Annamie Paul has already made history.
And she's just getting started.
Annamie Paul is the daughter of parents who arrived in Canada from the Caribbean in the 1960s and she grew up in the Toronto Area. She comes from a family of dedicated public servants - her mom was a teacher for more than 30 years - and was engaged with public service from an early age.
Annamie graduated from French Immersion in Toronto. She then studied for her Bachelor of Laws at the University of Ottawa, where she was deeply engaged in student government, human rights, and community service and worked as a Page in the Senate of Canada. She is a lawyer of the Ontario Bar.
Annamie was an intern in the Ontario Legislature Internship Programme, and went on to pursue a Masters of Public Affairs at Princeton University. She returned to Canada to found the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership, an organisation focused on increasing the representation of equity-seeking groups in politics and public policy.
Annamie has worked in political affairs in Canada’s Mission to the European Union, as an International Advisor at the International Criminal Court, and as EU Director for Crisis Action, a global conflict prevention NGO. She is also the co-founder of the BIPP HUB, an innovation hub for international NGOs working on global challenges based in Barcelona, Spain.
This is the chance of a lifetime for us to move towards a more just, a more resilient society, and we believe that it can be done.
Over the years, Annamie has been honoured to be selected as an inaugural Action Canada Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow, a member of the Recruitment of Policy Leaders Program, member of the University of Ottawa Common Law Honour Society and as a Harry Jerome Award recipient.
Annamie met her partner Mark, a leading international human rights lawyer, at law school. They’ve been together over 30 years and have two sons.
When you look at our policies, the ones we were championing all on our own, when other parties simply did not want to talk about them - the flames that we kept burning all along - the Green Party blazes the paths that other parties follow.
And this is the moment where this kind of innovative, evidence-based, daring political thinking is absolutely necessary.
Annamie ran as the Green candidate in Toronto Centre in the 2019 election, tripling the Green vote. She was also the Green Party’s International Affairs Critic. In early 2020 Annamie declared her candidacy to lead the Green Party, campaigning on a platform of “Diversity, Democracy, and Daring.”
On October 3, 2020, Annamie was elected leader of the Green Party of Canada, making history as the first woman of colour, the first Black person and the first Jewish woman elected to lead a major federal political party.
This is a moment that demands daring, courageous leadership.
We are the party for this moment.
Annamie immediately ran in the Toronto Centre by-election and made history again, placing second, capturing one-third of the vote, and achieving the best-ever federal Green result in Ontario.
In February 2021, Annamie announced that she was seeking the Toronto Centre Green nomination for the next election, and she was acclaimed as the candidate in March. Toronto Centre is a generous and resilient community hit hard by the pandemic. It deserves a fearless champion and real representation in Ottawa.
Annamie is committed to advocating for completing our social safety net, a post-pandemic Green Recovery and forging a just society.
To every person in Canada that has tuned out of politics because they didn’t see themselves reflected, I say, make your home with us.
To every person that is worried about the future of their children or their communities and want to see real action on the climate crisis, I say, join us.
To every person that understands that we are being led down the same old road by the same old parties to the same old destination, I say, if you are ready to strike out on a new path towards a better and brighter future, welcome.
