Provincial Executive
The Green Party of Ontario is governed by an elected executive board called the Provincial Executive (PE). The PE is responsible for the governance of the Green Party of Ontario and sets the strategic goals, annual plan and budget for the party.
The PE meets virtually on the second Tuesday of every month at 8:00p.
Members are eligible to observe PE meetings; reach out to admin@gpo.ca if you would like more information.
Leader
Mike Schreiner
Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario and the MPP for Guelph, the first ever Green MPP elected to the Ontario Legislature. Mike was elected leader of the Green Party of Ontario on November 14, 2009. Under Mike’s leadership, the GPO has experienced substantial growth in its voters, fundraising, staff, volunteers and media exposure, reaching its highest support levels in the 2018 election.
Deputy Leader
Abhijeet Manay
Abhijeet works as an Academic Executive Officer at iREAM, a Mississauga-based non-profit and also sits on it’s Board of Directors. He has completed his Hons. Bachelor of Science at McMaster University and his Masters in Education at the University of Toronto.
Abhijeet Manay was elected Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario in September, 2018. Abhijeet was inspired to become run for the position of Deputy Leader after his experience as an MPP-Candidate in the 2018 Provincial Election. In 2018, he canvassed relentlessly in his own riding, and volunteered any free-time he got in Guelph to help elect Mike, the first ever Green MPP. That momentous election taught him that when ideas, people & hard work are combined, it can change history!
President
Ard Van Leeuwen
Ard joined the Green Party in 2006. He became involved in his local riding, Dufferin-Caledon, where he participated in 2 provincial campaigns and ran as the federal candidate in 2008 and 2011. Ard later served as GPC Finance Critic and as VP English in the GPC’s Federal Council. He has served as GPO President since May, 2017.
In his work life Ard has held various positions in the Information Technology sector including senior management positions in Europe and Asia-Pacific. He has also been an entrepreneur and business owner. Along with his partners he founded 2 consulting companies providing specialty software services to the North American marketplace.
Ard holds an MBA from York University and a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Toronto. Now retired, he lives in Toronto with his wife and 16-year-old daughter.
Chief Financial Officer
Mike Bumby
Michael Bumby has helped with the management of the GPO’s finances since 2012 and has served as its CFO since 2013. He has an extensive background in international finance, particularly in the life sciences industry, having served as the CFO of four publicly traded multinational corporations based in Toronto and has worked in various finance positions in the US and Europe in the pharmaceutical industry.
Having lived and worked abroad with his family for many years, Michael hopes to bring a global perspective to the GPO. He believes that innovative, ethical, and collaborative politicians can and should play a leading role in ensuring the long-term health of both our economy and the environment, and that these two objectives can be complementary. He looks forward to supporting the Green Party’s efforts to promote the implementation of sustainable economic and environmental policies. Michael holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Guelph and an MBA from the University of Toronto.
Secretary
Valerie Powell
Valerie Powell has served on the Simcoe North CA executive for over 10 years and as a candidate for both GPO and GPC. She currently serves as Seniors Critic on the GPO Shadow Cabinet and contributes to party policies. She has been a practicing artist, journalist and small business owner. Her degree in fine arts and MSc in Aging Research culminated in a 25 year career in psychogeriatrics, a field where science and art intertwine. She has two children who work in the arts and is full time caregiver for her husband. She has a passion for improving the care of people who are aging in a system that needs to continually evaluate and restructure. Valerie currently sits on Make Every Vote Count, City of Orillia Public Art Committee, the Simcoe County Alzheimer Society board and is co-chair of the Orillia Age-Friendly Community Advisory Committee. A believer in making a difference, Valerie is hosting a small family from the Ukraine. The Green Party of Ontario inspires all members to work toward a better future for all.
Regional Representatives
Northern Region
Kris Rivard
Born, raised, and educated in Northern Ontario, I am bilingual in French and English. I obtained a BA in Geography from Laurentian University and a post graduate certificate from Canadore College in Environmental Studies.
Now living in Sturgeon Falls with my wife, Janique, we are expecting our first child in June of this year.
Growing up in Northern Ontario offered me many opportunities to develop my love of the outdoors and remaining active. I continue to camp, canoe and hike as well as participate in men’s league hockey and soccer. I love being out on the water fishing or outside, woodworking and gardening.
I work as a Sewage System Inspector for the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority. I oversee new and existing residential, commercial, and industrial development in the Nipissing District. I also had the unique opportunity to work with the Algonquin Park Cottage Lot Liaison team on their recently renewed lease policy with cottagers in the Provincial Park.
