Canada Liberal Party leadership race: Indo-Canadian candidate Ruby Bhalla disqualified

 

Toronto : Ruby Dhalla, the Indo-Canadian candidate for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Party, was disqualified by the party on Friday. Dhalla accused the party of taking such action as she was an “obstacle” to the “coronation” of former central banker Mark Carney. In a statement on Friday, the party’s national director Azam Ismael said that action was being taken after “a thorough investigation”, its committees determined she was “in breach of 10 violations of the National Leadership Rules, Leadership Vote Rules, and the Leadership Expense Rules. The violations include concerns about alleged violations of the Canada Elections Act, certain other election finance matters, non-disclosure of material facts, and inaccurate financial reporting”.

 

The party deemed that “the violations were extremely serious” and disqualified her. Dhalla said she learnt of the disqualification through media reports. In a post on X, she said, “The establishment in the Liberal Party of Canada clearly wants to hod on to power. They could not handle the fact that I was the only obstacle to Mark Carney’s coronation, both at the debate and on the ballot.” The two official debates for the leadership race are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. She posted that the party’s “decision is both shocking and deeply disappointing, especially since it was leaked to the media”. She described the allegations levelled by the party as “false, & fabricated”. “The tactics used to remove me from this race only confirm what we already knew — our message was resonating, we were winning, and the establishment felt threatened,” she added.

 

“One day it was foreign interference, one day it was campaign violations – all in an attempt to keep me from debating Carney and winning,” she wrote. A media report on Thursday alleged the Liberal Party sent her campaign several questions including those relating to foreign interference by India. However, the party later refuted the report in the Globe and Mail and Dhalla said the Liberals “had requested information” and that had been provided “along with all of the supporting documentation”. Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada (as well as the Bank of England), was an economic adviser to the Government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In December, Trudeau attempted to recruit him as Finance Minister to replace then incumbent and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. She, however, resigned instead, sending shock waves through the party and leading to a revolt against Trudeau. That precipitated Trudeau’s statement on January 6 that he intended to resign as leader and PM once his successor was selected. That process is scheduled to be completed on March 9. Canadian media has speculated that Trudeau’s inner circle is backing Carney. Dhalla was the only person of colour remaining in the race after Indo-Canadian MP Chandra Arya was disqualified on January 26. At the time, Arya said in a statement, “This decision raises significant questions about the legitimacy of the leadership race and, by extension, the legitimacy of the next Prime Minister of Canada.”