Liberal party disqualifies former MP Ruby Dhalla from leadership race

Ishmael’s statement said the party’s leadership vote committee determined Dhalla’s campaign had made “extremely serious” violations of the rules.

The alleged breaches include possible violations of Canadian election law, “certain other election finance matters, non-disclosure of material facts, and inaccurate financial reporting,” he said. 

Dhalla was a late entry to the Liberal leadership race and has not been a sitting MP since 2011, but until Friday she remained one of five candidates in the contest to replace Justin Trudeau.

In a press release, Dhalla said the party’s decision marked a “shameful day for democracy and free speech.” She said the leadership race is a sham designed to give former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney an easy victory.   

“The Liberal Party has made false, fake, and fictitious allegations to complete Mark Carney’s coronation,” she said.

Elections Canada released the first campaign finance disclosure earlier this week. It showed Dhalla raised the least money of the five leadership candidates, but she had paid the party’s $350,000 entry fee in full.

Dhalla said it was only after her campaign had raised the $350,000 entry fee that the Liberal party raised concerns about her campaign. She said earlier this week they put 27 questions to her in a six-page letter alleging breaches of the campaign rules. She said her campaign responded to all of the party’s concerns and provided the requested information, but they were still disqualified. 

“The disqualification proves that this leadership race has never been real. It has been staged to give the illusion of choice while ensuring Carney’s victory. From the start, our campaign has been obstructed, denied access to membership lists, delayed receiving key information, and systematically blocked from engaging with registered Liberals,” Dhalla said. 

The Liberal party declined to respond to the accusations Dhalla made in her statement, but said the decision to remove her from the race came after an extensive review. 

The Elections Canada filings covered the first part of the leadership race up to Feb. 9. The data shows most of Dhalla’s 108 donors gave the maximum contribution amount of $1,750 and in many cases shows she received multiple donations from two or more people with the same postal code. Her campaign filings also showed the party held back $21,000 in donations.

In a post online, Dhalla said the issue related to couples who used a joint credit card to make two donations, which is not illegal.

“In the hundreds of donations that were received this occurred six times. This is not a violation,” Dhalla said. “My campaign bears no responsibility for the donations of hard-working Canadians who believe in my campaign and my vision for Canada.”

She is the second contestant to be removed from the race after the Liberals refused to allow sitting Nepean MP Chandra Arya to run in the contest. Arya made the initial deposit and completed the necessary application, but he was rejected under a section of the rules that allows them to disqualify any candidate they deem “manifestly unfit,” to be party leader. The party has not made clear if he will be allowed to run in his Ottawa riding. 

Dhalla had broken with the party on several issues, including promising to deport all illegal immigrants, pulling Canada out of the Paris climate agreement and rethinking Canada’s role in NATO.

The four remaining Liberal leadership contenders are set to debate in English and French next week in Montreal. Prior to her disqualification, Dhalla had asked the party for a translator for the French debate, but was denied. 

Registered Liberals will vote in the contest via a ranked ballot, picking candidates in order of preference. After the first ballot, the last-place finisher will be dropped from the ballot and their supporters’ second choices redistributed. 

A candidate needs to get more than 50 per cent of the vote to be declared the winner. The results will be announced on March 9.