Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star reports today that the executive of the Liberal riding association of Burnaby-Douglas has resigned over the strong-arm tactics of Mr. Martin’s appointing of his own candidate in that riding instead of one chosen democratically by members via a nomination meeting.

The board of directors went so far as to say that Paul Martin’s actions have shown a “lack of democracy”. Two men who were to compete for the nomination are Tony Kuo and Tony Lee. These Liberals have said that Paul Martin is discriminating against Asians.

Conversely, last election the conservatives proportionally ran the most multicultural slate of candidates in comparison the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc. Furthermore, no candidate is appointed in the Conservative Party of Canada. Every riding must hold a nomination meeting if contested.

It is unclear what Paul Martin meant when he said he wants to eliminate the “democratic deficit” (his words) in federal politics.