Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner tests positive for COVID-19

CBC.ca
May 19, 2022

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner has tested positive for COVID-19 just over two weeks ahead of the provincial election, he announced Wednesday night.

Schreiner said he will be self-isolating but will continue campaigning.

"I'm fully vaccinated and am feeling fine," he said in a news release.

Schreiner, the Guelph politician who has served as the only Green MPP in the legislature, said he believes he contracted COVID-19 from someone on his staff.

Schreiner made a strong impression Monday night at his second debate of the campaign, landing sharp criticisms of Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford's record on the pandemic, the environment and his relationship with health workers.

In the days following the Toronto debate, Schreiner headed to Huntsville, where he's hoping to get another Green MPP elected in Matt Richter. The party is also hoping Dianne Saxe, Ontario's former environmental commissioner whose job was axed by Ford's government, might win in the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale.

Schreiner has admitted he's unlikely to be Ontario's next premier but still hopes to grow his party in the June 2 election.

"I've also been honest with folks that to go from one seat to being premier would be a challenge. So the Ontario Greens, what we're trying to do is maximize our influence in the legislature," he told CBC News during a one-on-one interview.

"I think we've made a huge difference. Most people feel that we've punched well above our weight in terms of the influence we've had at Queen's Park."