Ontario PCs close probe on MPP Hillier
The Progressive Conservatives have closed their investigation into allegations that Ottawa Valley MPP Randy Hillier physically intimidated would-be legislator Goldie Ghamari at the party convention in 2016.
“The PC Party has concluded the investigation into allegations between a candidate and sitting caucus member, and determined no further actions are warranted,” Tory communications director Nick Bergamini said in a written statement Friday night.
Ghamari has since won the Tory nomination in the riding called Carleton, in south Ottawa. It’s mostly been carved out of NepeanCarleton, the riding long held by Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod.
At the time of the convention in March 2016, Ghamari was on the periphery of the party, rumoured to be considering challenging MacLeod. She alleged that in the evening, outside the Shaw Centre, an intoxicated Hillier came up to her, threw an arm around her shoulders to pull her in tight, waved a cigarette in her face and warned her she’d better not get in MacLeod’s way.
The dispute is wrapped up in intra-party power struggles over who’s in charge of the provincial conservatives in Eastern Ontario.
There was no sexual element to the incident, Ghamari said, but she said an MPP shouldn’t physically intimidate anybody. Hillier, the MPP for Lanark-FrontenacLennox and Addington, is about twice Ghamari’s size.
Hillier acknowledged they’d talked but said the exchange was during the day, he was sober and never came within five feet of her.
Ghamari complained to the party at the time, but after a brief investigation the Tories decided they couldn’t do anything with he-said-she-said allegations. She renewed her complaint after Patrick Brown resigned as leader of the party in January.
Hillier said in January that he regretted if he’d done anything that made Ghamari feel threatened but stuck by his version of events.
Hillier’s account was backed up by his son, Dillon, Ghamari’s by Charity McGrath, now the Tory candidate in Newmarket-Aurora.
Bergamini’s statement doesn’t say whether the party has decided whether one version is true.
“A highly reputable, independent third-party investigator was hired by the party to investigate allegations surrounding events alleged to have taken place in March of 2016,” Bergamini wrote. “The individuals involved in the investigation have been informed of the report and the decision, and the matter is now concluded.”
Ghamari said Saturday she had nothing to say about the results.
“I’m pleased it has concluded and that they used a very professional firm to conduct a thorough investigation,” Hillier said by email.