Elizabeth May

Elizabeth May is an environmentalist, writer, activist and lawyer. She is a graduate of Dalhousie Law School and was admitted to the Bar in both Nova Scotia and Ontario. She has held the position of Associate General Council for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, representing consumer, poverty and environment groups in her work. In 1986, she became Senior Policy Advisor to then federal Environment Minister, Tom McMillan.

Ms. May is the author of seven books, BudwormBattles (1982), Paradise Won: The Struggle to Save South Moresby (1990), At the Cutting Edge: The Crisis in Canada's Forests (Key Porter Books, 1998), Frederick Street; Life and Death on Canada's Love Canal (Harper Collins, 2000, co-authored with Maude Barlow,) How to Save the World in Your Spare Time (Key Porter, 2006), Losing Confidence: Power, Politics and the Crisis in Canadian Democracy (McClelland and Stewart, 2009), and, with Zoe Caron, Global Warming for Dummies (John Wiley and Sons, 2008). Recipient of many awards and honours, she became in 1998 the first chair-holder of the "Elizabeth May Chair in Women's Health and Environment" at Dalhousie University. She holds honourary doctorates from Mount Saint Vincent University and the University of New Brunswick. In 2005, she became an officer of the Order of Canada.

Formerly the Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada, Ms. May is a past member of the board of directors of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and a member of the advisory board to the Environmental Commissioner, Office of the Auditor General of Canada. She is leader of the Green Party of Canada.