David Coon will resign as leader of the New Brunswick Green Party eight years after he led the party to a historic electoral breakthrough.
Coon announced Thursday morning that he’ll step down when the party chooses a new leader, which he said he expects will happen by the end of this year.
Coon said he wanted to give the new leader two years to prepare for the next election in 2028.
He plans to stay on as MLA for Fredericton Lincoln.
The well-known, longtime environmentalist became leader of the Greens in 2012 and won the party’s first seat in the legislature two years later.
In 2018 and 2020, the party won three seats under his leadership. That number shrank to two in the last election.
“People respond to parties that give a damn,” Coon said Thursday during his announcement.
He described his 14-year tenure as party leader as merely the “launch” of the New Brunswick Greens and predicted the party will eventually form a government in the province.
“I have no doubt that someday in the future that will happen.”
Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, the party’s only other elected member, attended Coon’s announcement and paid tribute to his achievements.
She said it was too early to comment on whether she would run for the leadership but acknowledged she was thinking about it.
