The federal elections commissioner is taking the New Democratic Party’s Brampton West riding association to court after it failed to pay a $1,000 penalty — an unusual move that comes amid the party’s worst electoral performance in nearly a century.Blacklock's Reporter says according to a Federal Court filing, the Brampton West Federal NDP Association was issued a Notice of Violation and ordered to pay a $1,000 administrative monetary penalty to the Receiver General of Canada. The group neither paid the fine nor submitted an undertaking in response.The filing did not explain the reason for the fine, though such penalties are commonly issued for clerical errors or late submission of election documents. The commissioner has asked the court to issue a formal order compelling the association to pay, including interest. The NDP has yet to respond in court..The penalty was issued March 31, just weeks before the New Democrats suffered a historic defeat, failing to elect a single MP in Ontario. In Brampton West, NDP candidate Zaigham Javed, a local driving instructor, finished third with only 1.7% of the vote. The seat was narrowly won by Conservative Amarjeet Gill, who edged out Liberal Health Minister Kamal Khera by 918 votes.Last summer, then-NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters the party was ready for an election and had repaid most of its $22 million in debt from the 2021 campaign. .The party spent $500,000 on a pre-campaign ad that portrayed Singh as a boxer fighting for working Canadians.Despite raising $6.8 million from 28,822 donors in 2023, the NDP won only seven seats in the last election — matching the 1935 showing of its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.Singh lost his Burnaby Central seat by over 12,000 votes and stepped down as leader.
