Today, The Vancouver Sun's Peter O'Neil reported Sukh Dhaliwal has withdrawn his support for Joe Volpe's federal Liberal leadership bid. Mr. Dhaliwal is paraphrased as saying "his B.C. constituents don't support his continued involvement in Volpe's bid," adding that it was "wrong" for the former citizenship and immigration minister "to accept $27,000 from five children." And it is our understanding there was also realization among those close to Mr. Dhaliwal that the Newton-North Delta MP's continued association with Mr. Volpe's campaign might be a source of ammunition for the Conservatives in the next election.
There was, evidently, no dramatic break-up conversation between the two men prior to Mr. Volpe Tuesday evening announcement that Mr. Dhaliwal was no longer backing him. But the fact John Delacourt, Mr. Dhaliwal's execuative assistant, bailed from Mr. Volpe's team last Friday was likely an early indication his boss might also be grabbing a parachute. Mr. Delacourt previously served as Mr. Volpe's press secretary. The following is a complete copy of the announcement.
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From: Corey Hobbs
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 5:34 PM
To: coreyhobbs@joevolpe.ca
Subject: Press Release / Communique de Presse
Press Release
Volpe comments on Sukh Dhaliwal's departure from his campaign.
Ottawa, June 6, 2006 - The Honourable Joseph Volpe, Member of Parliament for Eglinton - Lawrence and Liberal leadership candidate today made the following statement about Sukh Dhaliwal.
"Last evening I had a long discussion with Mr. Dhaliwal, at which time he indicated strong support for my leadership and direction for the Liberal party. Sukh and I have been friends for many years, it was with shock and sadness that I learned he was no longer supporting my bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party. While all Liberals, including Mr. Dhaliwal, have the right to support any of the leadership candidates, I respect but disagree with his decision. I do hope that at some point, during the next six months, Mr. Dhaliwal rejoins my campaign and once again partakes of my vision for the Liberal Party. While it is good to have the support of Members of Parliament, the leadership of the party is decided by grass roots members, and I am pleased to see the great deal of support that I am receiving from all regions across the country."
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For further information please contact: Corey Hobbs
Director of Media Relations
613-818-2337
coreyhobbs@joevolepe.com
It was probably the best thing for Dhaliwal to leave the campaign. More importantly he has done it for the right reasons.
Moving forward, the Liberal Party can not be part of fundraising scandals whether they are real or perceived.
Volpe should resign, but he probably won't... the leadership race is the only way he can have any influence in the party.
this changes the membership game happening in the Indo community
looks like Kennedy now has the muscle in the Indo community..his team has local political heavyweights like:
Prem (Peter) Vinning, Jatinder Sidhu (fraser valley business association president), Parm Bains (this guy is a great organizer for BC libs), Gurdev Dhillon (president of Riding Association and controls Burnaby New West),Realtor Amar Randhawa (he worked for fed libs in past), Amrik Sangha (major Ujjal supporter and fundraiser), Notary public Del Virk, Chanchal Bal and heavyweight Interior supporters like Gian Sandhu and Dr. Gary Randhawa. these guys have quite a ground team organizing.
no other candidate seems to have the muscle in the indo community, now with Sukh deserting Volpe it seems like a easy ride for Kennedy
Kennedy also has the support of the chinese community with the backing of Raymond Chan and his crew of chinese campaign workers. they are flooding all the ridings with memberships
where is Shinder Purewal or Randeep Sarai in all this, is it true that Sarai is supporting Rae? why would he do that?
Doesn't look like Surrey is well represented on that list from pieman - other than Prem and Del Virk. Richmond, Vancouver, Burnaby, New West, Vernon, Kelowna, Williams Lake.... but not Surrey.
Doesn't surrey still have the largest membership and therefore largest delegates? Surrey is delegate rich and a key area in the party.
Don't know what Sukh's strategy is but I always thought that him and Volpe were tight. Lot's of visit's during the election and during his nomination campaign.
Pieman,
Sounds like Kennedy is going for instant memberships, the last thing that the party needs now.
At the end of the day, BC organizers for Kennedy are on a second tier compared to Navdeep Bains and the WSO in Toronto. Nav controls the show.
The group also sounds like the old Sheila Copps group. Where is she now?
No, every riding gets the same number of delegates. A larger membership only gives you a higher % of delegates for the first round of voting only.
Joe is being quite foolish and seriously harming the Liberal Party. In QP, Harper is responding to child care questions by replying that the Conservatives are funding families at the rate of $1200 a year rather than collecting $5400 from each child.
Due to its past practices the Liberal Party should have jumped on this opportunity and rejected Volpe's status as a candidate. This would provide them with a clear example to point to in the future and state "See we're not the Party of Chretien and Martin, we obey the law now." With Volpe's pizza lunch record, it should be clear to all Liberals that Volpe is completely unsuitable to be Leader.
Of course, as a Conservative, I hope he stays right where he is.
Sukh will support Ignatieff or Kennedy, him and Ujjal are gonna hold and wait now. WSO will carry Ontario for Kennedy and the guys named aboive will carry BC for Kennedy. It is gonna be a ground war
Sam,
I suppose, if you're a liberal, you'd say he baled for the right reasons:
"continued association with Mr. Volpe's campaign might be a source of ammunition for the Conservatives in the next election"
Obviously, he's not taking any "high road".
Typical...
Randeep Sarai and Bernie Simpson are supporting Bob Rae
every riding has the same number of delegates. Whether they have 10 members or 100,000
Yup. Look for Sukh to be supporting Ignatieff in the days to come...
Sukh sits beside Iggy in the House, so it wouldnt be a huge surprise, but Iggy has been losing momentum pretty fast, especially in BC i think.
Isn't it incredible? The Liberals are trying to renew themselves using an old fashioned delegate based Leadership Convention. Most other parties are going to a broader total membership ballot.
And just look at how Liberals are discussing the race. No great issues or themes, and no excitement about the candidates, either. It's all insider gossip, who's going with who for what rewards. Political junkies may get aroused by this kind of material, but to the general public, this is very deadly stuff.