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       Annamie Paul speaks during a news conference to announce she is officially stepping down as Green Party leader, at Suydam Park, in Toronto, on Sept. 27.

       Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press

       Annamie Paul is stepping down as leader of the Green Party of Canada.

       Ms. Paul announced her resignation Monday during a news conference in Toronto, saying she would not try to keep her position, which would have been up for review in six months.

       “I just don’t have the heart for it,” she said, citing conflict within the party – particularly with the federal council that governs it.

       “When I was elected, put in this role, I was breaking a glass ceiling. What I didn’t realize at the time is I was breaking a glass ceiling that was going to fall on my head and leave a lot of shards of glass that I was going to have to crawl over throughout my time as leader,” she said.

       “For those Green Party members who have taken great pleasure in attacking me and calling for assaults against me and calling for organization against me and suggesting I am part of a conspiracy against the party, you may take small comfort but please know there are many more people like me than you and you will not succeed in the end.”

       Green Party in tatters, with glimmers of hope, after disappointing election finish

       She warned members of an ongoing struggle for the soul of the party.

       She then left without taking media questions.

       Ms. Paul, a lawyer, was elected Green Party leader in October, 2020, succeeding interim leader Jo-Ann Roberts and Elizabeth May, the party’s leader from 2006 to 2019.

       She failed to win a seat in the recent federal election, placing fourth in Toronto Centre.

       The national picture was equally grim. The Greens saw their share of the popular vote fall from 6.55 per cent in 2019 to 2.3 per cent. Although they won a seat in Ontario – Mike Morrice was the victor in Kitchener Centre – they lost the Vancouver Island riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith, one of two seats they held at dissolution.

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       Fundraising challenges meant that while other party leaders travelled widely in Canada in search of votes, Ms. Paul rarely left Toronto Centre.

       The limited campaign effort followed months of conflict between Ms. Paul and members of the party’s governing federal council, which sought at times to oust her.

       Also, the Greens only nominated candidates in 252 ridings, not all 338.

       The embattled Green leader would have faced a leadership review within six months, as is routine after a federal election, and would have needed to secure 60-per-cent support to keep her job.

       Before the election, the Greens lost their only seat outside British Columbia. Jenica Atwin, who won the riding of Fredericton in 2019, defected to the Liberals in June. She held on to the seat in last week’s election.

       Annamie Paul is stepping down as leader of the Green Party of Canada, saying she doesn’t 'have the heart' to keep fighting to hold onto the position. Paul – who’s had to deal with much infighting within Green ranks – announced her resignation a week after the federal election that saw her party’s share of the popular vote drop significantly. The Canadian Press

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