Singh’s bid for PC nomination review in court in August

Hamilton lawyer Vikram Singh, who lost the provincial Progressive Conservative candidate nomination for Hamilton WestAncaster-Dundas in May, will contest the results in court in August.

Singh “alleges he is the rightful winner of the nomination meeting,” his lawyer, Arina Joanisse, said in Superior Court in Hamilton on Tuesday.

She called Singh’s application for a judicial review of the May 7 nomination vote urgent because the party won’t prohibit winner Ben Levitt in the interim from being promoted as the rightful candidate.

The review alleges stuffing “of false ballots” in one box where “the results were oddly skewed in favour of Mr. Levitt,” Joanisse told Justice Paul Sweeny. There is “a public interest” in hearing the application expeditiously, she said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown dismissed Singh’s internal appeal to the party. So the court review is “in the interest of our democratic institutions,” Joanisse argued. She requested the hearing be held July 14. Lawyer Brad Hanna, representing the party, argued the matter is not urgent because the next provincial election isn’t until June 2018. “The urgency is a myth,” Hanna said, adding he was unavailable for the hearing until August.

The hearing was set for the week of Aug. 8.

Singh is next in court June 27 in Toronto to argue against a party motion to effectively expunge and seal parts of a recording and transcripts. In court Tuesday, Hanna said Singh had “secretly transcribed a meeting and included the transcript in his application” for judicial review. Neither Hanna nor Singh offered more details about the May 24 meeting.