Bob Mackin
The runner-up in the Surrey-Guildford riding said Jan. 9 that he would file a B.C. Supreme Court petition aimed at invalidating the election of Garry Begg as the NDP MLA.
Conservative Honveer Singh Randhawa had a 103-vote edge after the polls closed on the Oct. 19 provincial election night. The seat flipped to Begg by 27 votes after mail-in ballots were tallied, forcing a judicial recount. When that ended Nov. 8, Begg was declared the winner by 22 votes. He was appointed Solicitor General in Premier David Eby’s new cabinet.
John Rustad (left) and Honveer Singh Randhawa (IG)
Begg’s win gave the NDP a bare, 47-seat majority in the new, 93-seat Legislature scheduled to open Feb. 18. That left the Conservatives in opposition with 44 seats.
Randhawa, however, said that the party has found 45 voting irregularities. Of that, 21 were mail-in votes from a Fraser Health-licensed addiction and substance abuse recovery house across the street from the Guildford Park Secondary School polling station.
“Justice must prevail and the democracy must be protected,” said Randhawa, who is a lawyer.
The Conservatives released redacted statutory declarations from two residents of Argyll Lodge who swore that they were unaware the election was occurring, shocked to learn that there was a polling station across the street and given mail-in ballots that they did not order.
“I was rushed into marking the ballot,” said one of the affidavits. “I do not know who I have voted for, I marked the ballot where they pointed it and I was led to believe that I had no choice but to mark the ballot otherwise I feared that I would be kicked out of the house.”
Said the other affidavit: “I did not know which box was for which party. I just marked the box as instructed. I did not believe I had a choice to not mark a box as instructed.”
B.C.’s Election Act states that an individual must not assist more than one voter, except for an election official or for an individual to assist more than one member of the individual’s family. It also states that it is illegal for someone to intimidate another person to cast a ballot.
Randhawa’s investigation found that an Argyll manager, Baljit Kandola, has the same name as someone who donated $1,400 to the NDP in May 2023.
Conservative leader John Rustad originally accepted the election results. He said on Jan. 9 that the new found evidence prompted the complaint to Elections BC and for Randhawa to prepare a petition to court within the 90-day period after a contravention.
“People have the right to be able to vote by mail ballot,” Rustad said. “The issue is whether or not they’re capable of doing that, whether or not there was an individual who participated in many people voting by mail.”
Begg was not immediately available for comment. On X, formerly Twitter, Deputy Premier and Attorney General Niki Sharma downplayed the complaint.
“Our elections are independent with safeguards to ensure they are free and fair. John Rustad is free to raise his concerns with Elections BC. That’s his right,” Sharma wrote. “We are focused on addressing the issues facing the people of our province like the threat of tariffs from the U.S.”
Even if the Conservatives are successful and the NDP loses the seat, the NDP announced a Dec. 13 alliance with the two-member Green caucus. The third party vowed to prop-up the NDP on any confidence and budget votes.
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