Shreiner denies making offer of Deputy Leadership to Randy Hillier

Apr 01, 2019

It looks like Randy Hillier will not be donning green suspenders after all.

Green Party leader Mike Shreiner is denying a report in the Huffiington Post that he made the offer last week in a late night meeting at Queen’s Park.

“I will admit that we have developed a bit of a friendship over the last couple of weeks since we have been sitting together at the back of the legislature together. But talk of any political alliance is very much premature,” said Shreiner.

Shreiner leads a one person caucus as the first Green Party member ever to be elected to Queen’s Park, and Kingston-Frontenac-Lanark MPP Randy Hillier is now sitting as an “Independent Conservative” effectively a one-person party of his own.

The two MPP’s share some perspective on government policy, but differ radically on environmental policies, which is a deal breaker when it comes to offering Hillier leadership role in the Green Party.

“I think that environmental concerns are used, often by faceless bureaucrats, to stop hard working landowners from making legitimate use of their land,” said Hillier.

And even though Hillier’s opposition wind energy projects and carbon taxes would seem to put him at odds with the party, it was the black rat snake and the five lined skink that ultimately led to the cessation of talks between Hillier and Shreiner.

“I said that if we could agree to a more reasonable policy regarding endangered species and the role of the Conservation Authorities, I could see coming on board, but Mr. Shreiner could not make that concession, even though he admitted that he is not a fan of snakes and had never even seen a skink,” said Hillier.