Angry in the Great White North

Francis Chartrand and Micheline Montreuil: Is Thomas Mulcair behind NDP problems in Quebec?

Though there is some confusion about the size of the fallout from the decision of the NDP to cancel the candidacies of Micheline Montreuil and Francis Chartrand in Quebec, it is clear that there has been some fallout.

Anne Humphreys, a candidate who resigned her candidacy in support of Francis Chartrand, attributes the problems to Thomas Mulcair, the former provincial Liberal cabinet minister who ran for the NDP in the Liberal stronghold of Outremont.  In that by-election, Stephane Dion's hand-picked candidate, Jocelyn Coulon, was handily defeated by Mulcair.

According to Humphreys, Mulcair has promised to bring in a dozen star candidates.  Jack Layton desperately wants these people as candidates, so longtime NDP members like Chartrand and Montreuil are chucked aside.

NDP members in Quebec are not happy about this.

The Chartrand Affair: Reports of more NDP resignations in Quebec

When Francis Chartrand was forced out as an NDP candidate, it seemed to be an interesting story of NDP spin doctoring.  Chartrand had posted an angry open letter on his blog, calling Jack Layton and the NDP undemocratic.  We learned later that NDP officials twisted his arm and compelled him to replace that post with another one that spoke highly of the NDP, and claimed that Chartrand had himself decided to step aside as a candidate.

Well, the whole story came out, and now everyone knows that Chartrand was forced out as the candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles, and that the NDP tried to cover it up.  My friend in Quebec is telling me that the Quebec media is now calling this "L'Affaire Chartrand", and that the list of NDP candidates and campaign staffers resigning continues to grow.

The NDP, Francis Chartrand, and hints of fallout in Quebec

As readers might recall, Francis Chartrand was the NDP candidate for the Quebec riding of Riviere-des-Milles-Iles.  In mid-December, the party cancelled his candidacy.  Francis Chartrand was outraged, claiming that he hadn't even been told, but that he found out through news reports.

The NDP tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress his story, pressuring Chartrand to change his story so that it was his decision to step down as a candidate, and that Chartrand was happy to work for the NDP in another capacity. 

That plan worked...for about a day. 

This blog published both versions of Chartrand's story (he had them both on his blog, replacing his angry version under NDP pressure).  When confronted with the evidence that the story on his blog had change dramatically, Chartrand reverted back to his allegation that he was unilaterally forced out, and revealed that party officials in Ottawa and Montreal were compelling him to tell a very different story.

Until now, there has been little fallout reported from all this.  But a reader tells me that this could change as NDP candidates are resigning in support of Chartrand, or in protest of the NDP's heavy-handed way of handling the matter.

I have found some independent reports of resignations because of the Chartrand issue.  This could change everything.

Apparently this blog ruined NDP plans to keep Francis Chartrand under wraps

If you've been following this blog since December, you'll know I've written a series of articles on Francis Chartrand.  Francis Chartrand was the NDP candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles in Quebec, until in mid-December, the NDP declared he was not going to be the candidate for the party.

That's when the fun began, and apparently, I spoiled an attempt by the NDP to keep Francis Chartrand under wraps.

Did Francis Chartrand accuse the NDP of hacking his blog?

The story of Francis Chartrand continues to amuse me.  Chartrand was to be the NDP candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles.   Then mid-December, it was announced that he was no longer the candidate.

Then the fun began and hasn't stopped since.

The latest chapter: Francis Chartrand all but accuses the NDP of hacking his blog.

Former NDP candidate Arif Jinha dumps on Jack Layton

There has been no news or announcement as far as I can tell.  Another NDP candidate, Arif Jinha, has quit.

Why?  That would be hard to know, since his blog has been erased, but thanks to the Google cache, we know what Jack Layton and the NDP would like to keep quiet.

Arif Jinha did not enjoy being treated as what he termed as an "advertising rep" for Jack Layton.

Francis Chartrand's NDP blog a victim of hackers...or maybe not

The story of former NDP candidate Francis Chartrand continues to amuse me.  In particular, his blog seems to be the focus of weird happenings, with Chartrand posting and deleting posts in rapid succession as a result of his candidacy being spiked by the NDP brass. 

On top of his political career being nipped in the bud, now it seems like Chartrand's blog has been hacked.

Or has it?

Former NDP candidate Francis Chartrand wanted Canada to be more like Venezuela or East Germany

Francis Chartrand was the former NDP candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles in Quebec.  He was dumped as the candidate, and I posted on the shifting story as it appeared on his blog.  Well, guess what.  It has shifted yet again!

Fed up with this nonsense, I did a post-by-post walkthrough of his blog.  And boy, would he have made one find candidate for the NDP!  Nothing like having one of your candidates demanding the nationalization of everything and espousing an East German model for Canada to follow.

Is former NDP candidate Francis Chartrand still playing blog games?

Ousted NDP candidate Francis Chartrand has been playing games with his blog.  First he posted an angry challenge aimed at the NDP in response to his candidacy being terminated.  Then he posted a conciliatory post that gave a different view of the same events.

Then both posts disappeared.

That was this morning.

This evening, the blog changed again.  The angry post is still gone, but the conciliatory post has returned.

It's as if Francis Chartrand is playing whack-a-mole with the truth.

I've appended screenshots and some discussion to my original post about Francis Chartrand's terminated candidacy.

Francis Chartrand, the NDP, and historical revisionism [now with a bonus revisionism game]

With the news of transgendered NDP candidate Micheline Montreuil's ejection as a candidate for the NDP, not much notice has been given to Francis Chartrand, the other NDP candidate in Quebec who was also told he would no longer be able to stand for office on behalf of the NDP.

Given Chartrand's unambiguous gender, the story seemed less interesting.

It might not be as salacious as Montreuil's, but Chartrand's story is far from uninteresting.

Update: Not to be satisfied with deleting posts, Francis Chartrand now adds posts back in.  Fortunately I have the screenshots to show the changes.