多伦多圣三一-士巴丹拿选区补选：自由党惹恼其支持者
Liberal party angers its own federal Trinity-Spadina riding association
选举程序中，所有候选人都应受到公平，平等对待。为了确保选举以民主方式进行，公众监督也至关重要。
All candidates must be treated equally and fairly in an electoral race and public scrutiny is critical to ensure that it is carried out in a democratic way.
两周前，联邦自由党因为阻止一名曾两度参选的候选人参加即将举行的多伦多圣三一-士巴丹拿选区补选，此举令自由党支持者们愤懑不已。圣三一-士巴丹拿选区的许多选民都是来自华裔社区，随着华人社区出现更多竞选公职的候选人，华人选民的政治热情也越来越高。我们希望通过本文选民们可了解他们在促进候选人的权利，以及候选人得以公开提名的民主选举进程中能起什么作用。
Two weeks ago the federal Liberal party angered its own supporters when it blocked a two-time candidate from running again in the upcoming by-election in the Trinity-Spadina riding. Many voters in the riding are from the Chinese community, which has seen a growth in political enthusiasm as more candidates from the community are running for office. Hopefully, the article below will shed some light on what a voter can do to ensure that the candidates’ rights are respected and open nominations are upheld.
在多伦多圣三一-士巴丹拿选区2008年和2011年的选举中，律师英尼斯（Christine Innes）都输给了前新民主党国会议员邹至蕙，而她在3月13日（周四）获悉自己将被禁止第三度代表联邦自由党参加该选区的补选，联邦自由党竞选事务主席麦克诺顿在发电邮通知袁丽思的同时，也知会了加通社。
Lawyer Christine Innes, who lost to former MP Olivia Chow in 2008 and 2011, learned on Thursday March 13 that she would be prevented from running a third time as the federal Liberal candidate for Trinity-Spadina — from an e-mail the party’s Ontario campaign co-chair David MacNaughton sent at the same time to the Canadian Press.
圣三一-士巴丹拿选区自由党选区协会会长马特斯告诉《大中报》，英尼斯以及其在该选区协会内的支持者都已经提前得到通知，尽管他们曾在3月7日和3月10日与联邦自由党总部进行沟通。在加通社报道此事后，该选区协会的大部分成员才获悉英尼斯将被禁止参加补选。
Neither Ms. Innes nor her supporters in the Federal Trinity-Spadina Liberal Riding Association were notified of the decision beforehand, Association President Julia Metus told Chinese News, despite meetings with the party on March 7 and 10. Most association members learned that Ms. Innes would not be allowed to run in the byelection when the Canadian Press story ran.
圣三一-士巴丹拿选区自由党选区协会领导团队在3月19日碰头研究如何应对此事，但他们在拟写了表达失望之情的声明后，却发现自己无法再登录联邦自由党的消息系统以发送该声明。
On March 19 the Association’s executive team met to discuss how to respond, and after writing a statement expressing their disappointment, discovered they could no longer log into the Liberal Party’s messaging system to send it.
因此，在联邦自由党党领特鲁多次日访问该选区并会见省选区协会时，他们发布了一份愤怒的新闻稿代替原来的声明。
The next day — while Liberal leader Justin Trudeau visited the riding to meet with its provincial riding association — they sent out an angry press release instead.
马特斯对联邦自由党的决定回应称：“这显然没有遵照应有的或是公平的程序，没有人打电话和我联系，也没有机会去讨论他们关注的问题，地方根本零参与。这与联邦自由党理应支持的东西相违背，无论是新的或是其他方面的东西。
“There was absolutely no due or fair process” Ms. Metus wrote in response to the party’s decision. “No one picked up the phone to contact me, there was no opportunity to discuss their concerns, and there was zero local involvement. This is contrary to everything the Liberal Party – new or otherwise – is supposed to stand for.”
马特斯认为英尼斯之所以会被阻止参选，是因为她拒绝承诺在下届联邦大选中在从现有的圣三一-士巴丹拿选区和多伦多中心选区分出的三个新联邦选区之一寻求提名。
Ms. Metus believes Ms. Innes was blocked from running because she refused to commit to one of three new federal ridings that will be created from the existing Trinity-Spadina and Toronto Centre ridings in the next election.
