Ban Eve Adams from Oakville nomination, opponent says

Conservative MP Eve Adams should be banned from running in Oakville North-Burlington because of her behaviour, her opponent in the bitter nomination battle says. 

Adams should represent her current riding of Mississauga Brampton-South, Natalia Lishchyna told Evan Solomon, host of CBC News Network's Power & Politics.

"If these things are true, that is definitely an unfair advantage, that people were taking advantage of certain positions and that should not happen in an open and fair nomination race," she said.

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Earlier this week, the president of the Oakville North-Burlington riding association alleged Adams improperly used private information from the party's database to help her win the nomination battle. Mark ​Fedak also alleged Adams was verbally abusive at a March 19 riding meeting.

Fedak sent a letter detailing the allegations to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and copied it to all Ontario Conservative MPs.

Fedak is supporting Lishchyna for the nomination.

Lishchyna says it doesn't matter that Adams has already moved to Oakville with her fiancé, Dimitri Soudas, who was fired Sunday as executive director of the Conservative Party because he breached his contract in helping Adams with her nomination bid. 

"I think it would be a good thing for her to represent that riding [Mississauga Brampton-South] for the next election," Lishchyna said.

Adams fights back

As more and more cracks form in the thin ice under Adams, CBC news has learned that she is fighting back for her political life. Pressure is mounting from within the Conservative Party ranks to block her from running for the nomination in Oakville North-Burlington.

The prime minister asked the party's top brass on Wednesday to look into complaints made about Adams' behaviour.

The party's national council immediately began its investigation and Adams' volunteer chair, Stephen Sparling, is preparing an official written response to the accusations made against her. 

Sparling says they have done everything "by the book" and will respond to each of the points raised in Fedak's letter.  

"I do not believe in any way, shape or form that the party is going to bar our candidate and it would be groundless to do so," Sparling told the CBC's Chris Hall.  

Sparling says that Adams showed up at the riding meeting in March because she wanted to offer to be "helpful," but never got the opportunity after an "unpleasant reception" from the board members where Adams was asked to leave. He believes she was told to go because "nomination races can be heated at times and it got out of hand."

Sparling also responds to the accusation that Adams misused the party's voter database.

"At no time were they provided information they weren't supposed to have," he said. 

Sparling says he doesn't know how quickly the national council will resolve the issue. 

No comment from Harper 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he won't comment on whether Conservative MP Eve Adams broke party rules in a nomination battle for a newly formed riding.

Harper was answering questions from reporters Thursday after announcing new justice legislation in Mississauga, Ont. 

He also wouldn't comment on the dismissal of Adams' fiancé, Dimitri Soudas, Harper's former director of communications who most recently had been the Conservative Party's executive director.

"In terms of the member of Parliament, as you know, there's a nomination process in place," he said. "To the extent there are disputes around nomination processes, these things are referred to the national council of the party. In our party, the leader doesn't appoint candidates and he doesn't run the nomination process. These things are run by the elected national council of the party."