Green Party of Ontario

The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) is a political party in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Mike Schreiner. It has never held any seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly; however, the party did see significant gains in the 2007 provincial election, earning 8% of the popular vote with some candidates placing second and third in their ridings. Previous polling has identified support to be between 6% and 12% of decided voters, and on June 14, 2008, the GPO hit a milestone of 13% support in polling, matching the Ontario New Democratic Party for the first time.

Elections Ontario records that in the 1999 provincial election, the GPO fielded 58 candidates, and became the fourth largest party in the province. In 2003, the party fielded its first nearly full slate, 102 out of 103 candidates, and received 2.8% of the vote. In 2007, in what many consider the breakthrough election for the GPO, the party fielded a full slate of 107 candidates, receiving over 8.0% and nearly 355,000 votes. The GPO had gained the most in the 2007 election and was one of only two parties that gained a significant amount of support. The rise in its political fortunes coincided with the national rise in support for the Green Party of Canada during the same period. Subsequently, the party's popularity declined in the 2011 election during a tightly contested race between the Conservatives and ruling Liberals.