The Adrian Dix camp says there was no impropriety in the way it delivered last-minute membership applications to NDP headquarters in January.
Campaign manager Gerry Scott responded this week to comments in Friday’s Star by former Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans, who said he was “disappointed” by Dix’s handling of the forms. Evans likened it to his experience running for the party leadership against Ujjal Dosanjh in 2000, in which 1,300 members were signed up without their consent.
But Scott says there is no comparison.
“I think Corky doesn’t understand the system that’s been brought in since his experiences with Mr. Dosanjh. Probably he’s getting information second and third-hand that just isn’t accurate.”
Scott says the current rules were designed to recognize that campaign teams would work to the deadline to sign up new members.
He says the rules explicitly stated paper memberships had to be delivered by 5 p.m. on the last day, but processing could be completed afterward. New memberships, along with their fees, had to be in batches of 20.
Scott called allegations that the Dix campaign delivered sign-ups along with bags of money “completely inaccurate. That’s simply not true and didn’t occur.”
Furthermore, he says if there are any problems with the memberships, they should be discovered during the party’s 90-day verification process ahead of the April 17 leadership vote.
“The 90 days are to verify people are who they say they are, live where they say they live, paid with their own money, and joined of their own accord. The process wasn’t in place when Corky and Dosanjh squared off. I don’t think Corky realizes the extent of the changes.”
Scott says he put some of those changes in place himself while NDP provincial secretary from 2003-06, and they have been strengthened since. “Certainly it’s a very different world since Mr. Dosanjh became leader.”
Although other leadership candidates filed complaints against Dix over the membership campaign, the party dismissed them as baseless.
As of last November, the NDP had between 12,000 and 13,000 memberships, which is expected to double by the time verification is complete.