BC Cons Wants Answers From Premier Clark On Controversial “Criminal” Indo-Canadian’s Invitation To Budget Unveiling
The joke making the rounds in the South Asian community is that Premier Christy Clark and her BC Liberals are so desperate for support that they have not only lowered but abandoned all standards when it comes to seeking supporters. And that it should be Atwal who should be offended for getting hanged out to dry by the media especially since he didn’t force the Liberals to give him the invite ticket.
By R. Paul Dhillon With News Files
SURREY – Controversial Sikh community figure Jaspal Singh Atwal got a lot of free publicity this week after it was revealed that the former Sikh radical, who spent time behind bars for the failed assassination of a visiting Punjab cabinet minister in the 1980s on Vancouver Island, was a guest of Premier Christy Clark during her budget unveiling.
With Clark and her BC Liberals already down in the dumps as far as public support is concerned – the poor “Barbie Premier” didn’t need another negative like a convicted criminal being in the parliamentary gallery on such an auspicious day.
The joke making the rounds in the South Asian community is that Clark and her party is so desperate for support that they have not only lowered but abandoned all standards when it comes to seeking supporters. And that it should be Atwal who should be offended for getting hanged out to dry by the media especially since he didn’t force the Liberals to give him the invite ticket.
After much confusion and differing explanations – the Liberals hung the whole thing on a lowly South Asian party director from the Surrey area Tariq Ghuman, who resigned since he was the one who invited Atwal.
Liberals also said rules on who gets invited to the B.C. legislature are being reviewed after the Atwal debacle.
But the Conservatives who are draining the Liberals rightwing support pounced on Clark to explain the controversy
“Premier Clark must answer questions about how this convicted gunman came to be invited by her Office to the budget,” said John Cummins, Leader of BC Conservatives. “The Premier’s Office says they do not vet names on the list, but even a simple google search would have sufficed.
Clark said Tuesday procedures for checking the guest list for special legislature events are being analyzed after Atwal was given an invitation for the Feb. 21 budget session.
In 1987, Atwal was convicted of attempting to murder a visiting cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu from Punjab in 1986.
“I don’t have a lot of details on it, but as I understand it, he came as a guest of someone else,” Clark said. “He showed up on the list, which is available to the speaker’s office and to us here (in the premier’s office). He certainly wasn’t on my guest list.”
Atwal refused comment on the controvers. But Ghuman, a long-time party member who was director for district 9, took full blame for his actions in his resignation letter, highlighting that he alone was responsible for inviting Atwal.
“I take full responsibility for inviting Mr. Atwal to the budget… the young people I originally invited could not attend… I did not inform the premier’s office that I was bringing different guests… it was an error in my judgement, and I take full responsibility for it,” Ghuman wrote in his letter of resignation.
Sources say Ghuman worked in several local campaigns and was also a key supporter in Clark’s leadership bid. He also serves on the City of Surrey’s Diversity and Inclusivity Advisory Committee.
Ghuman’s comment about not informing the premier’s office of the change of guests seems to contradict information provided by Mills about Atwal’s name being provided to the office on Feb. 20.
Atwal joined the B.C. Liberals in December, 2010, reported the Vancouver Sun, which broke the story on Atwal. But it is not known whether Atwal is still member of the BC Liberals but he was active in Christy Clark’s leadership race, according to multiple sources who saw him actively campaigning for her in the Indo-Canadian community.
However, one mystery remained that how did Atwal controversy come about more than a week after the budget was unveiled. The answer is that it was a Liberal MLA who phoned his favourite friend in the media.
