the federal Green Party.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
In 2017, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner investigated Elizabeth May's involvement with the Green Party of Canada Fund, a registered charity. The investigation focused on whether she had used her position as an MP to solicit donations for the charity, which could potentially contravene conflict of interest rules. The Commissioner's report concluded that while her actions created an appearance of a conflict of interest, she did not actually breach the rules. The report recommended that MPs should not be personally involved in fundraising for charities they are associated with.
Public Controversies
Elizabeth May has been part of several public controversies. In 2015, her speech at the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner drew criticism for comments she made about former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr, for which she later apologized. In March 2018, May was arrested and charged with civil contempt for violating a court injunction during a protest against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project on Burnaby Mountain; she later pleaded guilty and paid a fine. Her leadership of the Green Party has also faced public scrutiny. She stepped down as leader in 2019 but was re-elected as co-leader in 2022 alongside Jonathan Pedneault. This return to leadership followed a period of reported internal party turmoil and was a subject of media attention.
Where Elizabeth falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Elizabeth May won with 31,199 votes (39.1%)
Total votes cast: 79,786
How does Elizabeth May's voting record line up with your values?
Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, watching the recent investment summit, I had a sense of déjà vu. At COP26, then UN special envoy on climate finance, our current, announced the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. The world's largest banks and investment firms committed over $100 trillion for the transition to net zero. Five years later, the only net zero is the investments promised by these
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join the debate briefly and ask my friend from Richmond a question. C-5 C-39 This entire debate around the environmental impacts is as though Billnever passed. Bill C-5 says the government can break any law it wants to, including the Species at Risk Act or the Impact Assessment Act, if a project is of national interest. I know my Conservative colleagues may not agree
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise virtually in the House to present a petition of deep concern to constituents. It relates to the very pressing issue of the critically endangered population of southern resident killer whales. The petitioners note that with the expansion at Roberts Bank, which is a very devastating ecological project, as well as the increased oil tanker traffic, there is a
Mr. Speaker, “getting products to market” is a repeated phrase, and one thing that shakes my confidence in the government was in the Canada Gazette. On August 1, when it posted about the west coast oil pipeline, it did not accurately describe, in a very short description, the product that will go in the pipeline. Similarly, as the Liberals talk about the product going to China in the pipeline, I
Mr. Speaker, keeping it short, I am sure my hon. friend from Vancouver Granville will agree with me that the lawyers at West Coast Environmental Law based in Vancouver are hard-working and very skilled. They have named this the “bulldoze nature bill”. I agree with them. Is the member prepared to listen to the advice of expert environmental lawyers who give this bill an F?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today in the House to present an e-petition that was originated by someone concerned that Canada is the only G7 country that provides a fully funded home for the leader of the official opposition. I am presenting this, obviously, without any thought to any particular person. Given the rules around petitions, I do not take a position on the petition. I would
C-39 Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed with Bill. Unlike the Liberal MPs, I would say that there are no environmental lawyers who believe this bill protects the environment. I would like to ask whether the government and its MPs are open to significant and serious amendments, because this bill is unacceptable.
Mr. Speaker, I fully agree with my colleague from the Bloc Québécois. She gave an excellent speech. She clearly outlined the democratic setbacks regarding the environment and workers' rights. What does she now think of this government and the Prime Minister, who, in the past, presented himself as someone concerned about climate issues and the threat of climate change? Why is he moving so far
Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Seniors for Climate Action members who came across Canada on the Seniors Climate Witness caravan and raised the issue of the climate crisis, just as scientists are raising it. The, on the floor of the House, committed on October 17, 2025, to meet the Paris targets. Ever since then, he has been galloping in a different direction. My question is
C-5 C-39 Mr. Speaker, this bill is an abomination. I want to go back to Billalong with Bill. All of the language in these statutes rests on the assumption that cabinet can pick a project of national interest or a region of national interest without any criteria and without any cost-benefit analysis or proof of a business case. Will the minister commit that before naming any such project or any
Mr. Speaker, I also welcome the member for North Vancouver—Capilano to the House. I suppose I could also welcome him to North Vancouver. I also was up and down the hills of North Vancouver quite a lot through the by-election, and I may have heard different things from the voters there. I do want to help the hon. member. Joliette—Manawan Hull—Aylmer This question was asked to my friend the member
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask a question about, not just how much bureaucracy, but whether it troubles him as it troubles me that the government creates new agencies that are not transparent. Rather than creating Crown corporations or entities within departments, we are looking at special operating agencies, like the Major Projects Office, that are not as accountable as other types of bureaucracy. I
Minister of Finance Madam Speaker, thewill already know, because of the earlier negotiations between parties for unanimous consent on various aspects of the bill, that I will support it. I do have some misgivings, and I am glad for the opportunity to debate it later today. finance minister However, since the minister mentioned the investment summit, I will say that there is a piece of
Madam Speaker, not to be too pointed about it, but does it ever occur to the Conservatives that they should sue the Liberals for plagiarism? The Conservative platform is now being implemented point by point by the current government. I would add another one, and I do not agree with these changes. I know the Conservative caucus would have reason to cheer, but why would the Conservatives promise
Mr. Speaker, I am perhaps asking the hon. member for Mississauga—Lakeshore to turn back and reflect on some of his previous background. I think he was the minister of finance in the government of the province that did the most to reduce greenhouse gases when the province of Ontario shut down its coal-fired power plants. I think he may know something about reducing pollution and saving lives,
Mr. Speaker, I find when I talk to constituents, and I do hold a lot of community meetings, that, yes, there is a huge amount of concern with affordability. As the hon. member will know, I will vote for the bill as well. However, I also hear a lot of concern from my constituents in British Columbia about how this summer we had a province-wide state of emergency over wildfires. I know that
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to present a petition with collected signatories from beyond my riding, but including my riding. The petitioners are very concerned about what we know about bottom trawling, in other words, pulling enormously heavy draggers along the ocean floor, removing everything in their path. It is a non-selective fishing method and the term “nets” hardly describes it.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Hamilton East—Stoney Creek cited some relatively small amounts of money that have been sent overseas to the poorest of the poor. I do not know if he is aware that the Liberals broke their election platform promise to not cut foreign assistance, and they took another page out of the Conservatives' platform by cutting $2.7 billion from overseas development assistance.
Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay Mr. Speaker, during members' statements, the S.O. 31 section, the hon. member forwas valiantly trying to make an important statement about what had happened in her community this summer. I could barely hear her for the noise from the general hubbub. It was not malicious noise; it was just noise. Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay I know you try Mr.