Although it was a lone volunteer acting on his own who drummed up 1,100 bogus NDP membership applications — the Dwain Lingenfelter camp should have shut things down sooner, a Saskatchewan NDP report says.

That's one of the conclusions in lawyer Robert Hale's report on the controversy that has rocked the NDP leadership race over the past two weeks.Dwain Lingenfelter, one of four candidates running for NDP leader, said earlier this month he was 'disappointed' when he found out there were big problems with 1,100 applications. (CBC)

The report, which was ordered by the provincial NDP office and was released Thursday, looked at 1,100 membership applications paid for by the campaign office of Lingenfelter, who's one of four candidates in the race to succeed NDP Leader Lorne Calvert.

The 1,100 names were of people who belonged to two First Nations in the Meadow Lake constituency, but the problem, confirmed by calls to people on the reserve, was that none had asked to be members or knew the applications had been sent in on their behalf.

"The Lingenfelter campaign did not direct, authorize or condone this activity," Hale said in the report.

"However, their policies did allow this to proceed further than it should have. If they had taken more time to speak with [the volunteer] and perhaps to members of the band offices prior to spending $10,000, perhaps this could have been stopped sooner."NDP leadership candidate Yens Pedersen has called on Dwain Lingenfelter to drop out of the race. (CBC)

The volunteer filled out the applications, with signatures that appeared to be from the same person, and then sent them in to Lingenfelter's campaign office, the 10-page report said.

Amounted to more than $10,000

Lingenfelter's campaign manager, Garry Aldridge, was told by the volunteer that the applications were for people who couldn't pay the $10 membership fee. On that basis, Aldridge paid the fees, amounting to more than $10,000.

Aldridge told Hale the memberships were paid with cash, rather than with cheques, to simplify processing.

When the completed applications were sent to NDP head office in Regina in late April, staff became suspicious, and within a few days the chief of one of the bands phoned to complain that memberships had been sold to people without their consent.

Around the same time, the Lingenfelter campaign started asking questions themselves.

Aldridge called the volunteer who admitted he had not contacted the 1,100 people but had simply obtained the names from band offices and filled out applications on their behalf. It was simply the way things were done in the region, the volunteer had explained, Hale said.

Hale said he didn't want to identify the unpaid volunteer, but the last name "Morin" was referenced in the report three times — apparently inadvertently — when it talked about someone who filled out the membership applications.

Hale said he tried to reach the volunteer for an interview but his calls weren't answered.

The NDP later cancelled the 1,100 memberships.

The report also didn't say which First Nations were involved, although NDP CEO Deb McDonald confirmed to reporters earlier this month that applications came from the Waterhen Lake and Flying Dust First Nations.

Hale is a former candidate for the Saskatchewan NDP but according to the party he isn't involved in the campaigns of any of the candidates.

The other three candidates for the NDP leadership are Deb Higgins, Ryan Meili and Yens Pedersen.

Pedersen has called for Lingenfelter to step down. NDP members choose a new leader on June 6.