Canadian Sikh MP Grewal not to resign
CHANDIGARH: Canadian Liberal MP Raj Grewal said on Saturday that he has changed his mind about resigning from Parliament over gambling addiction. He said he has repaid his sizable gambling debts and the decision to quit politics was taken in haste.
In a statement posted to his Facebook page late on Friday, Grewal, 33, ended several days of silence, saying Canadians deserve to know the details of his personal troubles, reported The Star.
In the video, Grewal is seen speaking about what he calls a “mental health” issue with gambling that took hold after he was elected in 2015.
Eight days after he posted on Facebook that he would resign his seat, Grewal said he had changed his mind and would leave the Liberal caucus, but wouldn’t decide whether to leave politics until Parliament resumes after the winter break in January, reported The Star.
“I’ve decided that I will be leaving the Liberal caucus and will be taking a leave of absence to focus on my mental health, and treatment plan,” Grewal said.
Grewal’s sudden decision to step down as the member for the southern Ontario riding of Brampton East was prompted by a gambling problem that led him to incur significant personal debts, the prime minister’s office said last week.
In his message, Grewal said he began frequenting the Casino du Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Que., in early 2016, racking up personal debt in the millions of dollars playing high-stakes blackjack. He started to borrow money from family and friends to continue to gamble.
“On an average sitting, I would spend between 15 to 30 minutes at a table, and I either won a lot of money, which made me continue to chase wins, or I lost a significant amount of money, which threw me into complete despair,” CTV News quoted him as saying.
Grewal said all of the loans have been paid back, The Star reported. “This has nothing to do at all with anything sinister, except to feed my own addiction,” he said. Grewal apologised to his friends, family and constituents in Brampton.