Can we talk about the crazy way that we let our political parties select their candidates and leaders?

Over the weekend, the Ontario Liberal Party held a nomination race to select their candidate for the upcoming provincial byelection in Scarborough Southwest. Ahsanul Hafiz took 718 votes on the third ballot to defeat current Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who received 699 votes.

LILLEY: We shouldn't let underage non-citizens vote in party nominations Back to video

This outcome shouldn’t shock anyone who was paying attention.

Erskine-Smith was perceived as the front-runner because he has a big profile, gets lots of media attention, and was endorsed last minute by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Why Carney would endorse Erskine-Smith and get involved in a messy nomination race is beyond me — he now wears part of this defeat.

Despite all of this, Erskine-Smith evokes a strong reaction among many Liberals who don’t like him and want to stop him from being leader of the Ontario Liberals.

On the flip side. Hafiz, the guy who actually won, has served as vice-president of the federal Liberal Party, has been involved in organizing local politics, and is a successful businessman. Folks call Hafiz “the pizza guy” for good reason — he owns........

© Edmonton Sun