Man named in PC data theft denies wrongdoing
A Progressive Conservative organizer at the heart of Ontario’s data-theft political controversy says he’s been unfairly vilified by the party and the media, and did nothing wrong or illegal in his work for Tory candidates.
Snover Dhillon, who hired himself out to clients trying to win PC nominations, said Monday he’s the victim of “character assassination,” and challenged critics to accuse him in court if they feel he has acted improperly.
The name of one of Dhillon’s companies shows up on a file that appears to contain customer data from the private 407 toll highway, which says it was the victim of “internal theft” of the data. Former 407 employee Simmer Sandhu quit as a PC candidate in Brampton East last week, saying allegations levelled against him are “baseless.”
The issue has left a cloud over the Tory campaign with less than three weeks until the June 7 election.
Dhillon said one of his candidate clients provided him the names, addresses and phone numbers, and he didn’t know they originated from the 407 until reported in the media. However, he said that client passed on the data to at least one other current PC candidate.
“I didn’t do anything illegal in any campaign,” Dhillon said in an interview. “I’m not a criminal.”
He also noted there are other professional organizers who hire themselves out to party candidates in the suburbs west of Toronto, and suggested he was being singled out because of his Sikh background.
“You guys want to put me under the bus because I’m a Punjabi guy, I’m a brown, that’s why?” he said. “All these white guys running campaigns. Some win, some lose. Why only me?”
Dhillon said he has seen evidence of questionable behaviour by others. He said many Conservative candidates paid out of their own pocket for new members, who then voted for them at nomination meetings, though party rules require members to cover their own $10 fee. Signing up new members is a crucial part of winning party nominations.
Conservative sources say Dhillon worked for candidates in a number of nomination campaigns over the past year-and-a-half that ended in heated disputes, with allegations of membership fraud and vote stuffing.
That includes Ottawa West Nepean, where the vote in favour of Dhillon client Karma Macgregor was eventually overturned, and Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, which ended with two losing candidates suing the party, and a police investigation that is still ongoing.
In a leaked email exchange, senior party officials discuss reimbursing losing candidate Jeff Peller for the $22,000 he paid Dhillon as part of a settlement of Peller’s lawsuit. Many Tories allege Dhillon’s main service was recruiting new members to support the would-be candidate. But he says he simply got out the vote on nomination day for candidates who provided him with the members’ names.
Dhillon also lamented that the media continues to invoke his two separate fraud convictions, both in 2011, one leading to a 41-day jail term. He has also been fined by regulators that oversee real estate and mortgage brokers. He said that he is applying for a pardon, and should be allowed to move on with his life.