Annamie Paul, leader of the Canadian Green Party, is in the middle of a controversy that led to the demand for a vote of no-confidence. The first vote will occur on July 20th 2021. The root cause of the issue lays within the debate of the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Although this is not a Green issue per say, the party has been greatly concerned by the division of opinions surrounding the conflict between these two countries. The debate and division within the Green party have led Member of Parliament, Jenica Atwin, to cross the aisle and join the Liberals.
Cause
Paul was criticized for her take on the Israeli–Palestine war. She was deemed as too moderate and not harsh enough towards Israel. Atwin, a member of parliament declared that the apartheid, referring to the bombing of Palestinians had to stop.
Paul continued to receive backlash from members of the Green parties. The situation worsened when her former political adviser, Noah Zatzman, condemned and threatened the critics of Annamie Paul. On social media, Zatzman accused those of contrary opinions of anti–semitism and threatened their jobs. Paul was then further criticized for her silence towards this aggressive accusation by her former political adviser.
Furthermore, the Green caucus was outraged at Paul’s decision to install a gag order on MPs. Zatzman was able to continue to spread misinformation as well as degrading other MPs. Furthermore, Zatman pledged to replace MP’s who were not on the same page concerning the Israel–Palestinian conflict.
Annamie Paul thoughts
The current leader of the Canadian Greens expressed her anxiety towards the upcoming vote. She explained that
“There are moments of hope, there are moments of despair, there are moments of confidence, moments of doubt, moments of resolve. So many things are happening at any given moment.” (Walsh and Bailey, The Globe and Mail, June 19 2021)
Moreover, Paul expresses the numerous barriers she has had to overcome to gain political power. She explains that the field is significantly harder to climb the hierarchy for people of color and other minorities. She claims that
“The system has not been set up to welcome and accommodate any of those groups, and we see that reflected all the time.” (Walsh and Bailey, The Globe and Mail, June 19 2021)
Furthermore,Paul explains that she never clashed heads with Atwin before her decision to go to the Liberals. She adds that they worked closely on many projects without any issues.
Opinions within the party
Moreover, the recent controversy has led many MP and other co-workers of Paul to come out of the woodworks to detail their general discontent with her leadership. In a recent document obtained by the Globe, members of the Canadian Greens explained Paul as being:
“Autocratic attitude of hostility, superiority and rejection” and “displayed anger in long, repetitive, aggressive monologues.” (Walsh and Bailey, The Globe and Mail, June 19 2021)
Furthermore, Lia Renaud, a representative for the Greens in Nova Scotia holds a similar opinion. She explained that the root cause of this controversy lays in the poor leadership of Anime Paul.
Furthermore, a letter was written to formally announce the vote of no-confidence as well as documents of some of the issues surrounding Paul’s leadership. The letter explains that Paul misrepresented her relationship with the Green caucus to the media. She explained that the caucus was agreeable to their cause when in fact they deemed her “hostile, autocratic and dismissive.”(PressProgress,June 17 2021)
Moreover, the letter announcing the vote of no-confidence was joined with an ultimatum in which Paul was asked to publicly discuss the controversy surrounding Zatzman’s allegations towards MP Atwin.
Additional members have shown their discontent with Paul’s effort of reconciliation. Another four council members at the federal level resigned over the past month.
The vote
The vote is scheduled for the 20th of July 2021. In order for the vote of no-confidence to go be successful, a minimum of 75% of the council members must vote against Annamie Paul. There are currently thirteen members of the governing body that will be voting. This will allow for the proceeding party-wide vote one month later, on the 21st of August, when the decision will be final.
Election Canada also revealed that Annamie Paul was able to garner more success in her fundraising. The party was able to amass 677,539 dollars during the last quarter comparatively to 576, 644 dollars accumulated in 2020.
For more information on the Zatzman incident visit the following article: https://globalgreen.news/greens-call-on-annamie-paul-to-dismiss-noah-zatzman/
For more information:
https://www.pqbnews.com/news/green-leader-annamie-paul-facing-no-confidence-motion-from-party-brass/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/green-party-layoffs-1.6085961
https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/06/22/Annamie-Paul-Unpacking-Leadership-Threat/
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