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Green Party leader Annamie Paul strikes back at what she described as a “small group of advisers” who she said were behind a push to dethrone her as party leader on Tuesday night .
These advisers, Paul said, attempted to “force a vote of no confidence” against his leadership without “consulting thoroughly with the members they represent.”
“They produced a list of allegations: allegations so racist, so sexist that they were immediately disowned by our two MPs as offensive and inflammatory and unethical of the party, and I thank our MPs for that. “said Paul.
Read more: Green Party leader Paul reflects on next steps after threat of non-trust
Global News has not seen a copy of this list and cannot verify the details of Paul’s claims
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“The plan of this small group of advisers, who are about to come out, has not come to fruition,” she added.
1:32 Annamie Paul Says Atwin Used Israel-Gaza Conflict As Fabricated Reason For Quitting Green Party Annamie Paul Says Atwin Used Israel-Gaza Conflict As Fabricated Reason To Leave Green Party
Paul was referring to events that took place during an emergency three-hour meeting of the Federal Council of Green Parties – which is its governing body – on Tuesday evening.
During the meeting, the Federal Council threatened her with a vote of no confidence if she did not repudiate a former adviser from her office whom many party members, including the two remaining Green MPs, hold responsible for the defection of MP Jenica Atwin from the Greens to the Liberals.
In a narrow 5-to-4 vote, the council called on Paul and Nanaimo MP Paul Manly to hold a joint statement and press conference where Annamie Paul would reject Noah Zatzmans attacks and explicitly support the Caucus of the GPC.
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Zatzman, an adviser to Paul, had threatened to work to defeat Atwin in the next general election after she took to Twitter to castigate Paul’s statement on the recent Israel-Hamas conflict.
Read more: The Green Party takes action that could lead to the impeachment of Chief Annamie Paul
The move came less than a week after Atwin crossed the floor, slamming internal feuds between the Greens over the Israel-Hamas conflict as a distraction from his exit.
Paul won the leadership in October of last year with 54% of the vote in the eighth ballot. Pauls 12,090 votes put him ahead of finalist Dimitri Lascaris in a race that saw 69% of party members vote.
Speaking on Wednesday, Paul said she felt she was subject to a different set of rules than her predecessor had faced.
“A lot of times when people like me are elected or appointed to leadership positions, the rules of the game seem to change,” said Paul.
“Collaboration and collegiality don’t mean giving up. It does not mean to be brought into line.
6:26 What’s next for the Green Party after losing a third of the caucus? What’s next for the Green Party after losing a third of the caucus?
The infighting of the parties has been going on for months now.
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Global News obtained a letter sent to the Federal Party Council at the end of November 2020. This letter referred to a pattern of bad governance within the Green Party.
Former acting party leader Jo-Ann Roberts, the party’s 2019 national campaign manager Jonathan Dickie, a former chairman and a former vice-chairman were among those who signed the November letter. It is not known, however, whether these people played a role in the latest push to oust Paul.
They have these internal conflicts and it really stops a lot of their momentum, Dickie said in an interview with Global News in February.
I could see the downsides as the next election approached where it might be more difficult for Annamie to position the party.
More soon…
– With files from David Akin of Global News
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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