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Canada: Facing sexual harassment charges, Liberal Party candidate withdraws
Since nominations for the elections scheduled on September 20 closed last Monday, Raj Saini’s exit will leave the party without a candidate in the riding, as constituencies are called in Canada.
After facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards staffers, an Indo-Canadian MP from the ruling Liberal Party has withdrawn from the Federal elections scheduled for September 20.
Raj Saini, the incumbent member of the House of Commons from Kitchener Centre, made the announcement in a statement released on Saturday just a day after he was defended by Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Since nominations for the elections closed last Monday, Saini’s exit will leave the party without a candidate in the riding, as constituencies are called in Canada. The ruling party is already trailing the principal opposition Conservatives in voter preference across a range of fresh surveys. That agency, along with others, places the Conservatives at least 2% ahead in national vote share.
In fact, according to the poll tracker 338 Canada, the Conservatives led by Erin O’Toole are now in a position to garner the highest number of seats, at 143, with the Liberals at 132 in the 338-seat House of Commons.
Referring to the stories of alleged harassment and inappropriate acts, first broken by the outlet CBC News, Saini said, “The statements are unequivocally false. I have never acted inappropriately towards staff, volunteers or constituents.”
He said he was “very proud” of his work for the riding, but “continuing my campaign no longer serves the best interests of my family, staff members, campaign team, and constituents”.
Trudeau had earlier said a rigorous process had been followed with regard to the allegations against Saini, before he was cleared to contest the 2021 elections.
Saini represented the riding since 2015.
Saini, who has roots in Himachal Pradesh, added, “For everyone’s health and safety, I have taken the painful decision to end my campaign for the 44th Parliament.”
However, he also said he is contemplating further action in this regard, saying, “I will be focusing all my attention and efforts to challenge these defamatory false accusations and am in the process of consulting legal counsel to review all options.”
On Saturday, the ruling party also said it was removing Saini as a candidate as a review process was initiated on Friday “after new information was directly provided to the Liberal Party of Canada. Mr Saini will no longer be a Liberal candidate”.
According to a report from the outlet CBC News, multiple sources “described four different cases where Saini allegedly made unwanted sexual advances or inappropriate comments.” Saini denied the accusations to CBC.
It also reported that a former staffer filed a complaint related to alleged “unwelcome advances and harassing behaviour” with the Canadian Human Rights Commission last year.
