Leaked emails, exclusive interview: Inside the NDP's wild nomination in Scarborough Centre
Plus: New rules for real estate and e-courts, Grit staffer runs for 2022, OPS still WFH, where things stand on daycare, and all eyes on Kingston
ABOVE THE FOLD
First in Queen’s Park Observer — Allegations that an insider political candidate was given special treatment in the Scarborough Centre nomination contest rocked the NDP this month. NEETHAN SHAN will carry the orange banner in 2022 after coming out on top in the dramatic race — against the backdrop of accusations that another wannabe candidate, D. TYLER ROBINSON, was sidelined in favour of Shan, which led the local riding association’s executive to resign.
For the first time, Robinson speaks about his experience in an exclusive interview. Meanwhile, leaked emails offer a play-by-play on what went down behind the scenes.
ROBINSON SPEAKS — The teacher and anti-racism advocate decided to enter the political arena after hitting a wall with the work he does in the classroom, in the hopes of improving the curriculum and education policy.
“I grew up in Scarborough, it’s incredibly diverse,” Robinson said. “For Black and Indigenous and kids of colour, they have very real day-to-day experiences of racism…There’s a need for legislation [to address that] from Queen’s Park, because that’s where major system wide system solutions in education come from.”
So he found a home with the New Democrats, which have made racial justice a big feature in its platform. But on the ground, Robinson, who is Black, says he felt the party was just paying lip service to its pledge to seek out a diverse ticket.
Not helping with the optics: Shan is considered an insider. He’s previously run for the provincial party, and is an ex-city councillor and school trustee. His wife also works for NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH. Shan has a position on the local riding executive — but tells me he recused himself from any discussions about the nomination contest where they may have been a potential conflict (more on this later).
“If this party wants any chance of forming government, then you have to walk the talk — and that means you have to look at your internal processes. If you bring in a candidate who’s a political insider, a perennial runner, and whose wife works for the leader — you need to make sure that in optics and in practice, things are equal and fair,” Robinson said.
RIDING ASSOCIATION — At issue for the riding executive, as well as Robinson, was a “lack of transparency and accountability” during the race that was “taken out of our hands” by provincial party director LUCY WATSON and NDP HQ, in order to give Shan a leg-up. The open letter goes on to claim NDP brass used “tone policing, gaslighting, bullying and threats to try to silence members of the riding association asking for clarity.”
It also alleges Robinson wasn’t given fair opportunity to scrutinize the members who signed up to vote for Shan.
LEAKED EMAILS — A string of emails offer a glimpse into the specific complaints. Robinson raised questions about the hundreds of membership sign-ups Shan submitted in the eleventh hour before the race — but the party maintains any discrepancies (which aren’t uncommon) were cleared up according to the rules.
“We continue to find more and more people that Neethan submitted that are NOT ‘members in good standing’ (live in riding, paid membership fee, and signed up of own volition), who continue to ask us 'how they got on the list?', 'how we got their number?', etc.,” Robinson wrote in one email to Watson.
But Watson replied that at least 18 members whose status was questioned were investigated and found to be “in good standing” and therefore eligible to vote per the party’s rulebook.
SHAN POINTS TO BIG TURNOUT — Shan, who’s also the executive director of Toronto’s Urban Alliance on Race Relations, said he never felt like the preferred contestant. The real headline, according to Shan, is that the local association grew “six fold” because of the nomination race.
“There are hundreds of new members, and it’s important to be open and welcoming and inclusive to the new people that are coming in,” Shan told me. “If you want to grow, we have to expand our base to people who might not have previously joined in politics.”
WATSON RESPONDS — The party says it’s “completely certain that all rules were followed and all party procedures fully respected throughout the process.”
“The unsuccessful candidate made his allegations some time ago, and we were able to verify at that time beyond a doubt that nothing out of the ordinary or outside the rules happened. Nominations in our party are entirely democratic in all ridings, and members of Scarborough Centre followed the same process to select their candidate,” Watson said in an email statement.
Scarborough Centre is currently repped by PC CHRISTINA MITAS. Tory insiders tell me that is one of the Scarborough-area seats the ruling party is most worried it could lose in the spring election.
HAPPENING TODAY
— 9:30 a.m.: Liberal Leader STEVEN DEL DUCA will talk about the government’s Covid response with reporters on Zoom.
— 10 a.m.: Labour Minister MONTE MCNAUGHTON and his Parliamentary Assistant DEEPAK ANAND will make an announcement in Waterloo about opportunities for immigrants.
— 12 p.m.: Transportation Minister CAROLINE MULRONEY will make an announcement about highway improvements in North Bay. Also in tow: Her PA VIJAY THANIGASALAM, North Bay Mayor AL MCDONALD, and MARK WILSON, a member of the group Going the Extra Mile for Safety.
MAKING HEADLINES
— OPS WFH: “The Ontario Public Service is ‘temporarily interrupting’ its return to the workplace plans for provincial government staff,” CBC reports. “A memo from OPS Head MICHELLE DIEMANUELE to employees that was obtained by CBC News said the decision was made in line with the latest public health guidance from the province's chief medical officer of health.”
— LAST PROVINCE STANDING: With New Brunswick on board with the feds $10-a-day child care agreement, Ontario is now the last provincial holdout. Grit Leader STEVEN DEL DUCA called it a “shameful” political standoff that leaves parents footing the bill.
The big sticking points for Ontario: the cost and timeline of the $10.2-billion offer. Both the feds and province say negotiations are chugging along “positively” — but there’s no indication it’ll get inked before the end of the year.
— ALL EYES ON KINGSTON: “As Ontario braces for a tidal wave of Omicron cases, the Kingston area is already struggling to contain the new variant of concern that has flamed through the city, forcing the region to enact new public health restrictions now among the toughest in the province.” That includes capping outdoor gatherings at five people. The Star has the story.
— FOREIGN BUYERS’ TAX HIKE? Per Bloomberg, Ontario is willing to go it alone sans action from the feds and bring in a 20 per-cent-foreign homebuyers tax provincewide.
— THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT: Verify Ontario, the vaccine certificate app that launched a few months ago, can now be used to validate the status of out-of-province folks. The biz lobby lauded the update:
— TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: As the 50-plus crowd became eligible to book Covid boosters, the provincial appointment system experienced so many glitches many said they just gave up and logged off. Details from the Canadian Press.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
First in Queen’s Park Observer — PROMOTION: FRASER MCDONALD — a longtime Conservative operative who worked on late ex-Mayor ROB FORD’s campaign — goes from senior associate to vice president at GR firm Stosic & Associates.
— 2022: WENDY WESTON, longtime constituency staffer in former premier KATHLEEN WYNNE’s office, is throwing her hat in the ring for Eglinton—Lawrence, currently repped by PC ROBIN MARTIN.
REGULATORY ROUNDUP
Proposals posted to the government’s regulatory registry this week relate to digitizing the courts and modernizing real estate rules.
REALTOR RULES — The proposal: The Ford government is hammering out the fine print for its legislation overhauling real estate regulations, which brought in new enforcement tools, more disclosure of competing bids, and allowed agents to incorporate. Deadline for public feedback: January 24.
E-COURTS — Proposal: Prepare to cough up more in fees for electronic court transcripts. Deadline: December 22.
🥳 HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY: NDPer BHUTILA KARPOCHE (Parkdale—High Park).