Scheer deflects questions on Dykstra
OTTAWA— Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to say Tuesday what fate might await those involved in the party’s mishandling of sexual-misconduct allegations against Rick Dykstra during the 2015 election campaign.
Scheer, who called a news conference to pillory Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his tony Bahamian vacation with the Aga Khan, was instead peppered with questions about the misconduct controversy roiling both the federal Conservatives and their Ontario counterparts.
Most of those questions he deferred to a promised third-party investigation that has yet to begin, since the details have yet to be sorted out. But Scheer said he wants to move quickly so the report can inform the structure of the next campaign.
Until it is finished, Scheer said he won’t comment on statements being made by anyone — including former prime minister Stephen Harper — about the fact the party knew Dykstra was facing accusations but kept him on the ballot in 2015 because no charges had been filed.
“There are statements now out there by some people involved, those statements speak for themselves,” Scheer said.
“I’ll leave it to the findings of the thirdparty investigation to determine what happened, what went wrong, what can be done going forward.”
Harper, his former chief of staff and one of the Tory campaign chairs in 2015 have all come forward publicly with accounts of how the Dykstra issue was handled.
Dykstra, who resigned his position as president of the Ontario PC party, denies the allegations, which have not been tested in court nor confirmed independently by The Canadian Press.
Scheer refused to say whether those involved in the 2015 incident remain welcome in the party.
“I’m not going to speculate, I’m not going to try and guess what may or may not be in that report,” he said. “My job is to make sure that those types of mistakes can’t happen going forward.”