Jo-Ann Roberts (born 1956) is a Canadian politician and former journalist who served as the interim leader of the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...

from November 4, 2019 to October 3, 2020, having been appointed upon

Elizabeth May Elizabeth Evans May (born June 9, 1954) is a Canadian politician, environmentalist, author, activist, and lawyer who is serving as the leader of the Green Party of Canada since 2022, and previously served as the leader from 2006 to 2019. S ...

stepping down from the party's leadership role. Roberts previously served as the party's deputy leader since March 2018 and was a broadcaster with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. She has been a federal Green Party candidate trice in the past, running in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 2015 and in Halifax in 2019 and 2021. She was appointed to be deputy leader of the party in 2018, serving alongside Daniel Green. In October 2021, Roberts was elected to be the deputy leader of the

Green Party of Nova Scotia Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

, with Anthony Edmonds being elected leader of the party. Together they implemented a shadow cabinet for the party and hope to elect the first

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

MLA to the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

in the next election.

Personal life

Roberts received a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

and a journalism degree from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

. She is married to Ken Kelly, with whom she has four adult children. She also has two grandchildren and cites the birth of her first grandchild as one of the forces which compelled her to move into politics in 2014. Roberts has claimed that she wanted to have an adequate answer if her granddaughter asked her what she had done to fight climate change.

Political career

Roberts left her job at the CBC in 2014 to pursue a career in advocacy for public communication and the environment. She decided to run as a Green Party candidate in Victoria for the 2015 federal election campaign. While she had been approached by other parties, she claimed that the Green Party platform was the one which most aligned with her beliefs. She came second in 2015 with almost 24,000 votes, which is more votes than was received by 131 MPs who were elected. After the election, Roberts and her family moved back to her childhood hometown of Halifax. In 2018, she was appointed by Elizabeth May to serve as the deputy leader of the party, alongside Daniel Green. She ran as the Green Party candidate in Halifax in the 2019 federal election, finishing in third with 14% of the vote. On November 4, 2019, Elizabeth May announced that she would be stepping down as leader of the Green Party, effective immediately. She then named Roberts as the new interim leader. Roberts served until the election of

Annamie Paul Annamie Paul (born November 3, 1972) is a Canadian activist, lawyer, and former politician who served as the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 2020 to 2021. She was the first Black Canadian and first Jewish woman to be elected leader of ...

in October 2020. Roberts ran in Halifax in the 2021 federal election, placing fourth. Roberts serves as host and producer for the Green Party podcast, ''People, Politics, and Planet''.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Jo-Anne Living people Canadian activists Canadian environmentalists Canadian women environmentalists Female Canadian political party leaders Green Party of Canada leaders Green Party of Canada candidates in the 2015 Canadian federal election Green Party of Canada candidates in the 2019 Canadian federal election Green Party of Canada candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election Green Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Women in British Columbia politics 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian women activists 1956 births 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian women radio hosts CBC Radio hosts Canadian talk radio hosts