As you might remember, the former NDP candidate for the Quebec riding of Riviere-des-Mille-Iles, Francis Chartrand, maintains a blog (mirrored in English and French).  When Francis Chartrand was dumped as a candidate, he claimed on his blog that he was forced out, that he was not even told but learned of the party's decision through the media, and that he was preparing to hold a news conference to publicly discuss this outrage.

Party officials in Ottawa and Montreal applied pressure on Chartrand, and Chartrand deleted that post.  He replaced it with one that claimed that he himself had voluntarily decided to withdraw his candidacy after the party had asked him to reconsider, and that he was pleased to work with the NDP in some other capacity.

I published the two versions of Francis Chartrand's story, both recoverable from the Google cache.  When Chartrand was confronted by a reporter about his changing story using the evidence published on this blog, Chartrand reverted to his original claim of being rudely thrown out as a candidate.  He also publicly accused the NDP of trying to orchestrate a cover-up of his original statements.

A reader informs me that the fallout from this is starting to be felt:

Four candidates at inauguration on the North Shore of Montreal have decided to resign, in solidarity for Chartrand. Diane Lafrance in Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Anne Humphreys in Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, Jeannie Hamel in Montcalm and Mario Langlois in Laval. It is been said on radio on Corus stations around Montreal. He has committee of supporters in the 450 area and inside NDP Quebec. Other resignations are expected, even official candidates.

This has been reported on the radio?  So why hasn't the story progressed farther?  I have found some evidence at French-language site that there have been resignations in support of Francis Chartrand:

Barely 25-years-old, the Francis Chartrand was elected at the nomination meeting held in February 2007.  Joined by telephone, Francis Chartrand says that since December 20 [the day after the story broke on this blog], the candidates for Marc-Aurèle Fortin and Montcalm, Anne Humphreys and Jeannie Hamel, have submitted their resignations to the Federation Council, in solidarity.

That's all I've been able to find, so let's keep this in perspective.  It is stronger than a rumour, but I'd like to see more confirmation on this.

If it is as serious as this seems to be, no doubt the NDP is working hard to keep the lid on it.  And there is plenty to keep a lid on.  My correspondent tells me of harsh graffiti taking direct aim at Jack Layton and the NDP:

People even made graffiti on a wall near the highway 640 and write "Fuck Layton Fuck Mulcair et vive le roi Chartrand. Long live the king Chartand."

The NDP certainly doesn't want those images being shown around during an election campaign.

The implications are significant.  The NDP is investing a great deal of credibility on making a breakthrough in Quebec.  If the NDP campaign bus in Quebec is hitting some serious bumps in the road, the NDP might not be so eager to force an election, at least until the controversy has died away.  Remember that even if the ridings in which candidates have resigned were not serious plays for the NDP, the bad press would hurt the NDP in other Quebec ridings where it might have a fighting chance.

The NDP position in Quebec is such that it can't afford any mistakes.

So I'm going to continue to follow this closely and track rumours of NDP resignations in Quebec.  In the meantime, let's hope that the press, both inside Quebec and at the national level, get some hard facts on this. 

Check out other entries from the Francis Chartrand category
Results will open in a new window.