The Lanark-Frontenac Green Party of Canada Riding Association does not officially endorse Liberal candidate Michelle Foxton.
The clarification comes after their candidate Jesse Pauley told myFM in an interview they had.
CEO of the Lanark-Frontenac Green Party of Canada Anita Payne issued a statement.
“In the riding of Lanark-Frontenac, the Green Party is represented by Jesse Pauley, a resident of Carleton Place. During an interview on 88.1 my FM, Jesse misspoke when he said that the Greens have endorsed Michelle Foxton, the Liberal candidate. While two former local Green candidates have endorsed the Liberal candidate, I have not, nor has the Lanark-Frontenac riding association.
“Jesse Pauley is a “paper” candidate, meaning his name will be on the ballot, but he is not campaigning. We do not have the volunteers necessary to carry out an active campaign. Most of the members of our once very active association are aging or have passed.
“Having a candidate on the ballot allows those who strongly feel that they will only vote if there is a Green candidate on the ballot to vote. Jesse is facilitating their democratic right to vote with their heart.”
Payne, a former Green Party candidate in previous federal and provincial elections, also spoke to their frustration on the federal stage.
“[On Wednesday] we were fully expecting Green Co-leader Jonathan Pedneault to be participating in the Leaders’ Debates. Early [Wednesday] morning he was informed that he would not be allowed to participate. The Greens were accused of intentionally not running candidates in some ridings to encourage voters to vote strategically. This is not true. The Green Party of Canada worked hard to register a candidate in each of the 343 ridings. We were given the unfair requirement that we had to have candidates in 90% of the ridings for our Co-leader to participate in the debates. Obviously the Bloc Quebecois did not have the same requirement.”