Underage drinkers say Tory MP picked up the tab
News site posts photo of group allegedly at bar
St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra is remaining tight-lipped about allegations he provided drinks for underage girls at a local bar.
The accusations were made public in a BuzzFeed News report that cited two anonymous teens who claimed Dykstra bought them alcohol at a local bar, the Mansion House.
“He’s not doing any interviews,” campaign spokeswoman Karen Moncur said Friday on behalf of Dykstra. “The statement is all we’re issuing and we’re just going to have to stand on that.”
Dykstra’s camp issued a statement Thursday saying the federal election candidate was “in a licensed establishment, where patrons are required to be 19 or older.”
“Given Ontario’s rigorous ID requirements, Mr. Dykstra had no reason to believe anyone in the establishment was underage. Mr. Dykstra did not purchase drinks for any of the individuals in question.”
Dykstra, 49, was first elected as member of Parliament in 2006.
But BuzzFeed said one of the teens, alleged to be 17 years old but 16 at the time of the alleged incident, is standing by her initial tweets, which say she and friends drank with Dykstra’s party and “were told he was buying.”
BuzzFeed has posted a photo, reported to have been taken Sept. 2, of Dykstra posing with four females and another male who have had their faces blurred out.
An 18-year-old woman who was allegedly at the bar on the night in question said on Twitter Dykstra bought six bottles of Ciroc vodka costing $170 per bottle.
The 18-year-old woman said she was contacted by Brandon Currie, a Conservative supporter, and asked to take down the tweets, which were removed shortly after she was contacted, BuzzFeed reported. She alleged she was offered VIP treatment at the bar by Currie in exchange for her silence on the issue.
The Standard has been unable to verify the contents of the BuzzFeed piece.
In a statement emailed from his website address brandoncurrie.ca, Currie said he was at the Mansion House Sept. 2 as a representative for a company through which he is no longer employed.
“Any suggestion that I made any offer to any individual is completely false,” he said.
“Those present who suggested otherwise have since retracted their comments and apologized. We consider the matter closed.”
When contacted, a spokesperson for the Conservatives national campaign declined to comment on the allegations.
In an emailed statement, Niagara Regional chairman Alan Caslin’s office said, “On the topic discussed, the chair has no comment.”
Asked about rumours circulating that the allegations could be part of a political smear campaign, Liberal candidate Chris Bittle said: “I have no knowledge of that.”
And NDP candidate Susan Erskine-Fournier said she has nothing to say on the matter.