Pedneault is the second Black leader of the Greens

Elizabeth May will once more lead the Green Party of Canada, along with Jonathan Pedneault, after her victory in the party’s leadership race on Saturday.

May and Pedneault will helm the party under a co-leadership model, which will require an amendment to the party’s constitution. Pedneault will serve as deputy leader while the two seek to amend the constitution.

Pedneault, whose father is from Cuba, has not previously held elected office, has worked as a human rights activist and journalist.

In 2015, he was hired by Amnesty International to report on abuses in the Central African Republic. He spent two years training local journalists there and in South Sudan and negotiating with rebels to build a new radio station in a war torn town. After twelve months with Amnesty International, he joined Human Rights Watch with whom he reported on war crimes in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and, most recently, Ukraine.

May led the Green Party of Canada from 2006 to 2019.

And from 2020 to 2021, Annamie Paul served as leader of the party.

Paul was the first Black Canadian and first Jewish woman to be elected leader of a federal party in Canada.

Picture below – Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May