VICTORIA — NDP political staffer and school trustee Gurveen Dhaliwal is off the hook for scrutineering an election where she was also a candidate, after saying she did not know it was against the law to do so.
Politics
‘Vindication’ for NDP political staffer
NDP political staffer off the hook for serving as a scrutineer in an election where she was also a candidate after claiming she didn’t know it was against the law.
Nevertheless, Gordon decided that it was not in the public interest for Dhaliwal to be charged with violating the rule. He gave several reasons, including that “the offence was committed as a result of a genuine mistake or misunderstanding of fact.”
Dhaliwal told a police investigation that “she was unaware that, as a candidate, she was prohibited from being present at the voting place for any purpose other than casting her own ballot.”
“It was a lapse of memory on Gurveen’s part that she could not be a scrutineer,” said Cheryl Greenhalgh, chair of Community First New West in a statement last October.
“Gurveen deeply regrets this mistake,” added the party chair while at the same time telling reporters that Dhaliwal would not be available for comment.
In listing his reasons for not laying a charge, the independent special prosecutor noted that election officials had slipped up when they authorized Dhaliwal to serve as a scrutineer.
“The presiding election official did not ask her if she was a candidate, and he mistakenly neglected to check her name against the list of candidates in the election. “An argument could be made that Ms. Dhaliwal’s wrongful act of remaining to scrutineer was induced by the election official’s error.”
“Ms. Dhaliwal did not serve as a scrutineer for long. CCTV from the community centre showed Ms. Dhaliwal arriving at 12:19 p.m. and departing at 12:39 p.m. It was estimated that a small number of voters, perhaps a half-dozen, used the ballot box at which Ms. Dhaliwal was scrutineering over this period.”
Dhaliwal was elected Oct. 15 to a second term as a school trustee on the slate of Community First New West, a civic party aligned with the NDP.
Special prosecutor Gordon cited her electoral success as one of the mitigating factors in deciding that a charge was not in the public interest: “Her re-election to a second term shows she is well-regarded in New Westminster.”
The Dhaliwal case was marked by some strange machinations in the provincial government.
On May 1, while she was still under police investigation, she was appointed as a political aide to Health Minister Adrian Dix. Two weeks later, the appointment was shifted to Labour Minister Harry Bains.
The New Democrats never explained the reason for the switch, nor their reasons for hiring Dhaliwal as a political aide while she was also serving on the school board.
Pay for ministerial advisers ranges from $67,000 to $97,000. Pay for New Westminster school trustees is in the range of $27,000 to $30,000.
The next day, May 27, Premier David Eby explained that Dhaliwal had been placed on administrative leave.
“We take this investigation incredibly seriously,” Eby told reporters. “As soon as we learned about it, we placed the staffer on administrative leave. And at this point, it is in the hands of the special prosecutor and certainly, we’ll continue to monitor the situation, but the staffer was immediately placed on leave.”
In early June, Dhaliwal “stepped back from her role as chair” of the New West school board, although she continued to serve as a trustee.
She indicated as much in a statement Friday through her lawyer.
“Our client looks forward to continuing to serve New Westminster as well as the province of British Columbia, and will not be granting any interviews or providing additional statements at this time,” lawyer Joven Narwal told Theresa McManus of the New Westminster Record.
He added that his client considered herself “vindicated by this decision.”
But when a politician’s best defence is ignorance of a key provision in election law, that’s not much of a vindication.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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