'A disgrace to the Green Party': Quebec Green candidate denounces leader Annamie Paul

Federal Green party leader Annamie Paul answers questions during a press conference as she officially opens her campaign office in Toronto Centre, Thursday, July 22, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

MONTREAL — Quebec Green Party candidate Dalila Elhak denounced leader Annamie Paul in a scathing Friday Facebook post, referencing Paul’s accidental endorsement of the Liberal climate plan.

“This person is a disgrace to the Green Party and it was not for nothing that she was asked to resign,” reads the post, translated from French.

Elhak referred to a Thursday press conference wherein Paul accidentally gave the Liberal Party’s environment plan her stamp of approval.

“If you want a real plan, one that is going to grow our economy, that is going to put us at the front of the competitive green economy of the future [...] then the only option in this election for you is the Liberals,” said Paul at the time.

The party leader later corrected herself in a video shared on Twitter.

“What I meant to say is that, if you want real action on the climate [...] then there’s one option and one option only, and that is the Greens,” she said.

Elhak, a Green Party candidate for Beauport-Limoilou, said she hopes to replace Paul as leader of the party.

"I officially announce that I will be a candidate in the [Green Party] leadership race" she wrote.

Inter-party turmoil

Elhak's post is the latest in a string of Green Party infighting, with numerous councillors calling for Paul's resignation in the months leading up to the federal election.

For the Quebec Green Party, one point of contention has been Paul's "lack of presence" in the province, says Quebec party leader Alex Tyrrell.

"The Green Party in Quebec is really the left of the Green Party in Canada," he said, adding that some Quebec councillors crave a more radical approach to climate action.

"Some people do perceive the leader as being a little bit too close to the Liberal agenda," he said.

The Green Party of Canada did not respond to our request for comment in time for publication.