Mike Schreiner

Schreiner is a US-born Canadian. He was born on 9 June 1969, in WaKeeney, Kansas, the son of Barbara and Ronald Schreiner (1949–2007).[7][8] He grew up on the family grain farm, helping his parents. This is where his interest in food, agriculture and the environment began.

After graduating from Indiana University, Schreiner and his wife moved to Toronto in 1994, and he became a Canadian citizen in 2007.[2][9] He and his wife Sandy are the parents of two daughters.[10]

Schreiner earned bachelor's degrees in business administration and history from the University of Kansas (1992). He earned his master's degree in history from Indiana University Bloomington in 1994.[11]

While at Indiana University, he met his future wife, Sandy Welsh, later a sociology professor and vice provost at the University of Toronto.[12][2]

Schreiner has been an entrepreneur and small business owner whose ventures have focused on sustainable food production and the local food movement. His first business was Toronto Organics that specialized in delivering food to consumers.

After moving to the Guelph area, Schreiner continued operating food distribution businesses.[2] One company – WOW Foods – was awarded the Citizens Bank of Canada Ethics in Action Award for socially responsible business and the Toronto Food Policy Council's Local Food Hero Award. He also co-founded Earthdance Organics, a Guelph-based food production business that supplied area health food stores and farmers' markets in the early 2000s.[13]

In 2005 Schreiner he co-founded Local Food Plus, which brought "farmers and consumers together to promote financially, socially and environmentally sustainable local food systems".[2] According to the Green Party of Ontario, he has served as a volunteer with organizations including FarmStart, the Brewer's Plate, the Toronto Food Policy Council and the Green Enterprise Ontario Steering Committee, the Canadian International Peace Project, and Toronto's Campus Community Co-op Day Care Centre.[10]

Schreiner has been actively involved in the GPO since 2004. He co-chaired the 2007 election platform committee and served as policy coordinator from 2008 to 2009. He was acclaimed as party leader in 2009.[14]

Schreiner first ran as a candidate for the GPO in the Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by-election in March 2009, losing to Rick Johnson.

In the 2011 election, Schreiner ran as a candidate for Simcoe—Grey, finishing fourth behind Progressive Conservative incumbent Jim Wilson.[15]

Schreiner was nominated as the party's candidate for Guelph in the 2014 Ontario general election, where he finished third behind winner Liz Sandals of the Ontario Liberal Party, garnering over 19% of the vote.  

In May 2018, the Toronto Star editorial board endorsed him as the best candidate in Guelph and said that he was "the most forthright leader in the campaign for the 7 June Ontario election".[16] He was also endorsed by the Guelph Mercury's editorial board in an op-ed, "Mike Schreiner is the candidate most worthy of representing Guelph provincially", citing ten reasons to vote for Schreiner.[17]

Schreiner's campaign proved successful in a four-party race, becoming the first ever Green MPP in Ontario history.[18] He captured 45 per cent of the vote in the Guelph riding, more than doubling the previous percentage and nearly tripling the actual number of voters for him.

On 14 November 2009, Schreiner won the Ontario Green Party leadership election, having been acclaimed. According to the GPO, "Under Mike’s leadership the GPO has experienced substantial growth in its voters, fundraising, staff, volunteers and media exposure". Between 2009 and 2014 for example, fundraising increased from $50,000 to $500,000, all from individuals.[19] Those achievements did not translate into success in terms of getting a seat until 2018.[20]

Despite not holding a seat in the legislature at that time, Schreiner lobbied in favour of the price on carbon, protecting pollinators with a ban on neonicotinoids, and funding for the Experimental Lakes Area.

Schreiner lives with his wife Sandy and their two daughters in Toronto and in Guelph.[11] He became a Canadian citizen in 2007.

During 2012 to 2017, he was a contributor to HuffPost Canada, on topics such as water protection, healthy food systems, recycling, climate change, clean tech, transit, energy and carbon pricing.[31][32]

Schreiner served on the steering committee for Green Enterprise Toronto, an association of over 350 small businesses, and on the Board of Directors of FarmStart, a non-profit that assists new farmers in Ontario, and he is a governor of the Canadian International Peace Project.[11] He is a Rotarian and volunteer on many Guelph initiatives including Hillside Music Festival, Guelph Jazz Festival, Guelph Community Clean up, Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation, and Democracy Guelph.

• Official website
• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history