Paul is one of the six candidates running to replace Elizabeth May, who stepped down in November
Annamie Paul took to Twitter Thursday to announce her leadership bid for the Green party of Canada.
During the 2019 federal election, Paul ran for the Greens as a candidate for the Toronto Centre riding but was defeated by Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
Paul, a Ryerson grad and Toronto lawyer, said she will offer Canadians “leadership that puts people ahead of profit, power and party,” according to the statement announcing her candidacy. Paul added that her job will be to amplify voices of members and work for democratic renewal.
“The old style of ‘winner takes all’, ‘take it or leave it’ political leadership is not working for Canadians,” Paul said in her statement.
In an interview with the Ryersonian Friday, Paul said it was a decision that took time to make after former leader Elizabeth May announced in November she was leaving.
“When Elizabeth stepped down after so many years, I thought this could be a good opportunity,” she said. Paul said her vision for the Green party consists of three themes: diversity, democracy and daring.
“We’re looking to make sure the Green party is set up in a way that’s open to the best ideas and challenges. In terms of democracy and daring, we also want to show Canadians that it’s possible for us to have a much more inclusive political system.”
Paul also says that she wants the Greens to stay on the “cutting edge” of public policy.
“We’ve always been the first to propose really important public policies like same-sex marriage, legalization of cannabis and guaranteed basic income,” Paul says. “I want to make sure we’re always daring like that and always proposing visionary policies.”
The leadership convention will be held in Charlottetown on Oct. 4, 2020.