Wait for the same thing to happen in Richmond with the new Vancouver federal Liberal in Tory nomination there.

"Ms. Stilwell said she and her supporters have placed calls to 684 out of the more than 12,000 Conservatives who belong to the local electoral district association. And, of the 155 they actually managed to speak with, just 25 knew they were Tories. The rest "didn't know they had joined the party. And quite a few of those said, ‘Well, no, I'm a Liberal.'" Will wonders never cease?!"

How accurate can that be?

Do the math:

684 out of 12,000 = 0.05 or 5% (doesn't even reach
an acceptable level of phone activity and being a
seasoned campaigner, I wouldn't even accept this
volume in a phone report to the campaign yet as
a minimum hasn't been reached which ideally should be around 20% of the total for suitable
acceptance (this isn't a random sample, but rather
a linear collection going through A to Z).

of the 684, she was able to get through to, about
22% of the total number of calls placed, but still
of the overall total, it's only 1% of the total who responded. Not even registering on the meter.

If there were the same returns from the other two
campaigns (Dhillon and Pandher), then there would
be some merit. But people will say anything on the phone.

Think Stilwell is trying to find out an easy route.

The fundamentalists can be scheming bunch. Remember it was her friends in the Christian Fundamentalist/Pro-Life movement that formed that silly innoculous "Many Friends of VanderZalm" which eventually tore apart the BC Social Credit Party.

come on Stilwell stop crying to the media. Just about getting you own supporters out to vote for the nomination. If these people are not aware they are members chances are they will not go out to vote for a particular candidate. And let's get serious here what are the chances that Stilwell will get more then 50 votes, not likely.

Partisan shots aside, this really does point to a disfunction in the body politic of the Indo-Canadian community, particularly in Surrey.

I have great respect for the fact that the community chooses to be so highly involved in the political proccess. I think it's great. But despite the fact that there is a whole new generation of younger political activists in the community that plays by the rules, there is still a large group in the community that uses political tactics from the old country.

Until these kinds of mass sign-ups and hierarchical, class-based people herding tactics are abandoned, the community will continue to suffer black eye after black eye.

I am less concerned with the party jumping stuff. Although it is highly unseemly, it happens when one party assumes power from another.

Good Luck Gary Dhillon!

Re: The rest "didn't know they had joined the party. And quite a few of those said, ‘Well, no, I'm a Liberal."

Or at least that's what they told her to get her off the phone. Did that ever cross anyone's mind? Who cares what a few people tell the Stilwell campaign?

Who made her the Newton North Delta Conservative Membership List Purity Monitor?

This is perhaps the stupidist story I have ever seen.

Notice you don't hear about these problems in the federal Liberal Party very much any more in BC?

That's because they now have proof of payment provisions in their rules. This means that Liberal membership forms must be accompanied by a personal cheque from the person who is on the form, or a credit card number for that person. If they pay by cash, there must be a photocopy of their i.d. (picture&address) that corresponds. This means that it is virtually impossible to sign up someone without their knowledge.

It is good to see that the Liberals have a much more ethical sign-up procedure. The Tories are still in the dark ages.

Liberals sure love to sign up members who at the end cant even choose their own candidates.

I certainly dont mind a person carrying two party membership cards. But if Paul Brar is trying to screw us with the liberals intentionally, he will not be forgiven easily. Otherwise, if he can transform these new sign-ups into tory votes in the next election and prevent another Chuck Cadman from happening, I am for it. I hope that Heather's tactics will give her enough time to get herself into the race and make it competitive at least.

Newton Tory said:

"Who made her [Stillwell] the Newton North Delta Conservative Membership List Purity Monitor?

This is perhaps the stupidist story I have ever seen."

Generally, Mr. Newton Tory, people who devote countless hours to a nomination campaign show concern about whether or not their opponents are following the rules.

All nomination candidates are provided copies of the membership list so they can contact party members and ask for their support. If many of the people you are calling say they had no idea they were members of the party, that would geenrally raise some red flags, don't you think?

