B.C. NDP ousts Anjali Appadurai from leadership race, paving way for David Eby to become premier
Candidate says she did nothing wrong after report says she improperly used 3rd parties for membership drive
The B.C. NDP executive has voted to disqualify Anjali Appadurai from its leadership race, effectively crowning David Eby as the next premier of British Columbia.
Appadurai's disqualification leaves Eby, the former attorney general and housing minister, as the only eligible candidate to succeed Premier John Horgan, who is due to step down on Dec. 3.
The party said chief electoral officer Elizabeth Cull is now considering moving up the date for the leadership vote.
After an hours-long, closed-door meeting Wednesday night, the party sent out a short statement announcing Appadurai's disqualification, which followed an investigation into a wave of new membership sign-ups during the campaign.
"The B.C. NDP executive has voted to support the chief electoral officer's recommendation to disqualify Anjali Appadurai as a candidate as a sanction for violating the rules," president Aaron Sumexheltza said in the release, adding that it's been "a challenging period for members of the party."
Appadurai said she would not comment on the decision until Thursday afternoon, when she has scheduled a news conference outside the legislature.
Wednesday night's announcement prompted a swift negative response from B.C.'s opposition parties.
"David Eby will preside over a government that has suppressed criticism and accountability by making information hard, and sometimes impossible, to access. The way the B.C. NDP has handled its leadership contest is no different," Green MLA Adam Olsen said in a written statement.
Liberal MLA Elenore Sturko accused the NDP of "subvert[ing] the democratic process" and shutting out new party members who support Appadurai.
"It's clear that in the NDP it's all about who you know and who you strike deals with and has nothing to do with merit or even the number of supporters you can sign up. David's dirty deeds have revealed that it's all a sham," Sturko said.
Leaked report
The disqualification comes after Cull recommended Appadurai not be allowed to run in a report that was leaked on Tuesday.
Cull's investigation found Appadurai, 32, broke campaign rules by improperly co-ordinating with third parties to encourage more people to sign up for party membership by Sept. 4 to vote in the leadership race.
"Because no other remedy can adequately address the failings and breaches of the Appadurai campaign in this leadership election contest, the CEO has reached the difficult conclusion that Ms. Appadurai should be disqualified as a candidate," read the report.
"The improper co-ordination ... played such a significant role in the Appadurai campaign that it is impossible to create a level playing field at this point, and thus impossible to restore the leadership election campaign to a state of integrity in which I could have confidence."
Before Wednesday's decision was made, Appadurai said she expected to be tossed out of the race — calling it a sign the party is trying to "control a situation'' where she signed up far more supporters than Eby, who has the backing of most NDP cabinet members.
"It was the politics of the campaign — not the process, personnel or tactics — that attracted the number of members that it did," she wrote in a series of tweets.
"I believe that my campaign has been treated unjustly from the start. I also want to be clear that we have followed the rules, acted with integrity, and tried to make this a contest of ideas.
"It's in all of our interests — to allow the members to decide the next leader."
WATCH | Anjali Appadurai defends her B.C. NDP leadership campaign:
Officials investigated several complaints
Elections B.C. and the NDP both started investigating Appadurai's campaign after receiving complaints that Dogwood B.C.'s involvement represented a proscribed political contribution. Dogwood is an environmental group dedicated to getting voters more involved in politics.
Officials were also looking into allegations that an Appadurai supporter offered to pay for $10 NDP memberships and that the campaign encouraged members of the B.C. Greens to temporarily leave their party to join the NDP and vote for Appadurai.
The report found Dogwood B.C. used emails, paid advertisements and phone banks in an effort to recruit supporters to the NDP in time to vote, something Appadurai said was "certainly not" at the request of her campaign.
WATCH | David Eby says he trusts NDP leadership process:
Elections B.C. says it is investigating Dogwood B.C.'s involvement in the leadership race. A spokesperson said that they don't have a timeline for the completion of the investigation, but the results will be released to the public.
In a statement, Dogwood denies it broke any rules.
"Dogwood's sign-up drive followed multiple conversations with Elections B.C. compliance officers,'' the statement says.
