Leadership campaigns in Canada may have changed for the better yesterday. The RCMP charged a NDP volunteer in Saskatchewan with "with forgery, along with uttering and attempting to utter forged documents" for selling 1,100 forged memberships in the last NDP provincial leadership campaign:
"Saskatchewan RCMP have charged a man who volunteered in the provincial NDP leadership campaign of Dwain Lingenfelter in connection with irregular memberships sold by the campaign. Ernest Morin -- described by Mr. Lingenfelter as an "over-exuberant volunteer" -- has been charged with forgery, along with uttering and attempting to utter forged documents, RCMP announced yesterday. The NDP revealed in May that band members of the Flying Dust and Waterhen Lake First Nations near Meadow Lake were signed up en masse for NDP memberships without their consent or knowledge during the run-up to the leadership convention. The 1,100 memberships were later cancelled by the party. An internal party report said there was no evidence Mr. Lingenfelter or his senior campaign officials knowingly participated in the sign-up activities."
Selling fake memberships in a leadership race is not new and no political party is pure on this front. My preference would be for Elections Canada to be responsible for all leadership races and riding nominations but short of that happening, potential police involvement will hopefully at least cause organisers to think twice before they sign up dead people or their dogs as members.
(Photo: Peter Power/The Globe and Mail)