Mike Morrice

2019 federal election

Morrice was selected as the Green Party's candidate in the 2019 federal election for Kitchener Centre.^[1] Morrice lost to incumbent Liberal MP Raj Saini, but increased the Green Party's vote share from 3% to 26%. Morrice later revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer during his 2019 campaign.^[7][8][9]

2021 federal election

In 2021, while still serving in his role at Laurier, Morrice again sought the Green nomination in Kitchener Centre and was confirmed as the party’s candidate.^[10] During the campaign, Saini ended his re-election bid after a former staffer made allegations of misconduct against him; a subsequent investigation by The Record found the allegations were based on anonymous claims and that no evidence was ever provided to support them.^[11] Because the withdrawal came after Elections Canada's deadline, Saini's name remained on the ballot. Several local Liberal figures subsequently endorsed Morrice's candidacy.^[10] On election night, Morrice was elected MP with roughly one-third of the vote, flipping the riding from Liberal to Green. His victory made him the first Green MP ever elected in Ontario and, at the time, one of only two federal Green MPs, alongside former (and future) leader Elizabeth May in Saanich—Gulf Islands.^[12][13]

Parliamentary career

As an opposition MP in a minority Parliament, Morrice did not hold formal committee chairships or critic roles, but he was active on a number of files. Morrice became a parliamentary advocate for the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), and in early 2022, he sponsored a national petition calling on the government to fast-track the benefit so that working-age people with disabilities would receive benefits, a petition that gathered more than 17,000 signatures.^[14] He later proposed multiple amendments to Bill C-22, the Canada Disability Benefit Act, including provisions on indexation to inflation and simplified applications.^[15]

Morrice pushed for a more stringent federal definition of “affordable housing” tied to incomes rather than market rents, and in 2024 introduced a motion calling on the federal government to revise its criteria for housing funds.^[16] Morrice was also a prominent advocate of electoral reform. In 2023, he helped build support in Parliament for a motion calling for a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform, working with civil society organizations and MPs from other parties.^[17]

Post-parliamentary career

On November 28, 2025, the Green Party of Canada announced that Morrice had been appointed deputy leader. In the announcement, party officials cited his record as a community organizer, his environmental background, and his experience as an MP as reasons for the appointment. Reports on the appointment noted that Morrice would also serve as the party’s candidate in Kitchener Centre in the next federal election.^[20]

2026 leadership campaign

Following the 2025 election and May's announcement that she would step down as Green leader before the next federal election,^[21] commentators discussed Morrice as a potential successor.^[22]

On August 5, 2026, Morrice announced his campaign for the Green Party leadership.^[23] He stepped down as deputy leader prior to his campaign launch.^[24]

On September 8, the sole other candidate in the race, Nira Dookeran, withdrew her candidacy, with Morrice being the only remaining candidate.