The Ontario Liberals have turned down an appeal from MP Nate Erskine-Smith regarding a loss in the nomination contest earlier this month, raising doubts about his leadership aspirations for the provincial party.
Erskine-Smith aimed to be the candidate for the provincial party in the upcoming byelection for Scarborough Southwest but lost on May 9 to business owner Ahsanul Hafiz by a narrow margin of 19 votes.
He contested the results with the party’s arbitration panel, claiming there were irregularities such as 34 more ballots being counted than registered voters, numerous individuals unable to provide their address and stating they had “just lost” their driver’s license, and others using Amazon orders as proof of residence.
The three-member panel, led by David Zimmer, stated they found no irregularities in how the nomination meeting was conducted that would have influenced the vote outcome or compromised its integrity.
“We are satisfied that the party’s rules were followed and that Ahsanul Hafiz was the true winner of the vote. The appeal is dismissed,” said the committee in their decision released on Sunday night.
After losing his bid for nomination, Erskine-Smith expressed that he wanted to run in Scarborough Southwest before planning to pursue leadership within the party but now says that’s “much less likely.”
He currently serves as the MP for Beaches-East York federally – though he intends to resign from his position soon – and some fellow candidates were frustrated by what they perceived as him attempting to leverage their community for leadership ambitions.
Following his nomination defeat, aside from citing voting issues, he alleged that forces within the party’s “establishment” worked against him winning.
The arbitration panel found no support for claims of bias and pointed out that many of Erskine-Smith’s concerns about irregularities weren’t raised until after voting results were announced.
“We conclude that Mr. Erskine-Smith’s scrutineers did not take issue with the comings and goings of the nomination meeting while it was underway and did not decide to complain about it until after the meeting had ended and the outcome was known,” stated the panel.
The discrepancy of 34 ballots mentioned by Erskine-Smith wasn’t indicative of any voting irregularity; rather, it was attributed to an error in record keeping due to names not being crossed off correctly from voter lists, according to the panel’s findings.
Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser emphasized that transparency is key for their process moving forward.
“Now that the arbitration committee dismissed this appeal, our focus is on voters in Scarborough Southwest. They have an important decision ahead, and we will work hard to earn their trust,” he remarked in a statement.
Erskine-Smith had initially expressed interest in running for Scarborough Southwest leading up to an intended leadership bid but now feels it’s “much less likely” following his unsuccessful attempt at securing nomination.
Premier Doug Ford has yet to set a date for holding a byelection in Scarborough Southwest, which must occur before August. The Progressive Conservatives haven’t nominated anyone yet while Fatima Shaban aims to maintain NDP control over this seat.
This byelection will fill Doly Begum’s position; she resigned earlier this year as NDP member of provincial parliament so she could successfully run under Liberal representation federally in that same area.
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