Paul fights back Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Green leader Annamie Paul held a news conference on Wednesday to attack members of her party’s governing body, who were trying to force her removal, calling them "sexist" and "racist." “A small group of counsellors sought to force a vote of no-confidence in my leadership. They did so with no substantive consultation with the members they represent. They produced a list of allegations that were so racist, so sexist, that they were immediately disavowed by both our MPs as offensive and inflammatory and contrary to party ethics,” she said. Paul also angrily denounced Justin Trudeau, saying he was not an ally or a feminist, blaming him for weakening her position by luring away Jenica Atwin, the Fredericton MP whose floor-crossing set off the rebellion. Paul did not respond to a motion the party's governing council passed Tuesday that asks Paul and Green MP Paul Manly to hold a joint press conference to “repudiate” her former senior adviser, who attacked Atwin in a dispute over Israel. If she does not do so, “a vote of non-confidence in the leader will take place on July 20,” the statement reads. Two Atlantic Canadian members of the council have resigned in protest. Paul, who once seem poised to lead the Greens to an election breakthrough, might now be lucky if she just gets to hang on until it happens, writes Campbell Clark in the Globe. Whither O'Toole? In Maclean's, Marie-Danielle Smith takes a deep dive into Erin O’Toole's leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, surveying nearly three dozen partisans and analysts to get a sense of how things are going for the leader of the Opposition. She finds an inner circle with enormous faith in him, but many other Conservatives are unconvinced. O'Toole, who won the leadership by running as a true Blue Tory, has since taken positions on climate and social issues that alienate some on the right. That might cost the party some votes in Alberta but pay dividends in the Greater Toronto Area and Quebec, where the party must make gains if they hope to turf the Liberals. But if that doesn't work, he's likely toast. A bigger problem may be a perception that Erin O’Toole is not long for the leadership. Several well-connected sources say they are already hearing rumblings about who could replace O’Toole after an election loss. Some of them say they are aware of an effort to organize around popular MP Pierre Poilievre. (Poilievre declined an interview.) No one Maclean’s spoke to believes O’Toole will hang on to the leadership unless he makes considerable gains. In early February, with little explanation, O’Toole removed Poilievre from the prominent finance portfolio position and made him the jobs critic. It was widely seen as a demotion, and one organizer took it as evidence the leader was “afraid of being outshone.” Kenney's in trouble: In Maclean's, Phillippe J. Fournier takes note of recent polling in Alberta, which shows a rise in support for Wildrose, which was previously integrated into Jason Kenney's coalition. The splintering on the right wouldn't likely elect any Wildrose MLAs, but it would put the NDP in position to win a majority government. While it is far too early to conclude that the “Unite the Right” movement in Alberta is crumbling, the past months have revealed major cracks in its foundation. Fortunately for Jason Kenney, the UCP still has just under two years to recover until the 2023 election. However, although the “Orange Chinook” that blew across Alberta in 2015 may have pushed the province towards a two-party system, the current discontent on Kenney’s right flank and the hypothetical growth of a new Wildrose Party indicate that the UCP’s recipe for victory in 2019 may not work again in 2023. Unsafe space: In a remarkable and quietly furious farewell speech, Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq blasted the Ottawa establishment for inaction on Indigenous issues and said she never felt at home on Parliament Hill. (Maclean's has the transcript.) Since being elected, I expect to be stopped by security at my workplace. I’ve had security jog after me down hallways, nearly put their hands on me and racial profile me as a Member of Parliament. I know what to do in these situations. My life in Canada, and especially through this experience, has taught me many things. As a brown woman, do not move too quickly or suddenly. Do not raise your voice. Do not make a scene, maintain eye contact and don’t hide your hands. Every Inuk has survival mode. We have to. Not two generations ago survival mode meant endurance of extreme temperatures and finding food throughout the winter. Now, survival mode means being able to see that warmth in shelter and affordability in livelihood, but being denied it at the hands of the federal government. Inflation up: Prices across the country rose at their fastest annual rate in a decade last month—3.6-per-cent. Statistics Canada said there are short-term, pandemic-related reasons, but also rising housing costs. A COVID-19 outbreak has infected 138 children in Kashechewan, a remote First Nation along the James Bay coast, where there are at least 232 active cases, Indigenous Services Canada Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday. Most cases are among children under 12, those who aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine, and children 18 and under who have had either a first dose or none. Quebec can change the constitution, MPs decide: MPs voted for a Bloc Québécois motion to unilaterally change the Constitution to change the province's language law. The motion passed 281-2 with all-party support. Independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould and Liberal MP Hedy Fry voted nay. Vaccine cheats guilty: Rod and Ekaterina Baker of Vancouver, who snuck into Beaver Creek, Yukon, earlier this year to get vaccinated, pleaded guilty on Wednesday morning to violating COVID rules. They've been fined $2,300. —Stephen Maher | 
