Angry in the Great White North

Just received over Broadcast News:

Liberal candidate resigns amid controversy (Liberal-Candidate-Resign)
Source: Broadcast News
May 3, 2007 18:02

OTTAWA - A Liberal candidate for the next federal election has resigned amid mounting controversy over his intemperate views and exaggerated academic credentials.

Farhan Chak offered his resignation today and it was accepted by the party.

Chak was nominated last month to carry the Liberal banner in Edmonton-Millwoods-Beaumont.

Since then, Tory bloggers have had a field day, digging up articles written by Chak which revealed some impolitic views about Israel, India and Islamic terrorists.

They've also cast doubt on Chak's claim that he's earned a PhD from the University of Durham in the United Kingdom.

(BN)

Offered his resignation? Told to offer his resignation? I guess it doesn't matter much now. Either the Liberal Party had enough of this guy, or Farhan Chak decided that he couldn't afford to have any more skeletons dragged out of hs closet. But the Liberal Party in Alberta is damaged as a result:

One of the main sources of the article is Sital Nanuan, an individual who lost the race to Mr. Chak to become the Liberal candidate for Edmonton-Millwoods-Beaumont. This man is the same man who tried to cheat the system by sneaking in voters to ballot booths after the voting deadline in a sickening attempt to topple Farhan Chak who won the support and admiration of his constituency.

I can tell you that Sital Nanuan was never in touch with me, but in any case, Chak's supporters described Nanuan as "sickening". Now that Chak has been forced out in disgrace, I can't imagine the Liberals in Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont uniting behind Nanuan or anyone else.

Sital Nanuan, who lost the nomination to Mr. Chak, says he was aware of his opponent's past writings from Internet searches but chose not to raise them during the campaign. "It could have backfired," Mr. Nanuan says. Mr. Chak had strong backing from the Mill Woods Muslim community, he explains, and was popular because he was Edmonton campaign manager for Stephane Dion's Liberal leadership bid. "You think they'll listen to me? Because he says, 'I have been working with Dion,' so the whole committee, they wanted to help him out."

So Dion's man has been tossed aside in what has to be a particularly ugly and embarrassing manner. Stephane Dion has been silent throughout this episode. People who looked to Stephane Dion for leadership are probably disappointed. Others who have aligned themselves to Dion might be wondering if they made a mistake. And those who oppose Stephane Dion's leadership might feel emboldened, at least in the Edmonton area, to wrest control of those riding associations from Dion's people.

I expect that if any of this happens, it will be very much under the radar. But I'll keep my ear to the ground nevertheless.

As for Chak, I suppose he can go back to England to actually get the doctorate. Or perhaps he has other plans. I've wondered why he would go to such lengths to secure a nomination in a riding that the Liberals almost certainly could never win. Lying to the party about his previous writings, his brushes with the law, his academic credentials -- he took big risks for this nomination. What was so important about a nomination for a riding that he will almost never represent in Ottawa? The only thing I can think of is that Farhan Chak or his family were planning to use an election run to enhance their standing in the community in some way. Win or lose, a well-fought election could have worked in their favour. A disgraceful exit like this, though, almost certainly does not, which might explain why Chak fought so hard to hold on to the nomination.

We might never know.

I'll be discussing this on “The World Tonight” with Rob Breakenridge of AM770 CHQR tonight at 10:35pm Eastern Time.

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