High-profile resignations force Green Party to consider scaling back leadership contest
CBC
In the wake of several high-profile resignations from its leadership committee, the federal Green Party is looking at curtailing some aspects of its leadership race.
According to multiple Green Party sources, party officials are discussing how they can run a leadership contest now that four members of the committee have resigned.
The sources, who are not authorized to speak publicly, tell CBC News the party may hold fewer formal leadership events and is considering condensing two rounds of voting into one.
The party was expected to announce the leadership finalists following the first round of voting on Oct. 14 and then introduce its new leader on Nov. 19.
The Green Party federal council, the party's governing body, has made no decisions yet. The body is scheduled to meet next Wednesday. Interim leader Amita Kuttner told a news conference on Wednesday that the race is still on and the party will publish more details soon.
This month, Lorraine Rekmans resigned from her role on the leadership committee and as president of the party. She cited the party's refusal to pause the leadership race until it could investigate allegations of systemic discrimination in the party — allegations which came to the fore when Kuttner was misgendered at a leadership launch.
LISTEN: What's going on in the Greens? CBC breaks down the internal strife within the party
Following Rekmans' resignation, three other committee members — Natalie Odd, Michael MacLean and John Wilson — quit their posts via email.
"I am surprised and disappointed to learn that the (leadership committee) recommendations to federal council, for the protection of LGBT+ members against possible harms during the operation of the Leadership Contest, was refused," said Wilson's resignation email, viewed by CBC News.
"We regret the unfortunate sequence of events that have occurred. It is not what we had envisioned," said a joint resignation letter filed by Odd and MacLean and obtained by CBC News. "Contest operations are transferred to (Green Party) staff who will work with volunteers."
Although Odd, MacLean and Wilson have left the committee, they retain their key roles on federal council and with the Green Party Fund.
Sources tell CBC their departures undermine preparations for the leadership vote, which was supposed to be conducted primarily online. When the leadership race launched in August, the party promised it would be its most technologically advanced ever.
Virtual campaign events and the party's website require a lot of technical and time-consuming work. But the Green Party of Canada is facing a financial crunch and relies on unpaid volunteers. Some of that expertise is now gone due to the recent resignations, sources said.
MP Elizabeth May, the party's former leader, is running for the post of co-leader this time. She said the party must proceed with the contest despite the setbacks.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.
The head of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association hopes a city plan to crack down on vacant properties leads to a transformation in his community.