"Third parties like unions, businesses, faith groups and NGOs are allowed to encourage supporters to join a political party. Social movements are core to grassroots democracy in B.C., and sign-up drives are part of every leadership race.''
The report also said Appadurai told supporters in a Zoom call on Aug. 6 the organizations would help her sign up hundreds of new members, with a goal of 1,000 new registrations in less than two days. Appadurai said that the call was with her networks and she was trying to determine the level of support for a potential campaign and that at that time, she had not yet launched a campaign.
Appadurai said the issue comes down to her campaign's connection to and communication with third-party organizations.
"It's not their membership drive that was the problem," she told On The Coast host Gloria Macarenko.
"It's whether we had any connection with them and whether we accepted that help in any way. I maintain that we did not."
As a solution to the "improper" swell in membership, Cull thought about banning new members who signed up after the Aug. 6 meeting from participating in the vote. She decided against it after determining the move would also disqualify voters who signed up properly.
"This potential remedy does nothing to address the CEO's serious concerns about Ms. Appadurai's failures to take any responsibility for the violations committed in relation to her campaign and her distressingly lackadaisical attitude to her obligations as a leadership candidate," Cull said.
Other parties raise concerns
Provincial Green and Liberal Party representatives say the decision to disqualify Appadurai raises questions about democracy within the NDP's own party and Appadurai should be allowed to run.
B.C. Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau said Appadurai inspired and motivated more people to get involved in provincial politics based on her commitment to climate action — her party's primary concern.
"Every party should have climate leadership at the front of their effort right now," she said.
She said there is no concern there's been a mass movement of Green members to the NDP.
The NDP isn't the only party to have courted controversy during a leadership contest.
Last year, the B.C. Liberal Party denied Aaron Gunn the opportunity to run for leader of the party after a review of his public and private comments and the opportunities granted to him to respond to concerns raised by the statements, saying his candidacy would be inconsistent with the Liberal party's commitment to reconciliation, diversity and acceptance.
B.C. Liberal MLA Peter Milobar, who is also the province's finance critic, said this situation is different, because in the case of the Liberals, there were still multiple candidates running for the job. Without Appadurai, Eby automatically becomes leader of the NDP and ultimately, B.C.'s next premier.
"It's just simply not right."
Furstenau described the NDP's decision as "disappointing."
"It's a lousy way to win a leadership race," she said.
"I think it does really create a problem for both David Eby and the NDP in terms of lack of democratic process and debate that should be part of that leadership race."
Appadurai campaign launches petition
In response to the report, Appadurai's campaign launched a petition — Let Her Run — calling on the NDP to let the party membership choose its leader, rather than the executive, or risk "making a mockery of the 'Democratic' in NDP."
Complaints to the NDP in August included an official one from Eby's campaign, the report said.
Appadurai, a former federal NDP candidate and longtime activist, launched her campaign that month with an emphasis on tackling environmental and human rights issues.
In an interview with the Canadian Press, she said she did not have details on the exact number of new NDP memberships her campaign secured but said she heard it could have been as high as 14,000.
Issue could end up in court, expert says
Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, said he was shocked by the report's recommendation despite the seriousness of the allegations.
"I'm a little surprised that they've decided to go for the maximum punishment here — that is, expelling her from the race — rather than exposing some lesser sanctions such as disqualifying memberships, fining her campaign or perhaps something else," Telford said during an interview with CBC's The Early Edition on Wednesday.
"There are going to be questions here about due process ... did Ms. Appadurai have the opportunity to really defend herself? Was due process followed? What was the methodology of the audit that led to the conclusion that there were a lot of fraudulent new members in the party?
"If Ms. Appadurai's legal team finds there were problems in the process that was followed ... then I think we could perhaps see this being taken to the courts."
When asked whether Appadurai planned to take legal action or file an injunction, her media relations co-ordinator told CBC "we have no comment on the future actions Anjali or the campaign will take."
LISTEN | Political science professor weighs in on report recommending Appadurai's disqualification:
With files from Meera Bains, On The Coast and The Canadian Press