Rejected NDP leadership candidate heads to court

TORONTO — A federal New Democrat is calling on the courts to order the party to let him run in its contest to replace Tom Mulcair as leader, court filings show.

In his application to Ontario Superior Court slated to be heard on Tuesday, Brian Graff accuses the party of violating its own rules when it repeatedly disallowed his candidacy.

The party, however, maintains it would be “extraordinary and unprecedented” for the court to decide whether Graff would be suitable entrant and wants the application tossed.

“Making such a determination is purely partisan political activity,” the party argues in court filings. “It would be inconsistent with democratic values and inappropriate for the judiciary to enter the political arena as the arbiter of who is suited to seek the leadership of a federal political party.”

Graff, 58, who ran unsuccessfully for a Toronto council seat in 2014, was a Liberal activist for most of his adult life. However, he says he became disillusioned with the Liberals after Justin Trudeau came to office in 2015. He joined the New Democrats in August last year. On his wish list is a “full employment” policy.

“While he is a relatively new member of the NDP with some ideas that challenge party orthodoxy, Mr. Graff meets all candidacy requirements in the NDP’s leadership rules,” his court application states. “Yet the NDP — specifically, executive director Robert Fox and four party officers serving as an appeal committee — has now twice rejected Mr. Graff ’s candidacy, citing a series of shifting and irrelevant reasons.”