因为特鲁多钦点参加去年另一场补选的多伦多中心选区国会议员弗里兰，打算在最北面的新选区大学-罗斯代尔选区参选，因此自由党再三要求英尼斯承诺在最南面的新选区士巴丹拿-约克堡选区寻求提名，但遭到英尼斯的拒绝。
Toronto Centre MP Chrystia Freeland, who was hand-picked by Trudeau for another byelection last year, intends to run in the new northernmost riding, University-Rosedale, while the party reportedly asked Ms. Innes to promise that she’d seek the nomination for the southernmost new riding, Spadina-Fort York. She refused.
按照马特斯的推测，英尼斯并不想在圣三一-士巴丹拿选区北面的社区寻求选票，不料在选区重新划分后却会失去那些选票。
Ms. Metus speculates that Ms. Innes did not want to seek votes in Trinity-Spadina’s northern neighbourhoods, only to lose those votes after the borders were redrawn.
联邦自由党发言人哈利(Andree-Lynn Halle)在一份书面声明中告诉《大中报》，自由党之所以阻止英尼斯参选，是因为其资格审查委员会接到许多年轻志愿者的报告，称他们接到来自英尼斯竞选团队官员的“恐吓”电话，但他并未详细说明令志愿者感到害怕的原因。
Andrée-Lyne Hallé, a communications manager with the federal Liberals, told Chinese News in a written statement that the party prevented Ms. Innes from running again after its green light committee received a number of reports from young volunteers saying they had received “intimidating” calls from her campaign officials, though she did not specify why the volunteers felt intimidated.
据加通社报道称，一些年轻的自由党员作证称，英尼斯的丈夫余欣龙向他们暗示，如果他们支持弗里兰，和质疑特鲁多的领导力，他们在党内将没有前途。
According to the Canadian Press, several young Liberals testified that Ms. Innes’ husband Ianno suggested they would have no future with the party if they supported Ms. Freeland and questioned Mr. Trudeau’s leadership.
哈利告诉《大中报》：“我们认为这种行为是今天的加拿大自由党所无法容忍的，因此省级竞选委员会共同主席决定拒绝批准英尼斯作为潜在的提名候选人。
“This is not the kind of behaviour that we believe has any place in today’s Liberal Party of Canada,” Ms. Hallé told Chinese News. “As a result, the provincial campaign co-chairs made the decision to not approve Ms. Innes as potential contestant for the nomination.”
哈利同时表示，自由党一直致力于对下届候选人进行公开提名，并且会邀请社区成员选择“能够代表他们的强有力的社区声音”。
Ms. Hallé said the party remains committed to open nominations for its next candidate, writing that members would be invited to select “strong community voices to represent them.”
哈利称：“但是这并不意味着每个人都有资格成为候选人，无论他们做什么，或是他们或他们的竞选团队如何去运作。”
“This does not, however, mean that everyone is entitled to be a candidate,” she said, “regardless of what they do or how they or their campaign teams behave.”
马特斯认为，问题的一部分在于联邦自由党和圣三一-士巴丹拿选区协会对“公开提名”的定义似乎有所不同。
Ms. Metus believes that part of the issue is the Liberal party and the Trinity-Spadina Riding Association seem to define the term “open nomination” differently.
马特斯称：“我认为‘公开提名’是指成员通过投票选出他们想要的候选人，审查制度是完全有必要的，但我认为外行无法理解其细节，及其如何解读‘公开提名’这个术语。”
“I think ‘open nomination’ means that members get to vote for who they want their candidate to be,” she says. “There is a vetting system which is completely necessary, but I don’t think that the layperson understands its details, and how it translates to the term ‘open nomination.’”
尽管最近出现异议，但马特斯仍是坚定的自由党支持者。
Despite her recent experience, Ms. Metus remains a committed Liberal supporter.
马特斯称：“我认为特鲁多将会成为一个不可思议的总理，我期待着选举和选举结果，我希望这不会阻碍选民，或是改变任何成员的想法。”
“I think Trudeau is going to be a fantastic prime minister,” she says. “I’m looking forward to the election, and the results, and I hope that this doesn’t discourage voters or change any members’ minds.”