Dimitri Soudas would 'breach any contract' for fiancée Eve Adams
It was 'family over politics' when Soudas stepped aside as Conservative Party executive director
Ah, the things you'll do for love.
Dimitri Soudas says it was his loyalty to his fiancée Eve Adams and his support for her nomination battle in the Ontario riding of Oakville North-Burlington that led him to leave his post in the Conservative Party.
"You know what? I’ll rip up any contract that says I can’t help my family. I will breach any contract that says I can’t help my family," he said to Evan Solomon on CBC Radio's The House.
"If there’s one thing about me, it’s my loyalty. For decades, I was extremely loyal to the prime minister. And in this case, I could no longer do my job as executive director of the party — recusing myself from anything to do with the nomination," he said.
Soudas was forced out from his top staff position with the party at the end of March, after it was made known that he tried to interfere with his fiancée's Conservative nomination battle.
Sources had told CBC News that Soudas angered many in the party — including some Conservative MPs — by getting involved. Longtime party organizers expressed frustration with the situation in Oakville-North Burlington, pointing out that Soudas was their ultimate boss.
When asked about why he left his position with the party he served for the past 20 years of his life, Soudas said he chose his "family over politics."
"I chose to give my loyalty to the woman that I love and I came in a moment where she was incapacitated. I sure hope you would do exactly the same thing for your wife and I’m sure your wife would do the exact same thing for you," Soudas said to Solomon.
Adams has been recovering from a concussion from a fall earlier this year.
Adams is the MP for the Mississauga-Brampton South riding, which is to be split among several new ridings in 2015 when Elections Canada adds another 30 electoral districts to the Canadian map.
She is seeking the nomination for the nearby, newly created riding of Oakville North-Burlington, a race that has seen its fair share of mudslinging and accusations of wrongdoing — including allegations that the Adams campaign paid for the party memberships of some of their supporters in the new federal riding.
Adams's team also allege that Lishchyna's campaign made illegal calls badgering constituents without divulging on whose behalf those calls were being made.
However, Adams said that "the mud does not go back and forth."
"I've sat here and taken the high road. What I've done is I've gone out and met with voters on their doorsteps in the snow, in the rain, and I talk to them about issues," she said to Solomon.
Both the Adams and Lishchyna camps have filed a number of complaints to the party, the CRTC and Elections Canada.
The nomination vote was originally set for Sunday, but the Conservative Party announced the vote would be delayed indefinitely while it investigates the complaints.