Hundreds gathered at the Hanlon Convention Centre in Guelph Saturday for an Earth Day rally in support of Mike Schreiner, the leader of Ontario's Green Party, who is running for the Guelph riding.

Among supporters were environmentalist David Suzuki, Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party, and other Green Party members.

Suzuki addressed the crowd with a speech showing support for Schreiner as a candidate for Guelph MPP and the Green Party.

The crowd cheered as Schreiner delivered his platform speech, which focused on addressing climate change and challenging the political status quo.

"We can do politics in a way that put people and planet first," Schreiner said.

Mike Schreiner, leader of Ontario's Green Party and a candidate for the Guelph riding, hosted an Earth Day rally to present the Green Party platform. (Carmen Ponciano/ CBC)

"We have to act on the climate crisis. We are running out of time and we need elected Greens across the country and at Queen's Park to deliver the change so that we can leap into the future now."

Schreiner said one way the Green Party plans to do politics differently is by creating a balance in minimum wage and small businesses.

"We can both raise the minimum wage, so workers have a living wage, and we can lower payroll taxes on small businesses," he said.

Green Party and leaders debate

Lately, much of the attention in provincial politics has been focused on the brawl between the Liberal and Conservative parties.

To get in front of that, Schreiner said the media needs to play a bigger role in terms of including all party leaders in the leaders debate.

Only party leaders with seats in the legislature were invited to take part in the debate on May 27.

Over 11,000 Ontarians, including community leaders, have signed a petition that calls to have a fair debate between all party leaders, said Schreiner.

The change to have all party members attend the televised debate also gained support from other party members and leaders.

"Will the Ontario media consortium be fair and do what's right and ensure Mike Schreiner has a podium in the leaders debate?" May told CBC News.

"Because we are a real party, we are elected across Canada and there is no excuse to create a black out on coverage of what Green stands for," she said.