One of Canada’s first elected Greens to resign as leader of the New Brunswick party

FREDERICTON – One of the first Green Party politicians elected in Canada says he’s resigning as leader of New Brunswick’s Greens ahead of the next provincial election.

David Coon, who has led the party for more than a decade, said Thursday he will stay on as leader until he can pass the torch to his replacement later this year.

“People respond well to parties that give a damn, that see the humanity in everyone, that recognize there are actual solutions, not bad ones,” he told a news conference Thursday in Fredericton.

Coon, 69, is credited with raising the profile of the Green Party in the Maritime province by being a leader with strong ethics who established a base of support that helped elect a member of Parliament from Fredericton. 

However, Coon’s Greens have struggled to win more than three ridings over the last decade in a legislature dominated by Liberals and Progressive Conservatives.

Coon was named Green leader in September 2012 before he had a seat in the legislature. He was elected in Fredericton South in 2014, becoming the first Green member of a legislative assembly in the Maritimes and just the second Green elected to a provincial legislature in Canada, after Andrew Weaver in British Columbia in 2013.

During Coon’s time as leader, the party grew to a peak of three members in the 2020 election, with the addition of Megan Mitton and Kevin Arseneau, who the party says was the first Green francophone elected in North America. Four years later, Arseneau lost his bid for re-election and the party was reduced to two seats.

Under Coon, the New Brunswick Greens grew their share of the popular vote from less than seven per cent in 2014 to a high of about 15 per cent in 2020. The party’s support fell to less than 14 per cent in 2024, when the Liberals won a majority. 

Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who has gone door-knocking to get Coon elected, credits him for growing the party and is “eternally grateful” for his leadership. 

Coon brought “an integrity transfusion” in the New Brunswick legislature, May said by phone Thursday, adding that his election wins have been crucial to establishing a new frontier for the Greens on the East Coast.

His efforts to grow the party helped the Greens elect their first member of Parliament outside of British Columbia when Jenica Atwin won the Fredericton riding in the 2019 election. Atwin later crossed to the Liberals before deciding not to run for re-election last year. 

May, who has represented Saanich—Gulf Islands since 2011, said Coon has set the party up for more success. 

“The Green Party is the up-and-coming choice for people who want change in Prince Edward Island and in New Brunswick. And we are poised certainly for more breakthroughs,” she said.

May said the resignations of seasoned leaders like Coon offer an opportunity for young politicians to take on leadership roles within the party. “I’m very confident that the future of the New Brunswick Green Party is secure,” she added.

The Green Party of New Brunswick says it is actively working on a leadership convention and will make an announcement in the coming weeks.

Coon, who didn’t confirm whether he would run in the next provincial election, said he’s also looking toward the future. “With a new leader, we’ll move to a new level of support in the province, a new leader who can generate a new level of excitement, with new perspectives, new ideas,” Coon said.

“And I’m convinced that we’ll see the party’s support grow significantly in the province. We’ve seen that in P.E.I., and we’ve seen that in the U.K. for the Greens there.”

The Greens made history when it formed the Official Opposition in Prince Edward Island’s 2019 election by winning eight seats, marking the first time the party had done so at any level of government. They lost six seats and were relegated back to third place four years later.

In the U.K., the Greens have grown from one MP in the House of Commons to five over the last two years.

Premier Susan Holt thanked Coon for his years of public service.

“He’ll be missed, he’s been in politics ever since I began my political career and I consider him a friend,” she said in a brief statement. “I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next and I want to wish him the best of luck.”

Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, Coon graduated with a bachelor of science from McGill University in 1978. Before politics, the trained biologist was an environmental organizer and activist, mostly with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick where he’s a former executive director. 

During his political career, Coon has pushed for more renewable energy development. In the most recent legislative session he championed the strengthening of clean water laws and called for more government transparency after a chemical spill south of Fredericton in March. 

Coon and his wife, Janice Harvey, have two daughters. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2026. 

— With files from Devin Stevens in Halifax.

Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously stated David Coon had been the Green Party leader in New Brunswick for 12 years. In fact, he’s led the party for 14 years.