In a bid to get the bad news out of the way early, New Democratic Party leader Carole James offered to meet with reporters this morning to respond to the loss of a candidate over "inappropriate" photos posted on the Internet.
Ray Lam, 22, stepped down as the NDP candidate for Vancouver-False Creek on Sunday night after photographs from his personal Facebook page surfaced. In one, a smiling man tagged as Mr. Lam hugs a woman in a low-cut dress, his hand on her breast. In another, the same man is with friends, his pants pulled down to display his underwear.
"No-one likes to lose a candidate during a campaign but that's politics. Ray didn't want this to be a distraction in the campaign so we are moving on," Ms. James said.
The party has until the end of the week to find a replacement candidate before the cut-off for putting a name on the ballot for the May 12 election.
"I thought they showed a lack of judgment," she said. "It's his age – we all recognize that, but when you are in politics, if you are going to be a public figure it's important to recognize that."
The NDP candidate vetting process in B.C. took a battering in the last federal campaign when the party shed three candidates over various controversies.
Julian West stepped down as the Saanich-Gulf Islands candidate over incidents at a youth camp 12 years earlier where he went skinny-dipping and invited teens to body-paint him.
NDP candidates Dana Larsen and Kirk Tousaw were forced out over different controversies.
Ms. James said her party seeks to background check the footprints potential candidates leave on the Internet but not all information is accessible.
"It's a reminder for all candidates of all political parties that when you become a public figure, everything becomes public. Private has a different view when you are a public figure."
