Abbotsford-South BC Lib Riding Assoc resigns enmasse

In a shocking and rare move -- the entire Board of Directors for the BC Liberal Riding Association for Abbotsford South has resigned enmasse to protest the acclamation of Darryl Plecas as the candidate for Abbotsford-South for the BC Liberals in the 2013 BC General Election.  Read a letter from the former BC Liberals Abbotsford South Riding Association President Stephan Evans here and more on this story here

As someone who joined the BC Liberals in 2004 and then joined the then Cariboo-South, now Cariboo-Chilcotin Riding Association, and being involved in two candidate selection processes, the interpretation of the candidate selection process of the BC Liberal Party by the Abbotsford-South Riding Association is the incorrect one.  What occurs is called the "Green Light Process".

There are things the Riding Association must have in place before a Candidate Selection Meeting may formally occur BUT at no time does the Riding Association get directly involved in the candidate selection process as far as whether or not candidate(s) are acceptable to the BC Liberal Party and the Party Leader.  There is a separate Committee for this and that Committee acts independent of the local Riding Association

In that regard - I'm very disappointed that my fellow Party members' in Abbotsford-South chose the action they did.  The BC Liberal Party has done and will continue to do its' due diligence to ensure that candidates running for election under the BC Liberal Party are properly vetted.  I can only suspect the internal BC Liberal Party Committee that reviews applications for candidacy in a provincial riding, like Abbotsford-South, in the case of Mo Gill, had a good reason to reject his candidacy

SBF