Advertisement

Ontario NDP alleges Liberals broke nomination rules in Chatham-Kent-Leamington

The Ontario NDP is alleging the Liberals filed fraudulent paperwork when nominating Audrey Festeryga, who's running in the Chatham-Kent-Leamington riding. (Audrey Festeryga Campaign - image credit)
The Ontario NDP is alleging the Liberals filed fraudulent paperwork when nominating Audrey Festeryga, who's running in the Chatham-Kent-Leamington riding. (Audrey Festeryga Campaign - image credit)

Ontario's NDP is alleging the Liberal party broke electoral rules when filing nomination papers for its Chatham-Kent-Leamington candidate.

On May 12, the Liberals announced Audrey Festeryga would run for the seat, after the previous candidate, Alec Mazurek, was removed after social media posts containing homophobic slurs made eight years ago were shared by the NDP.

However, the removal came just hours before the deadline to file nomination papers, which require the signatures of at least 25 electors in the riding.

According to Elections Ontario documents, "on the nomination paper you will need the signatures and addresses of at least 25 eligible electors in the electoral district in which you are running. These addresses will be verified by election officials when you file your papers."

The NDP is alleging the Liberals transferred signatures gathered for Mazurek's nomination to that of Festeryga, something the party says is not allowed under Ontario electoral rules.

"In their rush to name a new candidate, they submitted their paperwork about 15 minutes before the deadline," said Brock McGregor, NDP candidate for the riding. "We were just doing our due diligence, reviewing those nomination forms and noticed a couple of inconsistencies."

"We made a quick phone call to a name we recognized on the form, and they confirmed to us that they had not signed a nomination form for the candidate listed on that piece of paper."

The NDP later forwarded a statement from Chatham resident Mike Brown to CBC. The statement reads:

"Earlier this month, a young man named Alec Mazurek came to my house in Chatham. He told me he was the Liberal candidate in the upcoming election and needed signatures to get his name on the ballot. I signed the forms, as I wanted to support a young person being involved in politics. These are the only forms I have signed for the provincial election. I have not met nor heard of Audrey Festeryga until I learned that my signature is on her forms. Nobody asked me to sign forms for Ms Festergya."

CBC News was not able to independently verify the claim.

'We're looking for accountability'

Elections Ontario told CBC News it does not comment on complaints or investigations. McGregor said the NDP has received word an investigation is underway.

"We're looking for accountability," McGregor said. "They've cut ethical corners to get this nominee on the paper. And we we believe that that's disrespectful to residents in Chatham-Kent Leamington, and they weren't willing to do the work needed to field a candidate and run a campaign here."

The Ontario Liberals told CBC News in a statement that the party is "confident the nomination of our candidate Audrey Festeryga is perfectly valid."

Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was asked about the issue at a news conference earlier Wednesday.

"I think it's a really sad comment, with 16 days left to go in this campaign, that [NDP Leader Andrea] Horwath and the Ontario NDP have resorted to desperation tactics," Del Duca said.

The Ontario election will take place on June 2.