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NDP dissidents threaten to go to court over 'tainted' members

A P Kamath

The controversy over 'tainted' members became even shriller early this week as several dissidents in the New Democratic Party threatened to go to court to block the February 18 to 20 convention which is expected to elect Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh as its leader – and effectively make him the premier of British Columbia. He would be the first Asian premier in Canada.

An internal audit by the NDP has said about 1,000 of recently enrolled 10,000 members – most of whom are Indo-Canadians – were not aware they had been signed up for the NDP. But the auditors also said the new members would not play a key role in the convention.

Dosanjh's supporters have said many of the 'tainted' members gave incorrect answers to the auditors because they could not understand the questions. The auditors were faulted for not using an adequate number of Punjabi-speaking translators during the questioning.

But his critics inside the NDP and in mainstream politics are not satisfied.

If the controversy is not cleared by Friday and new delegates from ridings (election districts) where "massive irregularities" have occurred are not barred from the convention, dissidents are prepared to go to court to stop the convention.

Peter Dimitrov, a lawyer for one of the dissidents, issued a press statement, asserting that it 'is neither morally or legally acceptable' for an NDP leader to be elected 'by reliance on massive irregularities in the delegate selection process.'

Dimitrov said the irregularities 'could not have occurred by accident, but rather by willful, fraudulent actions by unknown persons.'

Dosanjh is not the only one whose supporters went for mass enrollment last year. But his backers were most successful in getting Indian Canadians, mostly moderate Sikhs, join the NDP.

When the controversy started brewing, Dosanjh ordered mass enrollment. His supporters say the charges of mass enrollment are highly exaggerated. They also find racism playing a subtle role in the controversy.

Among Dosanjh's bitter critics is fellow cabinet minister Moe Sihota, who is aligned with radical Sikhs.

Another strong Dosanjh critic is Education Minister Gordon Wilson, who is also contesting the weekend election. Wilson, whose wife is of Indian origin, has sought to make forays into the Indian community that makes up about 10 per cent of the population in and around Vancouver. Sihota is backing Wilson.

Wilson's supporters succeeded recently in disqualifying Charanjit Sandhu who was elected a delegate for Dosanjh. Wilson's supporters saw Sandhu trying to vote in another election district after having voted the previous day. But Sandhu says his mistake was due to a language barrier.

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