of Halifax, Nova Scotia won its first contested leadership nomination race over Green Party of Canada candidate and organizer Sheila Richardson of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. In May 2007, Wright was replaced by Ken McGowan, but resigned in protest together with both his deputies in a constitutional struggle over unelected rival Ellen Durkee's presence on the executive – to be replaced by Durkee as interim leader. Ryan Watson was elected Leader of the Green Party of Nova Scotia on June 29, 2008. Watson, from Halifax, was unopposed and contested the 2009 Nova Scotia general election. The party failed to file financial paperwork with Elections Nova Scotia by the April deadline, but when Watson resigned he denied this was the reason. On October 31, 2009, John Percy was announced as the new leader of the Green Party of Nova Scotia following a leadership contest against Sebastian Ronin. Dawna Toews was Percy's running mate and thus became Deputy Leader of the party. However, Toews moved to Ontario in early 2010 and thus resigned her position. Kris MacLellan was chosen as Deputy Leader by Executive Committee vote in October 2011, prior to the AGM. Percy made a point of emphasizing politicians of other political stripes he admired including Joe Clark, Ed Broadbent, Stephen Lewis and Peter Stoffer. After the 2013 Nova Scotia general election in which it fielded only 16 candidates in 51 districts, the party was largely dormant and invisible in NS politics. Leader John Percy was also Veterans Affairs Critic in the Green Party of Canada Shadow Cabinet, and this was an active file during the Stephen Harper administration until its demise in the 2015 Canadian federal election. Percy resigned in 2015 and was replaced by interim leader Brynn Nheiley. The party was to hold a leadership convention on February 6, 2016; however no one came forward to run for leader. After this experience of near-collapse, Thomas Trappenberg was elected leader in November 2016. He and Deputy Leader Jessica Alexander led the party in the 2017 election, when the party ran 32 candidates and received 2.78 percent of the vote. This was the highest total ever achieved by the party, both in terms of total votes and percentage, though the party did not win any seats.
Conventions
Founding convention
The party's first convention was held on March 4–5, 2006. At the convention the party unanimously approved its constitution which divided powers in a way fairly conventional among Green parties: an executive controlled regional relations, regions retained control of their local policies and candidacies, and a policy committee took control of the overall platform and positions taken even during an election. The leader's role was to act as spokesperson and organize his or her most trusted critics as a Shadow Cabinet or a Caucus. Leaders and deputies would run together on a "ticket" for continuity and to assess leader judgement of persons before they are elected to the critical role. Members also voted to support the six principles of the Global Green Charter, elected an executive and chose a party logo.
Leaders
Nick Wright 2006-2007
Ken McGowan 2007-2008
Ellen Durkee 2008
Ryan Watson was leader from June 2008 until October 2009. Originally from British Columbia, he lives in Halifax with his wife, Shannon, and daughter Katarina. In the 2009 Nova Scotia general election he ran in the riding of Halifax Citadel-Sable Island, garnering 4.3% of the vote.
In its first provincial election, less than three months after the founding convention, the party had a full slate of candidates but won only 2.33% of the popular vote.