I know it is against the constitution of the Liberal Party of Canada for someone to hold two different federal party cards at the same time. I would imagine the rules in the Conservative party are the same.

This story would - rightly - be an embarassment to the Liberal Party of Canada if it were happening to us, and it is rightly an embarassment to the Conservative Party.

It seems funny to me that Conservatives talk constantly about "accountability" in government, but always try and avoid taking it themselves.

Liberalshavetherightsrulesinplace was right. These problems can and should be addressed.

"Otherwise, if he can transform these new sign-ups into tory votes in the next election and prevent another Chuck Cadman from happening, I am for it. I hope that Heather's tactics will give her enough time to get herself into the race and make it competitive at least."

Hopefuly Heather will be out by the first ballot.

"I know it is against the constitution of the Liberal Party of Canada for someone to hold two different federal party cards at the same time. I would imagine the rules in the Conservative party are the same."

You imagine incorrectly.

Hey Newton Norm. When you say "Hopefuly Heather will be out by the first ballot."

Are you saying you approve of these mass sign up tactics? If another group walked into a political party and simply signed up all the memebers of a synagogue or church, and then went onto win a nomination with those members, all hell would break loose. The media would be all over the story like flies to you know what. Somehow when it is done by a certain ethinic minority we have to look the other way and in fact attack anyone who points to the elephant in the room.

If Heather looses this race it will be because she played by the rules.

First of all - where do Heather Stillwell's loyalties lie with the Christian Heritage Party or the Conservative Party. In my opinion - the Christian Heritage Party. So this crap about being former Liberals now running the Conservative Party is completely bunk.

This other crap about mass signups - all Heather has to do is sign up the churches in the riding like others have done to take over Conservative nominations in other ridings.

For someone that won a Surrey wide election Heather should have a following but if she can only 500-600 sign up then it must be a small following.

The 3 other candidates have being working on this for a year - Heather "come lately" should face reality she will lose because she could not organize as well as the other candidates. This has nothing to do with rules. I am sure there are more Christians in Newton North Delta than Indo-Canadians - so she should have a head-start.

Hey Newton Norm. When you say "Hopefuly Heather will be out by the first ballot."

Are you saying you approve of these mass sign up tactics?

Never said I did, and I don't. Why do people get into these idiotic psychoanalysis tangents?

"If another group walked into a political party and simply signed up all the memebers of a synagogue or church, and then went onto win a nomination with those members, all hell would break loose. "

That's pretty much what Stilwell's friends did
during their heyday in the late 1980's. They went to fundamentalist Christian Churches and persuaded
the congregations to sign up with the BC Social Credit Party to get "their own" elected. Some were
not bonda fide members only to be found out after
they cast votes against the rules.

The same thing occured in 2005 with a few fundamentlast oriented candidates within the CPC, which resulted in a flooding of supporters at nomination meetings, but these same people never showed for election work for their candidate.

The media would be all over the story like flies to you know what. Somehow when it is done by a certain ethinic minority we have to look the other way and in fact attack anyone who points to the elephant in the room.

If Heather looses this race it will be because she played by the rules.

She didn't. She failed to submit proper forms and
therefore should have been prevented from running, but she kicked up such a fuss that the party sighed and let her go on.

If Heather loses the race it's because she is branded a fundamentalist and is not a candidate worthy of having on the team as she will attract all of the religious right wing nuts into thinking "we've broke ground!"

A Christian conservative is far better than a pair of warmed over liberal socialists, regardless of their ethnicity. Heather Stillwell should win the Conservative nomination. Why don't the two others run as the Liberals they really are? It is a strategy of deception that two Liberal run to win the Conservative nomination. Whose plan is this anyway? Conservatives in this riding would have to be insane to select either of the liberals to run for CPC. Why bother going to vote? You'd get a choice between a Lib, another Lib, an NDP, and a Greenie. I'd stay home for sure!