I have been a Green Party of Ontario member since 2018; running as a candidate in Nipissing in 2018 Election. Then most recently as a candidate in Timiskaming-Cochrane in 2022, where we founded a Constituency Association in the electoral district.
I ran successfully in the most recent Municipal Election. I am now the Councillor representing Ward 1 in the Municipality of West Nipissing, having garnered over 80% of the vote to become the youngest elected official in our Municipality’s history.
Vacant
Horseshoe Region
Reead Rahamut
A passionate advocate for improved mental healthcare, Reead Rahamut is running to be a strong voice for Mississauga—Streetsville at Queen’s Park.
A Mississauga resident for nearly two decades, Reead has more than 25 years of experience in accounting and finance and holds both an MBA and a CPA designation. Throughout Mr. Rahamut’s multifaceted career, his common thread has always been his commitment to excellence.
Reead is active in his community, volunteering on non-for-profit boards and committees. He also hosts a community TV program called “Pillar of the Community.”
Lucia Iannantuono
Lucia moved from her hometown of Bracebridge to Hamilton to study Electrical Engineering at McMaster University. Staying in Hamilton since, she has worked in electrical roles spanning manufacturing, renewable energy, and currently works as a hardware designer at a biotech startup. An avid hiker and rock climber, she has enjoyed exploring the green spaces and parks in the Horseshoe region and can frequently be found on the Bruce Trail. She is also involved in local environmental and social activism as a member of Hamilton 350.
Lucia joined the Green Party of Ontario and volunteered with the Hamilton Centre campaign in the provincial election. Now she is looking to become more involved with the party by running for PE representative of the Horseshoe region. Growing up in Muskoka and now living in downtown Hamilton, Lucia understands environmental and social issues affecting both rural and urban communities. She hopes to contribute to the executive group by bringing a technical background, and represent the Horseshoe well with strong local knowledge and community involvement.
Central Region
Leah Pressey
Leah was born and raised in the suburbs of Toronto. She moved north to a farm in Dufferin county in her early thirties to teach secondary school mathematics and raise a family. Leah and her husband took an interest in organic and natural farming and spent 22 years supporting these practices by allowing farmers the use of their land free of charge.
For the past 10 years, Leah has been an active participant and administrator in local green groups. She has organized town halls for the New Green Deal initiative and for environmental issues at the federal and municipal levels. Leah was actively involved with 4 Green Party campaigns, both federal and provincial, through door to door and telephone canvassing, organizing and distributing signs, and coordinating fundraisers. Since retiring from the UGDSB in 2020, Leah has increased her commitment to the Ontario Green Party by working as an executive member of the local riding associations. She views her retirement as an opportunity to commit her time and efforts to the global climate crisis.
Tom Regina
Tom Regina is a founding member of the Green Party Constituency Association for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock. He is concerned about the divisive political culture that stands in the way of governance for the common good. Electoral reform, social equity and ecological wisdom are among the Green values that drew Tom to the party
A resident of Haliburton for over thirty years, Tom taught music and was the Head of Arts at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School. As a teacher in a rural community, Tom has seen the challenges faced by many families regarding equitable access to housing and transportation as well as employment and recreational opportunities.
A strong advocate for Arts Education and community building through arts participation, Tom is a founding member of two community choirs, a local music festival for students of all ages, and the Highlands Summer Festival which provides theatre experience for community members in a semi-professional setting.
Southwestern Region
Anees Munshi
Anees is an engineer, a tech-entrepreneur and the founder-CEO of a telecom company, IPFINITY Inc. IPFINITY provides telecom services to some of the best-known companies in Canada and the US. Previously, Anees was the co-founder and chief executive of Datawire (datawire.com) which was sold to First Data, one of the world’s largest payment processors.
As an engineer, Anees has expertise in telecom, big data, cloud and distributed infrastructure and IP (cyber) security. He has been involved in startups in consumer electronics, data communication, telecom and rapidly scalable computing infrastructures. Anees has board experience in the private, public and non-profit spheres.
Anees and his wife, Rabia Khan, have been residents of Rockwood for about eight years. Rabia Khan is the Lead Physician at the East Wellington Family Health Team.
Together they are involved in several community projects, here are a few:
* University of Guelph’s Multi-faith Resource Team.
* The Guelph Bridging Group – a multi-faith group that advocates for peace and understanding between people of various faiths in Guelph.
* The Rockwood Farmers’ Market – this is a non-profit initiative to create multigenerational community engagement around local food, sustainable farming and local entertainment.
