Ruby Dhalla kicked out of Liberal leadership race after 'extremely serious' violations: party
Committee finds Dhalla made 10 violations of contest rules
A Liberal Party of Canada committee voted unanimously on Friday to disqualify former MP Ruby Dhalla from the race to be the next leader.
Azam Ishmael, the party's national director, said in a statement that the Liberal leadership vote committee determined she made 10 violations, some involving the party's leadership and expense rules.
"The decision followed an extensive process and review, including interviews, questionnaires and an opportunity for Dr. Dhalla to directly address the committees," he said.
"The leadership vote committee determined that the violations were extremely serious."
The statement goes on to say the the party is concerned Dhalla may have violated the Canada Elections Act, as well as "certain other election finance matters, non-disclosure of material facts and inaccurate financial reporting."
The official statement came after CBC News first broke the details of the vote earlier Friday afternoon.
A source, speaking on the condition they not be named, said Dhalla was also accused of failing to disclose the involvement of a non-Canadian citizen in her campaign, which the party alleges would amount to foreign interference if it happened during an election period.
Dhalla learned about her official disqualification live on television.
After the initial story went up citing a source, Dhalla went on live with CBC's Power & Politics to defend herself.
Just as the segment began, the Liberal Party sent out official word. Dhalla seemed shocked as host David Cochrane read it out loud to her.
"It is very alarming and very shocking," she said.
"I think it speaks to the state of the Liberal Party of Canada that a candidate who is running to become leader of the party and running to be prime minister of our country is finding out she is being disqualified on air from an email that the media outlet that she is interviewing with has received."
Dhalla called the allegations against her "fabricated, fictitious and fake" meant to "complete Mark Carney's coronation" as leader.
"They did not want anyone challenging the front-runner, the blue-eyed boy, Mark Carney," she said.
"I will not allow the Liberal Party of Canada or anyone, for that matter, to smear my name or to smear the name of the thousands of volunteers in our campaign."
Dhalla can appeal the decision under the party's rules.
Alleged donation irregularities
On Thursday, the party confirmed it was withholding $21,000 in contributions to her campaign as it investigated whether 12 donors surpassed maximum contribution amounts.
The probe came after Elections Canada published the donation data it received from the candidates up until Feb. 9. The data showed 12 donations under a tab called "Statement of Contributions returned to Contributors or Remitted to the Chief Electoral Officer."
Of the 12 names on the list, three pairs share the same last name and postal code. All 12 are recorded as donating $1,750, the maximum amount permissible by law.
"When multiple maximum donations are processed on the same credit card, the party reaches out to those donors directly to confirm that these donations were made on the credit card issued from a joint bank account held in the names of both co-donors," the Liberal Party said in a statement to CBC News Thursday.
Under Canadian election law, couples are allowed to make separate donations using the same credit card.
On Thursday, Dhalla campaign spokesperson Jacy Lafontaine said that "six couples donated using the same credit card" and the party did not provide the required attestation forms at the time of donation
Dhalla billed herself as a true outsider in the race to replace Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and pitched policies that broke with current Liberal doctrine.
In my campaign, there have been thousands of volunteers from all over Canada who have wanted to be a part of history, of having the first woman of colour as Canada’s next Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party.<br><br>I will not allow my campaign to be tarred with baseless…
—@DhallaRubyAmong them are promises to deport illegal immigrants and impose life sentences for possession of hard drugs. Dhalla has also called for an "economic czar" to identify waste and overspending and a new "health czar" to review the health-care system.
She had met the party's steep entry fee of $350,000, a requirement to gain a spot in the official debates next week.
The Paul Martin-era Liberal MP had asked for and was denied an interpreter for Monday's French-language debate.
Last month, Nepean MP Chandra Arya said he had been informed by the party that he wasn't permitted to run.
The remaining candidates are former MP Frank Baylis, former central banker Mark Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland and former House leader Karina Gould.
Dan Arnold, a former Trudeau staffer and host of the podcast Race to Replace, said the Liberal Party likely has solid evidence to so boldly disqualify a candidate.
"In these situations, if the party is going to make a big step to disqualify someone, they're going to make sure they have legal cover for it," he said.
Arnold, also chief strategy officer at Pollara, said Dhalla's dramatic exit likely won't change the dynamics of the race.
"I think the only person who really saw Ruby Dhalla as a serious candidate in this race was Ruby Dhalla," he said.
"There really was no one out there who believed she had any chance to win or even finish in the top three of this race."
The vote for the party's new leader concludes March 9.
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With files from Kate McKenna and Raffy Boudjikanian