Setting the record straight in Vancouver South
December 12, 2014
An open letter to the CBC
The Liberal Party of Canada sent the following message to the CBC regarding the many factual errors in its story on the Vancouver South nomination process:
Dear CBC,
We expect accuracy and balance in CBC’s reporting and have outlined below a number of factual errors in the piece run by Terry Milewski on the Vancouver South nomination meeting on December 9. We also hope that CBC journalists will contact the Liberal Spokesperson or Liberal officials before running allegations in the future.
Erroneous allegations and corrections:
- Allegation: A large group of Sikh Liberals in British Columbia are quitting the party.
Fact: False, so far LPC has only received 3 membership cancellation requests from Vancouver South since April 1, 2014.
- Allegation: Trudeau is being “manipulated” by Sikhs under the banner of the World Sikh Organization (un-sourced quote).
Fact: False, the Liberal Party of Canada has no link whatsoever with the WSO and we strongly condemn those comments.
The Party has received only 3 membership cancellation requests in the riding of Vancouver South since April 1, 2014.
- Allegation: Liberal Party’s been hijacked by the WSO (quote from Rajinder Singh Bhela).
Fact: False, the Liberal Party of Canada as no link whatsoever with the WSO and we strongly condemn those comments.
- Allegation: Rajinder Singh Bhela has been a longtime Liberal.
Fact: According to the Liberal Party of Canada records (going back to 2006), Mr. Singh Bhela has never held an LPC membership card.
- Allegation: The Liberal Party, especially Justin, is in bed with extremist and fundamental groups (quote from Kashmir Dhaliwal).
Fact: This is not factual.
- Allegation: The Party selected a WSO-backed candidate, Harjit Singh Sajjan, over a prominent businessman, Barj Dhahan.
Fact: First, the Liberal Party of Canada does not choose candidates, Members do. Mr. Sajjan will be acclaimed because there isn’t another qualified nomination contestant in this riding, though requests for nomination paperwork have been available to any Canadian who wished to apply for over 11 months. Barj Dhahan began the process to become a qualified contestant in Vancouver South, but withdrew before completing the process. Second, Harjit Singh Sajjan is not a member of the WSO, and there is no evidence to conclude that Mr. Sajjan is backed by the WSO other than allegations made by political opponents.
- Allegation: The fact that he will not face a vote leads some party stalwarts to allege a violation of Trudeau’s promise to hold open nominations.
Fact: Open nominations do not mean that anyone has a right to run for the Liberal Party of Canada. We have a responsibility to ensure a very rigorous candidates screening process is in place, and that all candidates must complete it before having their name on a ballot. Mr. Dhahan withdrew from the race prior to the vetting process being completed. The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to holding open nominations in all 338 riding across the country. So far, the Party has held more than 170 open nominations, bringing in over 300,000 members. An acclamation does not mean there was not an open nomination process, as anyone had the opportunity to enter our open nomination process.
- Allegation: 4,000 will tear up their memberships.
Fact: Again, so far the Party has received only 3 membership cancellation requests in the riding of Vancouver South since April 1, 2014.
- Allegation: Sanghera said Dhahan, a well-known business leader who accompanied Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s last trade mission to India, was a popular candidate who signed up some 4,000 new members.
Fact: According to our records, Mr. Dhahan and his supporters submitted significantly less than 4,000 membership forms.
- Allegation: Sajjan had only 1,000 new members and would have lost the nomination had the party leadership not persuaded Dhahan to step aside (quote Sanghera).
Fact: According to our records, Harjit Sajjan submitted more than 3400 membership in the past year, including 2512 since September 16th.
- Allegation: The WSO, said Sanghera, is not representative of Canada’s Sikhs, but has prevailed upon Trudeau to pick its favoured candidate.
Fact: Open nominations do not mean that anyone has a right to run for the Liberal Party of Canada. We have a responsibility to ensure a very rigorous candidates screening process is in place, and that all candidates must complete it before having their name on a ballot. Mr. Dhahan withdrew from the race prior to the vetting process being completed. The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to holding open nominations in all 338 riding across the country. So far, the Party has held more than 170 open nominations, bringing in over 300,000 members. An acclamation does not mean there was not an open nomination process, as anyone had the opportunity to enter our open nomination process.
- Allegation: “The Liberal Party is encouraging terrorist people.” – Majar Sidhu
Fact: This is not factual.