The NDP’s almighty vetters are incompetent.
As a reason for rejecting my leadership application, the unelected three person vetting committee wrote that I “expressed an intention to run for the Green Party of Canada” while campaigning for NDP leader.
That’s odd. Is a Green Party leadership race taking place? Or maybe I announced early to get a head start on the rest of the field?
Of course, I never said I was running to lead the Greens. The unelected vetters source for this claim was a Bluesky impersonation account. Two months ago, YvesEngler.bsky.social stated, “I can’t wait to run for the Greens next. I’m just getting started here.”
Three months ago we publicly denounced that impersonation account and tried to have it taken down. It isn’t even a good impersonation account. The profile photo is weird and the account has rarely been used. A post just below the one claiming I was running for the Greens notes, “Zionist cars are following me around Montreal, but I will not be intimidated by these genocidal supremacists.”
Still, those who know better than NDP members who is an acceptable candidate used it as proof to exclude me from the race. The vetters sloppiness was startling but, even if true would it be grounds for exclusion?
Leadership candidate Tony McQuail has called for a coalition with the Greens. According to a CTV report, it was the main theme of his launch speech. CTV described his proposal as merging the Greens and NDP, referencing the name Green Democratic Progressive Party. On his NDP donation page it says McQuail will “develop a Green Progressive Coalition.”
Since he recently resigned as a minister over Mark Carney’s climate criminality, Steven Guilbeault’s name has been bandied about as a potential NDP leadership candidate. It’s doubtful NDP vetters would block Guilbeault if he chose that path.
The NDP leader before Jagmeet Singh was a long time Liberal. Thomas Mulcair was a minister in Jean Charest’s Quebec Liberal government for years before jumping to the NDP.
The fact that the vetting committee cited a fake account to justify my rejection from the race suggests its due diligence was inadequate. Throughout the vetting process no one from the party called or emailed me to ask for any clarification.
More remarkably, when my lawyer sent a detailed, point by point, rebuttal to the vetters’ allegations for rejecting my candidacy the Leadership Review Committee didn’t respond to any of the information provided. They simply stated “After careful consideration, the Leadership Review Committee has decided to uphold the original decision to reject your candidacy. In accordance with the Leadership Rules, the Committee’s decision is final, and no further review will be considered.”
In response my lawyer Dimitri Lascaris asked, “You have provided no explanation whatsoever — not even in summary form — of the Leadership Review Committee’s decision to uphold the original decision. Is your email sent to me today at 15:51 all the explanation that Mr. Engler will receive from the Review Committee for upholding the original decision?”
They simply responded yes.
The national director of the NDP, Lucy Watson, claimed this body was “independent”. Watson told the Globe and Mail, “He exercised his right to request a Review, and an independent Review Committee upheld that decision.”
It appears the powers that be in the NDP are obfuscating on thin ice.
Please email the NDP Federal Council to demand they overturn the anti-democratic decision
