Kitchener-Waterloo NDP

Infighting dogs Liberal nomination

Accusations fly; member wants leader Stephane Dion to step in
February 13, 2008
(http://news.therecord.com/article/308494)

TAMSIN MCMAHON
RECORD STAFF
CAMBRIDGE

With a spring federal election possible, Cambridge Liberals are trying to rebuild their fractured membership after a bitter nomination contest.

On Sunday, party members packed a Cambridge hotel to elect 36-year-old technology executive Gord Zeilstra to run against Conservative MP Gary Goodyear.

It was a massive turnout, with nearly 1,000 voting out of the riding association's record 1,600 members.

But angry losing candidates claim Zeilstra and the riding executive bent the rules. At least one candidate is demanding that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion step in to nullify the vote.

"This whole thing has been tainted from the beginning and the party has allowed it to happen," said Jan Liggett, one of three people who ran against Zeilstra.

"I will not stand by and let my party -- something I believe in -- be hijacked."

Problems started last summer, when three declared candidates began complaining that the riding association was dragging its heels in setting a date for the nomination meeting.

They argued the delay was keeping the eventual winner from fundraising and gaining a public profile.
In June, Liggett and contenders Robert Konduros and Judy Nairn complained in a letter to Matthew Chandy, the association president at the time.

They copied it to senior party executives in Toronto.

Chandy responded with an e-mail to association board members, asking them to cease contact with the three candidates and to find new ones.

He accused the candidates of embarrassing the party.

In an interview, Chandy said he sent the e-mail to "get the mudslinging under control." Nomination meetings are set by the party's provincial arm, he said, and he had no control over the timing.

Gord Zeilstra entered the race in September, supported by Chandy, who stepped down as president to become Zeilstra's campaign manager.

In November, Zeilstra's opponents complained he was using improperly obtained membership forms to sign up hundreds of new supporters.

They demanded that he be disqualified from the race and his contested membership forms tossed.
The party's central office in Ontario cancelled a planned November nomination meeting to investigate the complaints.
The investigation cleared Zeilstra, finding he had committed a minor, "unintentional breach" of the rules by using membership forms from the riding association before he was officially approved as a candidate.

"There is no evidence that Mr. Zeilstra obtained a numeric or tactical advantage through the use of riding membership forms," the report said.

It found that disqualifying Zeilstra, or his 262 contested membership forms, would be a "grossly disproportionate" penalty.
He was ordered to pay $1 for each membership form and required to reimburse the other three candidates a total of $1,000 for the cancelled November meeting.

"As far as it concerned myself, there was a finding and it was a very diligent process," Zeilstra said in an interview. "There was no material advantage given to me by how these forms were obtained or used."

But opponent Robert Konduros said the penalty was so minor "you could almost construe it as a slap on the wrist."
Konduros said he lost by 24 votes and would have won if Zeilstra's 262 contested members had been disqualified.
Tempers got so heated in the run-up to the nomination that police were called to an association meeting at the Cambridge carpenters union office after a physical confrontation between Chandy and Les Kadar, who is Liggett's husband. Kadar was on the association executive but stepped down temporarily while his wife was running.

Tired of waiting for the party to call the nomination meeting, Kadar said he tried to get back on the board.
He said Chandy physically blocked him from attending a meeting, so Kadar ducked under his arms. When Chandy threatened to call the police, Kadar said he called them first. Chandy said he was the one who called the police after Kadar threw himself at Chandy.
Organizers rescheduled the nomination meeting for December but had to scrap it again after the party executive ruled the association hadn't given the required seven-days' notice.

The complaints continued into Sunday's vote, with candidates alleging their scrutineers caught Zeilstra supporters voting multiple times, wearing different clothes.

"The hallways were clogged with Zeilstra supporters who were quite big and burly and intimidating to people and trying to change people's minds," Konduros said.

The association could not provide the vote tallies this week.

Despite his concerns over Sunday's vote, Konduros said he isn't planning to appeal the nomination and hopes the party can still come together in time for an election.

"I hope people don't perceive Gord as damaged goods," he said.

Liggett is still considering an appeal and wants Dion to nullify the vote.

Liggett, who served as a local Dion delegate at the last leadership convention, stressed that such disputes aren't unique to the Cambridge riding or even the Liberal party.

Chandy, who plans to run again for association president, said he expects the association can regroup in time for an impending election.
"I don't think it has caused any serious divisions," he said. "There's going to be people who are upset that their candidate didn't win. Our main goal is to unite everyone together and bring everyone together. That's the only way you're going to win."
tmcmahon@therecord.com

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