Green leader Annamie Paul has yet to officially step down. Now her party is trying to get her out again.

OTTAWA – The federal Green Party has started a membership vote to potentially depose leader Annamie Paul in what sources describe as a money dispute that delays her formal resignation more than a month after she announced she would resign.

Two high-level sources within the Green Party, who agreed to speak on condition of not being named, said negotiations between the party’s lawyers and Paul’s legal team, which began shortly after Paul announced that he would resign as Green leader. on September 27, they face obstacles. they are “completely financial”.

Sources said the talks are unfolding as the federal Green Party struggles with a “dire” financial situation that saw 11 staff members, nearly half of the organization’s remaining employees, laid off last week.

Paul did not respond to a request for comment on the situation on Tuesday, while party spokesman John Chenery said Paul is rejecting interviews at this time and that his “resignation as leader is not yet official.”

Paul’s attorney also did not respond to requests for comment from the Star on Tuesday.

Now, as the resignation negotiations progress, the party officially began its formal leadership review process and sent electronic ballots to Green members on Tuesday asking if they “endorse” Paul as leader.

According to the Green Party Constitution, leaders who do not become prime minister must face a mandatory review by all members within six months of a federal election, and party chairwoman Lorraine Rekmans has scheduled Paul’s review, scheduled to end. on November 25, just before the next one of the Greens. national convention: Just days after the Sept. 20 election in which the Greens received their lowest share of the national vote since 2000.

When Paul announced her intention to resign shortly after, she said the timing of the leadership review helped push her to resign. He also said that his time as a green leader was the “worst” period of his life.

As The Star has reported in recent months, a bitter and protracted power struggle erupted within the party over the past year, with Paul’s supporters alleging that he faced unwarranted resistance from top green officials, and his opponents who accused Paul they tried to assert undue control on a party that prides itself on restricting the authority of its leaders.

However, despite his announced intention to resign, Paul remains in his leadership role and continues to attend meetings of the federal council, the highest governing body of the Green Party and the site of much of the conflict within the organization that preceded. to the election of Paul as leader in October 2020..

Green’s two senior sources who spoke to the Star about the situation on Tuesday expressed confusion about why the resignation negotiations are taking so long and expressed hope that they will be concluded soon.

“We would love to see this finished long before the leadership review,” said one of the sources.

The CBC reported two weeks ago that legal fees are in question in the resignation negotiations, although party officials declined to comment on details about the financial matters under discussion.

The Green Party was involved in a legal dispute with Paul after senior officials tried to cast a vote of confidence in his leadership and suspend his membership in the party before federal elections this summer. According to a document filed in Ontario Superior Court, Paul initiated arbitration under his employment contract in July that successfully halted those efforts. The party then filed a judicial challenge that sought to annul that arbitration ruling.

Three months later, the Greens withdrew that court challenge to aid negotiations over Paul’s resignation, according to a letter to party members from the president of the federal council obtained by the Star.

In the letter, which was sent by email late Monday, Rekmans, the party chairman, said that the court challenge was withdrawn “proactively” “as part of our efforts to negotiate in good faith.”

“A negotiated agreement will allow everyone to move forward in a positive way,” the letter said.

Rekmans’ letter also confirmed that 11 Green Party staff members, nearly half of the remaining employees, were recently laid off, and that this was partly due to the normal post-election downsizing, as well as financial difficulties encountered. face the match. In late July, ahead of this year’s federal elections, party officials warned that the Greens were approaching a financial “tipping point” as organizing costs continued to outstrip revenue.

Officials at the time said that the legal battle with Paul had cost about $ 100,000 for about a month, and that the party had roughly $ 300,000 in cash on hand.

Rekmans’ letter went on to confirm that the vote on Paul’s leadership would take place over the next several weeks as “required” by the party constitution.

The party said Tuesday it has about 27,000 members.