The Green Party of Nova Scotia is in the process of being deregistered as a political party after missing several deadlines to file financial documents.
Aside from losing party status, being deregistered would put an end to public funding which the party relies on almost exclusively.
The Greens missed four deadlines dating back to April. They failed to send Elections Nova Scotia a list of donor contributions they received and audited financial statements, as well as publicly post contributions on their website.
Such steps are mandatory according to election laws.
“They received several notices and several warnings,” said Elections Nova Scotia spokesman Dana Doiron.
The chief electoral officer finally sent a message to the Greens saying the deregistration process had begun. But it will likely not mean an end to the party. Party leader Ryan Watson took responsibility and vowed to get the papers in by July.
“Through various communications and miscommunications, things just did not get filed in time,” Watson said. “Then when the election rolled around our official agent became very caught up with working with our candidates.”
Watson said it will ultimately be up to Elections Nova Scotia, but he’s “very confident” the deregulation process will be halted once the party gets its forms in.
The Greens have received about $300,000 in public funding. The party received 2.3 per cent of the popular vote in the provincial election, unchanged from 2006. Watson said the financial faux pas will not greatly hurt the party
“It’s not helpful, but I don’t feel that it’s a long-term setback,” he said. “We can overcome this.”
Watson said he hopes and plans to stay on as party leader, but there is a vocal minority of Greens who “are looking for a change.”
