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Ripudaman Singh Malik leaves a B.C. court in this 2005 file photo.Richard Lam/ The Canadian Press

Four days before she was publicly endorsed by Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted of mass murder in the Air India bombing, Conservative candidate Wai Young attended a private fundraising meeting also attended by Mr. Malik and about a dozen other potential supporters, according to a campaign worker who was there.

"I saw him [Mr. Malik]sitting in the corner in the living room," said the volunteer, who did not want his name used. "There was a guy there with a [tax]receipt book."

Ms. Young has said she did not know Mr. Malik's background when she accepted an invitation to an April 6 parents' night gathering at the Khalsa School, where he announced his backing.

She did not solicit his endorsement, have any contact with him or know he would be there. If she had, she would not have gone, she said in a statement last week.

Ms. Young, who is running in Vancouver South, and Conservative Party officials did not respond Wednesday to queries about the earlier get-together at a private residence, where Mr. Malik is said to have been present.

The campaign worker said Mr. Malik did not speak or commit any money to Ms. Young's campaign while he was there.

Discussion centred around the goal of defeating Ms. Young's chief challenger, Liberal incumbent Ujjal Dosanjh, the campaign worker said.

Mr. Dosanjh, an outspoken critic of Sikh extremism, has filed a complaint with Elections Canada over Mr. Malik's endorsement of his opponent, made with Ms. Young in attendance at a Sikh school that receives significant public funding.

Mr. Malik, meanwhile, is not backing down from his controversial support of Ms. Young, despite Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's rejection of his backing.

In a brief interview with a reporter at Sher-E-Punjab Radio, Mr. Malik said Ms. Young is better for the Sikh community than Mr. Dosjanh.

"Ujjal Dosanjh is always causing division in our community, ... Wai Young has promised to truthfully represent the Sikh community and that's why we should support her. That is my request," Mr. Malik told reporter Gurvinder Singh Dhaliwal.

The interview was conducted in Punjabi, but the radio station provided an English translation of Mr. Malik's remarks.

Court documents disclosed during the Air India trial showed that Mr. Malik had provided financial support in the past to the family of Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was convicted of manslaughter in the terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182.

In the radio interview, Mr. Malik also offered his support to Liberal candidates Sukh Dhaliwal (Newton-North Delta) and Shinder Purewal (Surrey North).

Jonathan Ross, a spokesman for Mr. Dhaliwal, said he knew nothing about the endorsement. "It was spoken on the radio, not at a public meeting. We have no connection with him [Mr. Malik]at all."

Since the controversy erupted over Mr. Malik's endorsement last Friday, Ms. Young has not answered questions from English-language reporters.

However, she held a news conference on Tuesday with local, Chinese language media.

According to one media report, Ms. Young, speaking in English on Fairchild TV, said she went to Khalsa School to talk to parents and students about the importance of voting.

"The principal introduced me, and I shook hands with a number of them, we had a cup of chai and some burfi, and then we left. That is what happened," Ms. Young was quoted as saying.

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