Following the 2021 federal election, Green party MP candidate Mimi Lee, who ran for the Markham-Thornhill riding, describes the party's lead up to Sept. 20 and Annamie Paul's resignation.
"The time she [Paul] was in her office was so short, and there were so many different things left, right and centre," said Lee. "I don't think she actually had a chance to actually sit down and work on what she's supposed to be doing as party leader."
The 2021 federal election was Lee’s first time running. Prior to her nomination to run in Markham-Thornhill, she was a staunch supporter of Paul's leadership. This traces back to helping with Paul's second bid for the Toronto Centre riding during the 2020 byelection.
Her belief in Paul was what led Lee to go for her riding's nomination as a Green.
"That [the byelection] was actually the main reason because I have heard of a lot of people talking about her — she's a brilliant person, with her background and everything, I thought at that time she would be a good candidate for party leader," Lee said.
In the 2019 byelection, Paul finished with 32 per cent of the vote, second behind the Liberals' Marci Ien, and there was initial enthusiasm that Paul would seriously challenge for the seat in the traditionally Liberal downtown stronghold when a federal election would be called.
"If she would had have a chance to actually get into parliament and actually work on what she could have done as an MP, she would have shown the party, as well as the constituency, of what she could do," she said.
In the lead up to the 2021 federal election, Paul faced party infighting and spoke out against alleged racism and attempts to remove her from leadership by party members. Faced with limited funding and a slashed staff, the Greens were unable to run a full slate of candidates nationally. With the exception of two campaign trips, Paul was forced to campaign in Toronto Centre exclusively.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 20 election, the Greens won two seats in parliament. The party gained about two per cent of the popular vote, down from 6.1 per cent in 2019.
Paul resigned on Sept. 27 during a press conference in downtown Toronto. She mentioned a leadership review notice that was sent to her on the day of the federal election. She would have needed at least 60 per cent of party membership support to stay on as leader, according to the party's mandate and rules.
She called the time of resignation as "the worst period of her life," while thanking the members who supported her, as well as calling out the ones who she said undermined her leadership and attempted to allegedly sabotage her campaign.
In future, Lee would like voters to still see the Green party as the party that connects with its communities as a true grassroots party and as an alternative to party discipline (when MPs must vote as a block in parliament). Instead, Green MPs have a free vote, something that Lee believes can better represent riding constituents in the House of Commons.
Lee finished in fourth place in Markham-Thornhill, receiving about 2.1 per cent of vote.
Liberal incumbent and small business minister Mary Ng was re-elected in the riding on election day.
Listen to Mimi Lee's full interview here: