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The party has bloomed since a disappointing 2015 election that saw its percentage of popular vote drop to a mere three per cent, with only May returned to the House of Commons. But since then, the Greens have flourished in some provincial races – holding three seats in British Columbia’s legislature, and forming the Official Opposition on Prince Edward Island.

The Greens have flourished in some provincial races – holding three seats in British Columbia’s legislature, and forming the Official Opposition on Prince Edward Island.

The most recent poll, this one from the Angus Reid Institute, has national support for the party poking through the double-digit threshold at 11 per cent. What’s pollenating this springtime for the Greens? In part, it is the issue for which the party is named and defined. Against the backdrop of recent floods across central Canada, and a giant container of garbage steaming its way back to this country from the Philippines, the environment is now identified by Canadians as the issue of topmost concern.

The Greens own this issue. The Conservatives have little to say on the matter. The governing Liberals tried unsuccessfully to walk a tightrope on pipeline development and carbon pricing, only to fall, perhaps without a safety net. The issue has chronically bedevilled the New Democrats, whose base contains those who work in union jobs in manufacturing and trades and chafe at the environmentalists in their own party. This infighting was a key factor in NDP leader Adrian Dix’s loss in B.C. in 2013.

Photo by Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Thus, May’s little Green patch may be the only credible one for those feeling let down on climate change and carbon pricing, particularly sullen former Liberals who can’t quite bring themselves to vote NDP but are looking for somewhere else to park – even lock – their vote.