Greens elect 13 new members to party’s top governing body

Federal council changes interpreted as good news for embattled leader Paul

OTTAWA—Thirteen new members have been elected to the Green Party of Canada’s top governing body in what could mark a new chapter for Annamie Paul’s troubled leadership.

The Greens’ federal council has been at the centre of party infighting and threats to Paul’s leadership for months. But now that most of its members have been replaced, Paul’s supporters are hoping the problems that have fractured the party since she won the leadership last October can be overcome to focus on the current federal election campaign.

“What I really hope this means is that we’re going to have a council that’s really focused on governing the party, and ideally — from my perspective — support the leader,” said Sean Yo, one of Paul’s top political lieutenants, who helped recruit several of the new council members. “But I really ... want to be very clear that we’re a grassroots party and if there’s dissent or opposition, that my hope is that we’re able to do that in a respectful way,” he said.

Two other party sources, who spoke on the condition they weren’t named, interpreted the results as good news for Paul.

New council members include Matthew Piggott, a Green operative who worked on Paul’s leadership campaign, and who multiple sources say was Paul’s choice to work as the party’s national field director before he was fired earlier this year. The Star confirmed in April that Piggott filed a complaint about his dismissal with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Clément Badra, a member of Paul’s shadow cabinet, is also joining the federal council, though Badra told the Star he doesn’t want to be identified as a Paul supporter before he has more information about what’s gone on in the party. Pearson Singbeil Montgomery, one of the candidates who Yo recruited, is also joining the council.

But the new members also include some who have voiced opposition or disaffection with Paul’s leadership. Jean-Charles Pelland, the incoming Quebec representative on the council, told the Star in late July that he thinks Paul is “killing the party” and said he would do “everything I can to get Annamie Paul out of the party.”

Carrie McLaren, who is joining the council as the new representative of the party fund, voiced concern about Paul’s leadership in July and said she wanted Green members to vote on whether Paul should be removed — even if that happened before the federal election.

Paul’s relations with the council could have a significant impact on her authority as leader, since the governing body makes key decisions about how the party operates. As the Star reported in April, tensions flared between Paul and some members of the council after she won the leadership in October.

Examples include a disagreement over who should be hired as the party’s interim executive director, as well as displeasure over Paul’s employment contract, which took almost three months to negotiate with party officials, according to multiple Green sources.

Paul also vented frustration with federal council members at a meeting in February, after they voted against her wishes and appointed a caucus representative to the party’s campaign working group.

The tensions escalated into a direct attempt to depose Paul after New Brunswick MP Jenica Atwin — one of three sitting Green MPs — left the party to join the Liberals in June. Some in the party, including former leader Jim Harris, blamed Paul for Atwin’s departure, while unnamed members of federal council accused her of having a “hostile” and “autocratic” style of leadership.

The council tried to hold a confidence vote on July 20, which could have set up an all members’ vote to remove Paul, but the effort was staved off by an independent arbitrator five days before the vote was scheduled to be held.

The arbitrator also paused a review of Paul’s party membership that could have placed her leadership in question.

The Green party filed a legal challenge of these decisions on July 22.

With new members taking over on the council, Paul won’t face a confidence vote until after the federal election; the Green constitution says all leaders must face a leadership review vote by all members within six months of election day.

The only potential threat to her leadership now is the review of her membership. According to the arbitrator’s ruling, the party could not resume that review until Aug. 19.

Party rules say members under review can’t represent the Greens “in any capacity.”