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If you had to pick a theme that defines Elizabeth May, It's this: She's not afraid of getting into a fight - in fact, she might enjoy it.
Elizabeth was born in Hartford, Connecticut (aka, America). Growing up, she took after her mother, a leader in the anti-Nuclear movement. As Elizabeth later wrote in one of her books, 'My mommy changed the world. So can I.'
When Elizabeth was a teenager, her family moved to Nova Scotia, where she became politically active. In her early 20s, she successfully led a movement to stop chemical spraying on forests in Cape Breton.
After getting her law degree, Elizabeth focused on politics. In the 80s, she was a Senior Policy Advisor for the Mulroney government, and then the Executive Director for the Sierra Club of Canada, a title she held for 17 years.
But in 2006, Elizabeth took on a new challenge: She was elected to lead the federal Green Party, vowing to make them a more powerful force in Ottawa.Lately, they've made gains: in 2008, the Greens earned almost seven percent of the popular vote, but failed to win a seat in the House of Commons.
This time around, Elizabeth is hoping she, or one of her candidates, can make the historic breakthrough. Last time, she ran against Defense Minister Peter MacKay; this time, she's taking on another Conservative cabinet minister, Gary Lunn. She may be asking for another fight, but hey, nobody said changing the world was going to be easy.
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