The Saskatchewan Green Party is a Green political party in Saskatchewan, Canada. The party was founded as the New Green Alliance in 1998 by a coalition of environmental and social justice activists. In the twenty-first century, only the New Democratic Party and the Saskatchewan Party have fielded more candidates than the Greens in provincial elections, although no Greens have been elected to the Legislature. The current party leader is Naomi Hunter.
History
Foundations and the New Green Alliance In the mid-1990s, a number of environmental and social justice activists began to organize against the perceived rightward drift of the governing New Democrats (NDP) under Premier Roy Romanow, who were seen to have embraced Third Way politics. In April 1998, organizers held a news conference, stating their intention "... to create a political party committed to protect the environment from corporate plunder and to advance a social justice agenda," before officially registering the New Green Alliance (NGA) with Elections Saskatchewan in January 1999. Early on, the party debated focusing on community activism over electoralism—future party leader Victor Lau stated in 1998 that in his opinion, "... 20 per cent of the energy of the new party should be devoted to electoral politics and 80 per cent to promoting community projects like low-cost housing, new transit systems, or solar energy." Others looked to revive the democratic socialist politics of Tommy Douglas, the first CCF/NDP Premier of Saskatchewan, which they argued the NDP had drifted away from.
The party's first leader was anti-nuclear activist Neil Sinclair. In the 1999 provincial election, the NGA ran 16 candidates province-wide, earning 1% of the vote and approximately 4% of the vote on average where they ran. The NGA, whose platform was characterized as "counter-ideological" in contrast to the NDP and Saskatchewan Party, who were competing to form government, found it difficult to garner media attention during the campaign. In the 2003 election, under the leadership of Ben Webster, the party ran 27 candidates but actually lost support compared to 1999, earning only 0.6% of the vote province-wide.
Saskatchewan Green Party In 2005, the NGA changed its name to come in line with the federal Greens, becoming the Green Party of Saskatchewan; however, the party maintained that it was only loosely affiliated with the Green Party of Canada. The party had several short-term leaders between 2005 and 2006, when antiwar and anti-vaccination activist Sandra Finley became leader ahead of the 2007 provincial election. The Greens ran a much larger campaign in 2007, fielding candidates in 48 out of 58 ridings. The party was able to capture 2.0% of the vote; Harold Johnson, running in the Cumberland riding, received 6.2% of the vote and secured the first third-place finish for the Greens.
On 6 September, 2011—the unofficial kickoff for the 2011 provincial election campaign—Green leader Larissa Shasko resigned her position to join the campaign of Regina South NDP candidate Yens Pedersen. Upon her resignation, Shasko cited frustrations with the "inner workings" of the party and concerns about a potential candidate. Her resignation triggered a visit to Saskatoon by federal Green leader Elizabeth May, who also announced that deputy leader Victor Lau had been elevated to become the provincial party's new leader—a decision that was reinforced by party members at a special leadership convention held on 25 September. Lau and the party ran a full slate of 58 candidates—a first for the party—43% of which were women. Although no Green candidates were elected, the party increased its vote share and emerged from the election as the third largest party in the province, surpassing the Liberals for the first time.
After the 2011 election, the party began an effort to organize on a constituency basis across the province. In March 2015, the party was rebranded as the Saskatchewan Green Party and ran a nearly full slate again in the 2016 provincial election under Lau, though fell back in vote share across the province, finishing in fourth place.
In March 2020, former federal Green candidate Naomi Hunter was named leader of the Greens ahead of the 2020 provincial election. In the election, the party increased its vote share, finishing with its second highest total after 2011, but again finished fourth, this time finishing behind the fledgling Buffalo Party. The party saw its vote share decline in the 2024 election, although it again finished in fourth place overall.
Election results Election Leader # of candidates # of elected candidates Votes % Place Legislative role 1999 Neil Sinclair 4,101 1.01% 4th 2003 Ben Webster 2,323 0.55% 5th 2007 Sandra Finley 9,076 2.01% 4th 2011 Victor Lau 11,461 2.89% 3rd 2016 7,967 1.83% 4th 2020 Naomi Hunter 10,033 2.25% 4th 20247,9571.80% 4th
By-elections By-electionDateCandidateVotes%PlaceRegina DewdneyJune 28, 1999Victor Lau333 9.86 4/4Saskatoon FairviewNeil Sinclair70 2.40 4/4Wood RiverJune 26, 2000Peter Borch431 6.40 4/4Regina ElphinstoneFebruary 26, 2001Stanley Kline82 2.48 4/5Saskatoon RiversdaleMarch 19, 2001Neil Sinclair39 0.85 5/5Saskatoon IdylwyldNovember 8, 2001Dave Greenfield68 1.82 4/5Saskatoon FairviewMarch 17, 2003Jason Hanson82 2.71 4/4MartensvilleMarch 5, 2007Sandra Finley100 2.17 4/6CumberlandJune 25, 2008Tory McGregor181 5.76 3/3Regina Douglas ParkSeptember 21, 2009Victor Lau471 7.60 3/3Saskatoon RiversdaleTobi-Dawne Smith83 2.04 4/4Saskatoon NorthwestOctober 18, 2010Larissa Shasko122 2.35 5/5LloydminsterNovember 26, 2014Luke Bonsan49 1.75 5/5Saskatoon MeewasinMarch 2, 2017Shawn Setyo53 1.05 5/5Saskatoon FairviewSeptember 7, 2017Taylor Bolin61 1.34 5/5KindersleyMarch 1, 2018Yvonne Potter-Pihach74 1.95 3/3 MelfortShawn Setyo77 1.85 3/3Swift CurrentMaria Rose Lewans67 1.30 3/4Regina NortheastSeptember 12, 2018Jessica Schroeder96 1.93 4/6Saskatoon MeewasinSeptember 26, 2022Jacklin Andrews58 1.18 5/5Regina Coronation ParkAugust 10, 2023Kendra Anderson122 3.39 4/5Lumsden-MorseAugust 10, 2023Isaiah Hunter40 0.79 5/5Regina Walsh AcresAugust 10, 2023Joseph Reynolds40 0.86 4/4
Party leaders † Denotes interim leader #Party LeaderHighest PositionTenureNotes1Neil SinclairParty leader1999 – 20022Ben WebsterParty leader2002 – 20053Neal AndersonParty leader2005 – 2006†Victor LauParty leader2006Interim†John KernParty leader2006Interim4Sandra FinleyParty leader2006 – 20085Amber JonesParty leader2008 – 20096Larissa ShaskoParty leader2009 – 20117Victor LauParty leader2011 – 2016First leader to organize a full slate of candidates for a general election.8Shawn SetyoParty leader2016 – 2019†Richard JackParty leader2019 – 2020Interim9Naomi HunterParty leader2020 – present
See also List of Green party leaders in Canada List of Green politicians who have held office in Canada List of Saskatchewan general elections List of political parties in Saskatchewan Politics of Saskatchewan
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