Alex Tyrell, the leader of the Green Party of Quebec (Parti vert du Québec) has announced that he is taking the spot of the party's candidate in the upcoming by-election in the riding of Marie-Victorin.
Tyrell stated in a press conference that earlier this week the candidate had told him that they were stepping down, "Sunday evening, our candidate for by-election Marie-Victorin informed me that she had made the decision to withdraw from politics. This decision comes after a weekend marked by a period of intense online criticism regarding my position on the current conflict in Ukraine."
The Green leader has come under immense pressure after a Twitter post on March 4th, stated that the demands Russia made towards Ukraine were reasonable. " Russia's most recent demands for a neutral and non-nuclear status for Ukraine, its demilitarization, its denazification, as well as the recognition of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk are reasonable demands that should be accepted by the Western countries and the Ukrainian government," the green leader posted.
This launched responses from Greens from outside of Quebec, "(Canadian Greens) strongly condemn comments about the war in Ukraine made by the leader of the Green Party of Quebec. He has no official position in the Green Party of Canada and does not speak for us or represent us in any way. We stand in solidarity with Ukraine," Interim Federal leader Amita Kuttner stated.
Mike Schreiner the lone Green MPP, and leader of the Ontario Green Party stated, "Ontario Greens also strongly condemn the irresponsible comments made by the Quebec Greens regarding Ukraine. Ukrainians are suffering from Putin’s horrific invasion and our hearts bleed for them. We stand in solitary with Ukraine and all of the people caught in the violence."
Tyrell said that his top priority in the by-election will be to avoid nuclear war with Russia, "The focus of my campaign in this by-election is to avoid a nuclear war with Russia. Nuclear war is currently the greatest threat to the planet, life, the environment and human beings. I strongly believe that we need to defer tensions between nuclear superpowers.
"I intend to use my platform as a candidate to plead for peace, compromise and negotiations to end this useless and dangerous war before a single life is lost on one side or the other . . At a time when nuclear war could be triggered by a few tweets, we need more anti-war voices in politics and I'm happy to take a stand for peace, even if it's difficult," He added.
The seat in Marie-Victorin has been vacant since last fall. Independent MNA Catherine Fournier left provincial politics after she was elected mayor of Longueuil in November 2021.
The riding has been held by the Parti Québécois since 1985.