With climate change a top concern heading into next month's Canadian election and mainstream candidates offering little inspiration, Green Party leader Elizabeth May could be poised for a breakthrough.
The Greens have toiled in obscurity for almost 30 years, but polls suggest the environmentalist party could emerge from the Oct. 21 election holding the balance of power. This could hasten the government's move toward renewable energy and reduce support for the oil industry, a major exporter and a big employer in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Greens are sitting at around 11 percent public support, more than triple the 3.4 percent the party received in the 2015 election when May, an effervescent 65-year-old, was the only legislator to win a seat. Public opinion surveys suggest her party might win up to 10 seats in the House of Commons.