Elizabeth May says she's engaged: 'I had a crush on him, he had a crush on me'

Green party Leader Elizabeth May is engaged and is making plans for a wedding next spring.

May said Monday she and John Kidder will be married in Victoria on April 22 and are planning a train trip from Vancouver to Ottawa shortly afterwards as their honeymoon.

She said the couple have known each other for about five years, but the sparks flew at a Green Party convention in Vancouver in September.

Kidder, who is from Ashcroft, B.C., popped the question about a month later.

Kidder, 71, has deep roots in the Green party, running federally for a seat in B.C. and is a founder of the provincial party.

May says he is a retired technology entrepreneur who operates a hops farm in Ashcroft, but also spends time in Vancouver.

"I had a crush on him and he had a crush on me," said May, who represents the B.C. riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands in the House of Commons. "It was kind of like high school."

She said once the pair decided they were an item, the proposal came quickly.

"When you know it's right, it's right. Whirlwind," she added.

Kidder is the brother of the late actress Margot Kidder, May said. He has three children and four grandchildren.

May, who has a daughter, three stepchildren and seven grandchildren, credited her friend Sylvia Olsen with playing matchmaker. Olsen is the mother of Adam Olsen, the Green member of the B.C. legislature for Saanich-North and the Islands.

She said Olsen told her she would encourage Kidder to make the move.

"Let's face it," said May. "I didn't have time. I said, 'I don't need a partner.' I'm really busy. I'm quite happy as a single woman."

But now May said she's thrilled.

"I feel pretty goofy," she said.