Jenica Atwin, the MP for Fredericton, speaks to reporters on May 27, 2020. (Photo: CPAC video capture)
A New Brunswick MP’s decision to leave the Green Party for the Liberals was quite surprising to one associate political science professor.
Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin, who was first elected in 2019, announced her decision to leave the party on Thursday.
J.P. Lewis, a professor at UNB Saint John, said floor crossings like the one announced by Atwin are rare in federal politics.
“The only thing that may have been a tell of something coming is just the general strife within the Green Party caucus,” Lewis said in a phone interview.
In her announcement, Atwin said inner party disagreements over the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict played a role in her decision and it became a distraction.
She added that she wants to be where she can do her best work on behalf of her community.
Lewis said he believes Atwin’s floor-crossing is a “really bad development” for the Green Party nationally.
J.P. Lewis is an associate professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. (Image submitted)
“They already had a very small caucus with only three members, so you take away one-third of that,” he said.
“For smaller parties that are looking to build momentum, especially Atwin’s win in the Maritimes, even though maybe some of us weren’t as surprised understanding the politics on the ground in New Brunswick, but at the same time, it’s real bad news for the Green Party nationally.”
Atwin became the first Green MP in Atlantic Canada when she was elected in the Oct. 2019 election.
Lewis said because most people vote for party leaders rather than their local candidate, he believes Atwin will have to defend her decision to voters in the next election, if she decides to run again.
“They could have voted for her in 2019 because she was a strong candidate but also because she was the Green candidate, so that will be a difficult challenge for her,” said Lewis.
“The fact that it appears to have come from internal matters, that makes it a lot more difficult than say an MP who left a party over their party’s position on a policy issue that was very unpopular in their riding,” he added.
But Lewis said Atwin would have the benefit of sitting under the banner of the Liberal party, which represented the riding before the 2015 election.
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