Greens 'thrilled' as party celebrates best fundraising year 'by far'

The Green Party of P.E.I. says it is pleased with gains it made in membership and donations in 2018.

The party, fresh off a recent poll that shows it leading the governing Liberals in popularity, raised more than $79,000 last year, up from about $49,000 in 2017, said fundraising chair Jordan Bober.

"We're thrilled," he said.

"We know some of the other parties might be looking at that and thinking, 'Well, you know, that's nothing, we've raised hundreds of thousands in previous years,' but this is by far the best fundraising year the Green Party of P.E.I. has ever had."

Bober said the number of donors also increased, and party membership now stands at 471, up from from 294 in 2017. By comparison, the Liberal Party said it currently has 8,078 members, while the opposition PC Party said it had 5,837 active members as of Jan. 18 as it heads into its Feb. 9 leadership convention. 

'Really positive atmosphere'

The Green Party's growth made for a "really positive atmosphere" for the 150-or-so people at the party's AGM Saturday night in New Dominion, Bober said.

We're going to be in a really good, solid position going into the next election.— Jordan Bober

Bober said leader Peter Bevan-Baker gave a speech about the "unprecedented opportunity" the Green Party has to form government in the next election. But he also spoke about remaining humble and not getting ahead of themselves, and staying true to the party's core values.

Four motions were passed at the AGM, including an amendment to the party constitution that would include a youth representative on the party council. That person would be younger than 30, and elected by party members who are younger than 30.

Bober said the motion was brought forward by 20-year-old Jonathan Williams, who has set up a Green campus club on UPEI to help attract young members.

15 candidates nominated

An election will be called on P.E.I. sometime within the next eight months. The Greens have candidates nominated in 15 of 27 districts. Bober, who also serves as the Green Party's director of development and election readiness, said the party will be looking to build on its two-member caucus — Bevan-Baker and Charlottetown-Parkdale MLA Hannah Bell.

"We're more ready than we've ever been before by far," he said. "We've been actively planning for an election for more than a year now. We're going to be in a really good, solid position going into the next election."

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