* IFRA (a non-profit cooperative that provides funeral relief within the Muslim community in Guelph-Wellington).
* PeaceRiders.org, a charity that supports world peace.
Anees is an avid cyclist who can be found riding the country roads of Wellington county year round.
Teresa Cornwell
Teresa grew up on a large family dairy farm, in Oxford County. She received a BSc in Environmental Toxicology from University of Guelph. Teresa then studied plant biology at Rutgers University in New Jersey before coming back to Ontario. She has lived in Kitchener with her husband, 2 sons and their dog since.
Teresa has been active on the executives of her local Green Party associations (Kitchener Centre and Waterloo Region), since 2009 and is currently the CFO for Kitchener Centre. During election season she can always be found knocking on doors in Kitchener and Guelph.
Teresa can currently be found knitting shawls, editing math textbooks or working in a fabric shop.
Toronto Region
Calvin Winter
Victoria Jewt
I was born in Canada, and grew up in Scarborough with my parents and younger brother. We grew up near the Rouge Watershed, which is where I currently reside, along with my husband of 5 years. I attended the University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, where I graduated with an H.BSc in the Life Sciences program with a double major in Neuroscience and Health Studies, and a minor in Psychology.
Three years ago, I began working part-time for environmental organizations, including The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, Environmental Defence, and The Wilderness Committee, where I have and currently hold outreach and team lead positions.
In addition, I volunteer my free time with the People’s Climate Movement, where I have assisted in organizing the People’s Climate March in 2014, the Jobs, Justice, Climate March and the COP21 Toronto March in 2015. I also volunteer with the Bathurst-Finch and Malvern Action for Neighbourhood Change, where I have formed community groups such as the Bathurst-Finch Social Action Group and the Branson Community Action Group. In Malvern, I am part of 42 Voices which is a resident group promoting civic engagement, and a Food Security Table, where we work on food security initiatives within the community, and oversee two community gardens within Malvern.
Eastern Region
Nira Dookeran
Hello, my name is Nira Dookeran. I currently live in Ottawa, where I have recently retired from a 31-year career in teaching – in public, private, and government sectors.
I am a member in good standing of the Green Party of Canada and the Green Party of Ontario.
I ran as a Green candidate in the 2015 general election in the federal riding of Ottawa-Vanier. I ran again in the spring, 2017 by-election after the sad passing of Liberal MP, Maurice Belanger.
I am currently the CEO of the Ottawa South Greens EDA and the CFO of the Ottawa South Greens Constituency Association. I am also managing the high profile Ottawa Centre campaign of Green candidate, Angela Keller-Herzog. Our worthy opponents included constitutional lawyer, Emilie Taman and federal Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, Catherine McKenna.
Eric Gilmour
Eric served as one of the Young Green Representatives on the Provincial Executive since the creation of the position at the 2017 AGM until the 2019 AGM. Eric has served as Chair of the Conduct Committee since 2018. Eric has also served on the Policy Processing Committee, and currently sits on the Provincial Nomination Committee for the upcoming 2022 general election.
Eric has served on the Constituency Association boards of Simcoe North and Ottawa Centre, and has volunteered on several campaigns including the Ottawa 2020 byelections, the Steve Dyck 2019 Federal Campaign, and the Mike Schreiner 2018 campaign.
Eric currently has lived in Ottawa since 2017 where he works for an engineering consulting company. He specializes in road design and traffic engineering, and also does work in asset management.
Young Greens
Carolina Rodriguez
Carolina Rodriguez (she/her) wants to put climate justice, equity, and progress at the forefront.
In the role of Youth Co-chair, Carolina will focus on advocating for the pillars of the Green Party and Environmental Justice on behalf of young party members.
A current Environmental Governance major at the University of Guelph, Carolina exemplifies the power and drive of youth in her community. She believes that representation from all ages and experiences is necessary to enact change. Carolina immigrated to Canada when she was young; this has given her an understanding of the challenges people face in a new community. She wants to extend the same welcome and opportunities she enjoyed to other new Canadians.
Standing steadfast for people and nature, Carolina will act with passion and sincerity to build our community and increase youth involvement.
Gabriel Blanc
Gabe is an undergraduate student form Toronto studying History and Environmental Studies. He is currently serving as the Toronto-St. Paul’s Constituency Association volunteer coordinator, as well as the Ontario Representative on the Young Greens of Canada Council. He is passionate about environmental justice and electoral reform, writing about these issues on his blog and several publications. In his role as Young Greens Representative on the GPO’s Provincial Executive, he hopes to advocate for a more representative democracy, a green economy, and a society built on solidarity.