Dufferin-Caledon a key riding for Ontario Greens, can Schreiner lead them to a breakthrough? [Video]

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner canvases after a campaign stop in Kitchener, Ont., on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

There was a moment in 2023 when it seemed possible the man who had become practically synonymous with the Green Party of Ontario might leave it behind.

The Ontario Liberals, fresh off another disappointing election result the previous year, were searching for a new leader and a group of them thought they had their pick in Mike Schreiner.

Schreiner, who by then had been leader of the Greens for well over a decade and cultivated a reputation as a principled politician capable of reaching across party lines, gave it consideration.

If he could win the Liberal leadership – by no means a guarantee – it would have given him a larger platform to deliver his message, not to mention the resources and relevance of a once-formidable political …