Mitton delivers her victory speech on Sept. 24, 2018

Megan Mitton’s announcement this week that she is running for the leadership of New Brunswick’s Green Party rekindled memories of that suspense-filled night on September 24th, 2018, when her provincial political career officially began with a razor-thin, 11-vote victory over her Liberal opponent in her second try at winning a seat in the legislature.

“My Dad’s not here, but he inspired me to do this,” she told a roomful of supporters at her Sackville victory party that night as she wiped away a few tears.

“I grew up in a Liberal household,” she said, adding that her father once ran for the provincial Liberals.

“And I remember when I first told him I was running in 2014, and he said, ‘Well, which party?’ And I said, ‘The Greens.’ And he went, ‘Oh, really? But don’t you want to win?'” Mitton said as the room erupted in laughter and then loud cheers.

Reminded of that moment and her late father’s comments Wednesday during an interview with Warktimes, Mitton wiped away tears again before she said: “You know, my values are clear and consistent, and I don’t align with how the Liberals run their party.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Well, what do the Liberals even stand for?” she answered.

“Their values are basically non-existent except wanting power and paying attention to what the polling is saying. Whereas as Greens, we do have consistent values of wanting fairness in our economy, for example, we listen to people, we bring their voices to the legislature rather than just relying on polling data and focussing on that,” she said.

Building the party

Megan Mitton holds a victory bouquet presented to her by her then eight-year-old daughter Quinn after her third election victory in Tantramar in 2024

Mitton says her main task if she wins the leadership, will be to build more support for the party so that Greens win more seats than the two they hold now.

“So, part of the plan in concrete terms is to get out across the province, talk to people and even more importantly, listen to people,” she says.

“Obviously, recruit excellent candidates. And so these are some of the things that if I’m chosen to be leader of the party, that I’ll be getting to work on,” she adds.

Mitton is married, the mother of two children, one, five the other almost 10, but says she’s used to balancing family life with the demands of politics.

“A lot of people who work have different types of challenges,” she says. “So, we’re going to figure it out like we have for the last 10 years.”

In fact, before she gave birth to her second child in 2021, Mitton pushed for changes at the legislature to make it more accommodating for MLAs who have babies including installing changing tables in the building’s bathrooms and altering the rules for parental leave.

“One of the reasons I’m running for the leadership is really because of my kids,” she says.

“What kind of province and what kind of world are we leaving them to grow up in and to live in right now?” she asks.

“The path we’re on is really dangerous and we need leaders who are going to prioritize the health and safety of New Brunswickers.

“And that means taking the climate crisis seriously. And that means not fracking and not building gas and diesel plants and not building hyperscale data centres, but rather investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency and local food and education and health care and things that are really going to ensure the well-being of New Brunswickers,” she says.

Learning from local issues

Megan Mitton at the entrance to Sackville’s Waterfowl Park on Wednesday

Mitton acknowledges that some voters still see the Green Party as one focussed exclusively on climate change and environmental concerns, but argues those issues tie in directly with other main ones.

“It’s true that the climate crisis is a priority for us,” she says, adding that climate change also affects people’s health, food production and the economy.

“When we look at the economy, there are supply chains and agriculture and all kinds of things that get disrupted by wildfires and floods and droughts and heat waves — all of these extreme weather patterns that are being caused by climate change, so we can’t really separate these things out.

“One of the key reasons that I did get into politics and run in 2018 was health care. And that remains a top priority for me,” she says, adding that as the MLA for Tantramar she’s been campaigning for the restoration of 24-hour emergency room services as well as basic improvements to the area’s deteriorating roads.

“It’s kind of an endless battle,” she says.

So far, Mitton is the only declared candidate for the Green Party leadership. The deadline for other candidates to file their papers is noon on Saturday.

If there is more than one candidate, Green Party members will vote for their new leader on December 5th.

To read more about Megan Mitton’s background, click here.