Deveryn’s Decision — After Mangat, who else will the NDP disqualify?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/08/2011 (5545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gurmail Mangat is the president of Unicity Taxi and a prominent leader in Winnipeg’s Indo-Canadian community. He should also be the NDP candidate for the St. Norbert riding.

He sold the most memberships prior to the scheduled nomination meeting and was destined to win the party’s nomination.

The provincial NDP executive won’t let that happen, however. After an "emergency meeting" last Monday, Mangat has been disqualified.

Lorraine Sigurdson, the NDP’s provincial president, told Winnipeg Free Press reporter Larry Kusch that the party has evidence that Mangat was once a Liberal and that he failed to disclose that information during the candidate screening process.

She told Winnipeg Sun reporter Ross Romaniuk that Mangat was "disrespectful in the way he answered direct questions. He’s the author of his own destiny."

Mangat denies he has ever been a Liberal and, unless the NDP has access to the Liberal party membership database for the past 30 years — if it even exists — how could they prove otherwise? Was a high-profile, visible minority candidate disqualified based on unproven hearsay?

Even more importantly, since when is past membership in another political party a sin that justifies such extreme punishment? Doesn’t the Charter and the Human Rights Code guarantee freedom of association?

Given that Canadians were surprised to learn that the federal NDP is currently led by a former Bloc Québécois and Quebec Solidaire member, why hasn’t Sigurdson called for Nicole Turmel’s disqualification?

If Mangat’s (alleged) past Liberal loyalty is the real reason for his disqualification, as Sigurdson claims, the NDP’s provincial executive has no choice but to disqualify all other candidates with a Liberal (or any other party) history.

Otherwise, Mangat has a strong argument that his disqualification has nothing to do with his past politics, but rather factors that the NDP doesn’t have the courage to articulate.

If the NDP applies the same criteria to all of its candidates, matters could quickly become uncomfortable for Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell.

Caldwell was once a card-carrying member of the Liberal party, at a time when a membership in that party was a membership in both the federal and provincial wings of the party. He was even a voting delegate at a federal party leadership convention.

Those facts are not disclosed in Caldwell’s biographical information on the provincial NDP website, nor on his Wikipedia page. The party may only be learning of Caldwell’s Liberal past as they read this column.

This situation is further complicated by the fact that the NDP website indicates that Caldwell is also a member of the provincial NDP executive — the very same group that disqualified Mangat.

Fair is fair. If the rules are the same and the facts are the same, shouldn’t the result be the same?

If a former Liberal like Caldwell can be allowed to run for the NDP, and even serve on the party’s provincial executive, it’s easy to understand why Mangat might conclude there is one set of rules for him, but a different set for everybody else.

Moving to another issue, Errol Black and I often disagree on issues — sometimes vigorously — but I completely agree with his latest letter to the editor, published in Wednesday’s Sun.

In that letter, Black takes Mayor Shari Decter Hirst to task for her refusal to allow city council to consider a motion, proposed by a National Farmers Union representative, that would support the Canadian Wheat Board. She decreed that "I have ruled it ultra vires so it won’t be debated."

Like Black, I am surprised and disappointed that none of our city councillors challenged her edict, nor even asked her to explain it. And, like Black, it reminds me of both the unilateral manner in which former mayor Dave Burgess often handled such issues and the meekness with which city council repeatedly bowed to his will.

Black reminded readers that the more things change, the more they remain the same. He might have also pointed out that when she was running for election, Decter Hirst fiercely criticized Burgess’ dictatorial practices.

With all the sincerity she could muster, she promised she would never behave like that.

But now she has.

» Deveryn Ross is a longtime Brandon resident and has been active at all levels of politics.