P.E.I. Green Party facing criticism from members over District 9 nomination process

P.E.I.'s Green Party is facing criticism from some of its members, over its process for selecting people to run for the party nomination in District 9 Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park. 

According to the party, five people put their names forward to run for the nomination, left vacant by Josh Underhay, after he died tragically days before April's provincial election. 

A week ago, the party announced that a selection committee had decided on two people who would be up for the nomination — retired physician Dr. John Andrew and Dr. Susan Hartley, who serves as the party's vice-president. 

Party members question process

"They took two candidates and placed them in front of us, and said 'these are the people you have to vote for,'" said Derek Smith, a Green Party member since last summer.

"I know there were more people that applied. I just don't understand why the party doesn't get to vote for them as well, rather than the backroom boys saying 'here are the two you're going to choose [from], period.'"

The Green Party notified its members on April 30 that due to the "extraordinary circumstances surrounding the nomination" and "the very high degree of interest" in seeking it, the provincial council had come up with a special nomination process. 

The council appointed a five-person selection committee, which included a representative of Underhay's family. 

The committee was tasked with reviewing applications, and choosing no more than five nomination contestants who best share Underhay's spirit and values and "have what it takes to be good Green Party MLAs."

It just, it reeks of backroom politics.... It looks like it was set up for one person to win— Daniel Boudreau

Neither the names of the people who applied, nor the committee members were made public by the party. 

"Who is this committee? What biases do they bring to the table?," asked Daniel Boudreau, who joined the Green Party a month before April's election. 

"It just, it reeks of backroom politics.... It looks like it was set up for one person to win."

As it stands, only Andrew can win. Thursday, on the eve of Friday's nomination meeting, Elections P.E.I. ruled that because Hartley had already run for the Greens in another district, she wasn't eligible to run in District 9. 

Martin Ruben, the party's provincial president, said on Thursday, the selection committee "had no idea this was an issue" when it chose Hartley as one of the two nomination candidates.

Not considered a byelection, but a deferred election

Ruben wouldn't comment Friday on the criticism from some party members over the nomination process, saying in an email, "I will be addressing the concerns raised by our members this evening. I have a responsibility to speak to the members before I speak to the media."

Hartley, who is the party's vice-president but recused herself from the nomination process, was still quick to defend it.

"I believe it was transparent," she said. "We all got an email on the 30th of April about the process and that was [members'] opportunity to comment on it and to share concerns about it."

Hartley said she was disappointed to hear only two nomination candidates had been selected. But she maintains it's not appropriate for the party to reveal who the other applicants were, or why they weren't chosen. 

"It's all confidential and I respect that confidentiality. I don't want my information shared at large. If I wasn't chosen, I wouldn't want people to know that I had applied necessarily."

Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said that the family of Underhay had requested, through whatever process, that the contenders chosen would embody the spirit, character and ideals of him.

He said that was the main criteria that reduced the number of contenders for the deferred election.

"Not necessarily that they weren't people who could be candidates, but that they did not embody that spirit of Josh," Bevan-Baker said. "And I realize that's a little unusual in a nomination process but this was a very particular and unique circumstance and we tried to take that into account in what we did."

Bevan-Baker said he believes the process was fairly transparent and was done in good faith with the best of intentions.

He acknowledges that some members were not satisfied with the process and plans to look at it further once the nomination process is over.

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