Nomination was far from a “farce”

Dear Editor: It takes months of hard work campaigning by candidates and their supporters to win a party’s nomination to run for MLA. It is understandable therefore for Vicki Lightfoot to express disappointment in her letter to the editor (Herald, Nov. 30), if her candidate did not win the NDP nomination.

It is not understandable to criticize Tarik Sayeed because he “won by only 18 votes.” And it is grossly unfair to the party officers and volunteers as well as the candidates themselves to call the election process a “farce.”

I voted at the advance ballot and attended the convention to introduce Tarik and act as one of the scrutineers. The process at both events was carefully conducted and closely monitored, as was the vote counting process. I had not done this before and was struck by the enormous amount of time and effort required of the party officers and volunteers. They have to ensure compliance with party and legal regulations, fill out extensive forms, ensure only registered voters vote, get signatures, book the halls, prepare the agenda, invite an MLA and our MP to speak, put out the seats, get volunteer scrutineers from both sides to ensure the process is conducted fairly – in short, a whole lot of work and completely unpaid.

They deserve heartfelt thanks, not criticism.

I could see only one “flaw” in the whole process. In Tarik Sayeed and Toni Boot the NDP had two excellent candidates but only one could be nominated. That is why the vote was close.

Although coming from very different backgrounds and offering different life experience, education and skills they shared similar values and both mounted excellent campaigns.

In my view both offered the party a good chance of winning in the election.

It is very good news for the NDP to have a choice like that and, after listening to the two speeches, I felt optimistic about the future of the party in B.C. The nomination has been decided. It’s time now to focus on the election. Paul Makosz Penticton