Angry in the Great White North

From the Calgary Sun via National Newswatch:

A Toronto lawyer will file a complaint today over allegations hundreds of new Liberals were improperly signed up across Canada as part of the ongoing leadership race.

Richard Boraks said he will give a list of names of more than 300 members of the Liberal Party of Canada to the RCMP and Elections Canada for investigation.

He was told by campaign insiders the members did not pay their $10 membership fee when they were signed up in recent months.

These insiders made an interesting choice in Richard Boraks. First of all, he is not a Liberal. In the 1980 federal election, he ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the Toronto riding of Trinity. He lost. I haven't been able to figure out if he is a members of the Conservative Party, or if he has dropped out of active politics.

Boraks works as an immigration lawyer, specializing in helping the Portugese community in Toronto:

Liberal MP Mario Silva says dozens of illegal construction workers have gone underground fearing they'll be arrested and deported to Portugal by immigration agents.

Several Portuguese families slated for a news conference yesterday cancelled at the last minute fearing they'll be busted, Silva said.

"We tried to call some and their phones were disconnected," he said. "We don't want these people living underground. It is quite dangerous."

He said an estimated 10,000 illegal construction workers facing deportation should be made a top priority by the Conservatives because of the impact they'll have on the economy. Officials of the Canada Border Services Agency refused to comment on the removals yesterday.

Lawyer Richard Boraks, who handles a number of the deportees, said many are so panicked, they're not showing up for their flights home.

I think this could be significant. For all I know, the insiders pulled Boraks name out of the phone book, but I doubt it. Something as explosive as these alleged membership irregularities would go to someone trusted. Boraks is trusted by the Portugese community.

So what follows is that the irregularities for which Boraks has evidence are focused in the Portugese community.

But if so, why just there? The simple answer is that there is no reason for membership problems to be concentrated in the Portugese community in Toronto. Following that logic, then, means that problem of membership irregularities is of a much larger scale.

Stay tuned.