Green Party defends Elizabeth May and accuses Toronto Star of sexist coverage

The federal Green Party is criticizing the Canadian media for sexist coverage in the wake of a newspaper report that accused its leader, Elizabeth May, of bullying three former employees.

The report, published on Saturday in the Toronto Star, quoted former party employees who alleged that May had "created a toxic work environment with conduct that includes yelling at employees and putting them down in front of their colleagues."

The report made reference to an incident from 2006 in which May got upset about delays in a job to repaint her office, as well as to an incident in which the party denied offering her daughter pay for work she had done.

The newspaper extensively quoted May's response to the allegations in its report, describing her own leadership as generous and supportive.

The Star also quoted May as saying that she gives her own money to party operatives who have financial difficulties.

"I studied for the priesthood. I'm really quite a committed Christian. I believe in treating people the way I'd like to be treated myself," May said, according to the report in the Star.

Greens say former employees are 'disgruntled'

After the newspaper report was published, the Green Party released an aggressively-worded statement, dismissing the allegations as criticism from "disgruntled former staff" and questioning the credibility of the three former employees.

"There have been no formal complaints about Ms. May," said the statement. "Sour grapes are unfortunately common with staff who were not retained for performance reasons."

The party also noted that May was the longest-serving federal leader who had received a 94 per cent approval rating from members during her last confidence vote.

"The Green Party believes that as a female political leader, she is being held to a different standard than her male counterparts," said the statement. "A man with these qualities is admired for his leadership. A woman is portrayed as overbearing and bullying. These outdated gender stereotypes have no place in 21st century Canada. It is extremely unlikely that a decade-old anecdote about a man's frustration with his office paint job would merit national news."