Green incumbent Ole Hammarlund loses party nomination to run in 2023 election

A sitting Green MLA will not be on the party's slate for the April 3 provincial election on P.E.I.

Ole Hammarlund, who representsDistrict 13: Charlottetown-Brighton,lost the nomination in his district Monday evening to challenger Janice Harper. A news release says Harper is a land use planner with 20 years of experience.

Hammarlund was first elected in 2019 and was theopposition critic for Transportation and Infrastructure.

"I actually wanted a contested nomination meeting," Hammarlund said. "I think that's the way to change guard. It should be, in this case, members of the party of the district that should make the decision."

Hammarlundpraised Harper, saying she's "well-qualified and intelligent"and thinks voters maybe wanted to pass the torch on to a new candidate.CBC News reached out to Janice Harper for comment but she was unavailable to speak Tuesday.

He also said he was asked to step aside by the Green Partygoing into the nomination.

"Irejected the notion, I thought that's not the way it should be. If somebody else wants to come in they should go through the motion and it should be the members that decide," he said."I'm not for backroom dealings. I think people should vote."

Hammarlund added that he will not be running as an independent candidate.

'That's democracy at work,' Green leader says

Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said the party encourages anyone to come forward and contest a nomination, as it's central to the party's "grassroots participation.

"If you feel you would be a good MLA, come forward and put your name [forward]. Whether there is a sitting MLA there or not. In this instance, we had a sitting MLA and somebody who felt that they'd be a good candidate," Bevan-Baker said.

"The membership decided last night that Janice would make a strong candidate, and she is now the candidate. That's democracy at work. I think it shows excitement around the Green Party. I look at this as an incredibly positive thing for our party."

UPEI political scientist Don Desserudsaid it's "very rare" to see a sitting MLA be challenged for a nomination, let alone lose the nomination to the challenger.

Desserud isn't sure exactly why Hammarlund lost, but he did say Harper is a "star candidate" for the Greens heading into the election. Asked how it looks to see a sitting MLA fall in the nomination, Desserud said it may suggest higher engagement within the Green Party.

"It shows that there is a lot of interest in being a Green candidate," he said.

"The worst thing is when no one wants to come forward and to run. Challenging an incumbent is odd for sure the fact that there was two people who wanted this [district] is at least an indication that people see the Green Party as having a future and they want to be a part of it."