An investigation by the BC NDP party is on its way in to BC NDP leadership candidate Anjali Appadurai for alleged violations to the BC election act.
Over the weekend an instagram live social media event was hosted by climate activist Anjali Appadurai with environmental activism group 350.org and “climate justice” activist Digital Manager Atiya Jaffar.
The purpose of the video is believed to encourage people to sign up for a NDP membership before the cut off on September 4, 2022 to vote in the up coming NDP leader race.
“It is a $10 minimum donation to join,” Appadurai said on the video.
“One of these things about joining a political party is it is not the most intuitive process. And most people won’t do it if they just see it on a screen. They need to be told by a trusted person. It is invaluable to reach out to you network.”
Jaffar, the friend of Appadurai then jumped in and offered to pay for potential BC NDP supporters $10 membership fee while Appadurai nods her head yes once and is heard and seen repeatedly saying “Yep”
“It is $10 to turn out. It is really nothing if you think about how much this is going to matter. It is a handful of people who will get to decide this race and who the next premier is. Message me if you need the ten dollars because I am happy to provide that to you,” Jaffar said.
If her friend did indeed pay for memberships, which would be a BC Election Act breach.
According to Elections BC “You must make your contribution with your own money or property. Political contributions cannot be made indirectly with the money or property of another person, or be reimbursed by another person.”
Apparently Appadurai was just nodding her head yes like a bobbly head and didn’t know what she was agreeing with. Appadurai didn’t correct her friend Jaffar on the live stream because she was “distracted by the live nature of the call” and insists her friend Jaffar “misspoke”.
“I hoped on three and a half hours before the leadership cutoff with an old friend of mine,” Appadurai said on Thursday.
“During that call my friend misspoke. She was not familiar with the rules and she said she would provide free memberships which is against the act. I was distracted (by) the live nature of the call. So I didn’t clock in what happened. But afterwards when we were able to review we clarified with the team what happened and we immediately took the video down.”Appadurai said to Global News during an interview on Thursday.
David Eby who is the current front runner for the BC NDP leadership with the most support of the current BC NDP caucus responded to the allegations.
“These are serious allegations,” Eby said.
“I have confidence in the BC NDP to thoroughly investigate any claims of illegal or prohibited activities. I will stay focused on connecting with BC NDP members and building for the future of our party and our province.”
The BC NDP party is still looking in to the allegations for more information before they make a decision if they are going to report it to Elections B.C. or not.
According to Global News, the NDP is also investigating membership status of some other Appadurai campaign supporters and members that are last known to be BC Green Party members. Harrison Johnston is a former BC Green candidate, Michelle Sheardown is said to have submitted email evidence to NDP leadership chief electoral officer Elizabeth Cull of her resigning from the BC Green party.
