Angry in the Great White North

Farhan Chak, the Liberal Party candidate for Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont and supporter of Stephane Dion, has been trying to deal with a controversy that started with a post on this blog. Chak's views on Islamic terrorism are hardly mainstream -- he has written about his belief that Western intelligence agencies are actually behind the violence. He has stated his belief that Canadian Conservatives, at least those in Edmonton, are largely a racist group, and that Stephen Harper's agenda is driven by a philosophy of racial superiority.

The National Post picked up the story and revealed that in 1993 Farhan Chak was arrested and charged with serious firearms offenses, including discharging a shotgun into a crowded nightclub after a knife fight. Farhan Chak insists that the witnesses all agreed that they had identified the wrong person, and that Chak was a victim of mistaken identity.

The problem for the Liberal Party is that all this comes as a surprise. The application form that nominees have to complete is quite explicit in requiring full disclosure of all these details.

But Farhan Chak has a new problem on his hands. It seems the that the doctorate of which he is so proud is a fabrication.

Consider this screen grab from Farhan Chak's campaign website:

He claims to have four academic degrees:

Chak was born in Toronto but his family moved to Edmonton when he was a baby. A graduate of the University of Alberta, he has four academic degrees. He recently finished a doctorate in political science at the University of Durham in England.

This email comes from the Student Planning and Assessment Department of the University of Durham, in response to a request for details of Farhan Chak's degree:

From: ******************* <**************@durham.ac.uk>
Sent: Thu May 03 06:31:18 2007
Subject: Re: Farhan Mujahid Chak

Dear Sir,

I write in response to your email requesting confirmation of the above named persons study at the University of Durham.

I can confirm that he first started his studies from 1 October 2000 on a postgraduate(research) course leading to a PhD, however for the academic year 2006/07 he is not registered with the University in order to continue with this course.

He certainly has not had this degree conferred, because he has not submitted his thesis yet and his name has not appeared on a pass list.

Certainly has not had this degree conferred.

I guess that would be a lie, then.

Are his other degrees legitimate? He claims to have a diploma and a BA from the University of Alberta, and Master's Degree from the University of Bradford in the UK.

Are his claims to have moderated his views with regards to terrorism to be taken at face value?

Was he really a victim of mistaken identity in 1993 with regards to the charge of firing a shotgun into the doorway of a crowded nightclub?

At this point, who knows what to believe?

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