Atwin Defection Latest Saga In The Green Party’s Dalliance With Antisemitism

In a late-afternoon press conference on Wednesday, Paul asserted her plan to bring a diversified party to federal politics was being undermined by both a small group inside the party council – who she said were in their last few weeks in the role and were making “racist” and “sexist” complaints – and by the ruling Liberals. 

“Often when people like me are elected or appointed to senior leadership roles, the rules of the game seem to change. Suddenly there is a need for more oversight, heightened accountability, swifter and more severe sanctions… That is something I will resist… I am seeking the same freedom to lead and fulfill my role as leader of the Green Party on behalf of our members.” 

She then pointed her members “at the Liberal party’s role in this” and Justin Trudeau:

“It is hellbent on winning their majority at almost any cost. By their own admission in recent days they have sought to sow division and create disarray within the Green Party of Canada for their own political advantage in key regions where Greens are surging. It was cynical, it was craven, and with the help of our members it will not succeed.”

Directly addressing Trudeau, Paul intoned: “You are no ally and you are no feminist… a real ally and feminist doesn’t end their commitment to those principles whenever they come up against their personal ambition.” She then accused him of “pushing strong competent capable women out of politics when they are seeking to serve. I am one woman he will not push out of politics – and he can believe it.” 

The media obsessively asked her to discuss a leaked version of the internal complaints tabled in the meeting about Paul and for her response to the resulting motions. She refused to discuss the document or the motions, as she had seen none of them for herself yet. She also repeated, three times, “I support my MPs”, in answering the press gallery.

Evan Solomon on CTV Power Play interviewed Paul right after the press event, asking “why did you not denounce him (Zatzman)?”. She responded that she wanted the same treatment as previous leaders and “I don’t think it’s appropriate for there to be any sorts of ultimatums“, and in any case, he was no longer employed there. 

Paul also challenged Solomon’s reliance on Atwin’s recent statements: “I find it very troubling that Ms. Atwin’s words subsequent to her press conference when she announced she was leaving has become the account of the record. She said very clearly on the day that she left that I was not responsible for the decision. I wasn’t even a factor in the decision, and this was personal to her… she did an about face the next day. I think the question to ask is, what happened between Thursday and Friday.” 

The close race in Toronto Centre, and the glass ceiling-shattering leadership victory, seem a distant memory. Instead, Paul appears headed toward the same fate as her political ancestor, Thomas Mulcair; like him, Annamie Paul sought to moderate her party and put the Left’s obsession with Israel behind it. And like Mulcair, Paul finds herself shouted down by a majority of people obsessed with ideological purity.

A purity that has one overarching rule: “There are no two sides to the conflict! End Israeli Apartheid!”