Controversy Over the Oxford NDP Selection Process for the Next Provincial Candidate

Thursday, 3 February 2022 13:04

Lindsay Wilson will run for the Oxford NDP in the next election.

UPDATE: The NDP has gotten in touch with Heart FM for a statement on this story.

Provincial Director Lucy Watson issued the following statement via email:

“All potential contestants — with no exceptions — have their vet finished and are informed of the results before the party and riding association sets a nomination date. There are no cases in which a nomination meeting is held when someone is still in vetting to be the candidate for that riding. There have been no exceptions to this.”

Watson says that Tara King withdrew from the nomination on October 31.

“Tara King withdrew from all party commitments on Oct. 31, 2021, for personal reasons. We completely supported her decision. She didn’t get back in touch with us until Jan. 25, 2022. At which point she told us in writing that she was not interested in being a candidate. At that point, nominations were closed.”

Watson says that Tara King was vetted and they stopped the vetting process when she withdrew in late October.

King maintains that no documentation of withdrawal was sent to anyone and she never withdrew her nomination package. She did send the party notice on October 31 saying she was stepping away from any commitments but did not specifically say she was withdrawing her nomination package.

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The Oxford NDP selected Lindsay Wilson as the next Provincial candidate for Oxford County.

The selection did not come without controversy. Past President of the Oxford NDP says Wilson ran unopposed, despite the face another candidate put their name forward. Tara King submitted her paperwork to run 10 months ago, long before Wilson.

Austin says the NDP headquarters did not even bother to go through the vetting process for King.

"They sat on it and did not have it completed, even after months of months of waiting and then at the end of 2021, they advised that this new person, who we hadn't heard of before was successfully vetted and was the only nominee they were going to go forward for with Oxford County."

Austin doesn't understand why they wouldn't even vet King and allow local party members to elect a candidate.

"I am disheartened and really hurt by the fact that they did all this behind close doors, they haven't advised why they were dragging out the findings of our nomination committee and not pursuing any kind of full vetting of that potential nominee. Every party has their reasons, but unfortunately they haven't communicated any of those reasons to us. It has been radio silence and even when I was President, I could not get anyone to respond to my voicemail's and emails."

Tara King is no stranger to the party. She was the nominee in 2018 and had submitted her application to run again. She is not sure why the central party delayed the vetting process, essentially not allowing a vote of party members to choose the next candidate. King says they did the same thing to Bryan Smith when he tried to run in 2018 and put in Danielle DuSonblon, who is from Brantford, before King stepped in and eventually won the nomination in 2018.

Both King and Austin were adamant that this has nothing to do with Lindsay Wilson and this is not her fault at all, that this is an issue with the New Democratic Party and their vetting process.