Photo courtesy of Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Monashee

By Liam Verster

Claims COVID-19 Response Hurtful

MLA Sandhu faces recall petition

Aug 9, 2022 | 5:00 AM

A recall petition will be issued in the Vernon-Monashee electoral district.

Elections B.C. say a petition application that has met the requirements has been received.

The petition, which calls for the recall of MLA Harwinder Sandhu, was launched by Genevieve Ring, who is listed as the president at Loreto Strata Management in Vernon on LinkedIn.

In her application, Ring claimed that B.C.’s health care is experiencing a crisis, and that is having an effect in Vernon with accessing family doctors, oncology and laboratories.

Ring also claimed that COVID-19 poses no significant risk to school age children, saying the NDP government forcing kids to wear masks in class is “harmful to the physiological, psychological and social development of children.”

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Ring also claimed the NDP has historically attacked religion and used the COVID-19 pandemic to further those attacks. She also stated the province’s regulations surrounding COVID-19 have forced businesses to close, put workers on ‘unpaid leave’ and forced people to drain their savings and go into debt.

In her application, Ring claimed that Sandhu took no action to mitigate the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had on constituents.

Ring reportedly had her application accepted after paying the $50 processing.

Elections B.C. said a petition will be issued on August 12, 2022,, at which time registered canvassers may begin collecting signatures.

The petition must be returned to Elections B.C. no later than October 11, 2022.

In order to be successful and trigger a new election, the petition must receive signatures from 40 per cent or more of eligible voters, which translates to 21,268 signatures. If the petition receives the required signatures, it will trigger a by-election in which Sandhu could run again.

In a release Monday, Elections B.C. said no one is currently registered as a canvasser for this petition.

The expenses limit for Ring and the Sandhu petition is $37,046.52.

To date, 26 recall petition applications have been approved in B.C. under the Recall and Initiative Act since 1997. Of those, all but seven were withdrawn or not submitted. Six of the applications submitted failed with insufficient valid signatures, while one passed but the MLA resigned during the petition process.

Vernon Matters has reached out to Ring and Sandhu for comment.

Sandhu told The Canadian Press she will not be intimidated by those she calls “a small group of extreme activists that do not represent the vast majority of people” in the riding.

The MLA, who worked as a registered nurse at Vernon Jubilee Hospital before being elected in 2020, says she stands behind the decisions the government has made to keep residents and frontline workers safe during the pandemic.

Links:

· 2022 Vernon-Monashee recall petition webpage

· Summary of Recall Petitions (PDF)

· Recall petition FAQs