Annamie Paul, Party Leader, Canada

Biography

Annamie Paul (born November 3, 1972) is a Canadian activist, lawyer, and politician. Since October 3, 2020 she serves as the new leader of the Green Party of Canada, which was led by her predecessor, Elizabeth May, since 2006. Annamie Paul is the first Black federal party leader in the history of the country as well as the first Jewish woman to be elected leader of a major federal party in Canada.

Annamie Paul received her Law Degree from the University of Ottawa and holds a Masters of Public Affairs from Princeton University. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 1998. In 2001 she became the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership (CCPL), a non-partisan charity that trained women and under-represented minorities to run for elected office.

In addition, she also co-founded and co-directed the Barcelona International Public Policy Hub (BIPP HUB), an innovation hub for international non-governmental organizations working on global challenges, and served on the Board and advised a number of international NGOs including the Climate Infrastructure Partnership (CLIP), the Higher Education Alliance for Refugees (HEAR), and the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). Furthermore, she also served on the Steering Committee for Equal Voice Canada.

Paul possesses extensive professional experience in a diverse range of areas including in international affairs. She worked abroad as a Director for a leading conflict prevention NGO in Brussels, as an Advisor in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and as a Political Officer in Canada’s Diplomatic Mission to the European Union.

She is an Action Canada Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow, a member of the University of Ottawa Common Law Honour Society, a member of the Recruitment of Policy Leaders Program, and a recipient of the Harry Jerome Award.

She has also published several articles and policy papers on social inclusion and representation in Canadian politics throughout the years, and speaks four languages: English, French, Spanish, and Catalan.

Before her October 2020 victory in the Green Party of Canada’s leadership contest, Paul represented the Green Party of Canada as its candidate in Toronto Centre in the 2019 federal election, running against, and eventually losing the seat to, then-Minister of Finance Bill Morneau.

Until recently, Annamie served as an International Affairs Critic in the Green Party of Canada’s Shadow Cabinet, providing advice to the Interim Leader on international issues and helping to guide the development of foreign policy positions. She stepped down from the role in February 2020 to enter her party’s leadership race, which she would go on to win with 54.53% of the votes on the final voting round, defeating runner-up Dimitri Lascaris and 6 other candidates.

She has been married for almost 24 years to an international human rights lawyer who specializes in peace negotiations and reconciliation, and they have two children together.

Source: https://www.annamiepaul.ca, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamie_Paul

Natalia Ortiz Peñate

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Natalia moved to Canada as a teenager to pursue a more diverse education and a brighter future. Based in Montréal since the fall of 2016, today she is a proud McGill University graduate with a BA in Political Science and International Development Studies. Over the course of her undergraduate studies at McGill, she developed a passion for human rights advocacy and sustainable development. Owing to her political science background, she is equally interested in notions of global governance and diplomacy, and has developed a particular interest in the fields of human rights protection, poverty alleviation, and international development, all within the framework of sustainability. In the near future, she aspires to continue her education and become professionally involved in global politics and international affairs in order to help bring the change she wants to see in the world.

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