Eglinton-Lawrence race heads toward bitter end
Party membership challenged before Grit nomination vote
OTTAWA— The Liberal nomination battle in Eglinton-Lawrence looks to be heading to a bitter end on Sunday, with rival campaigns for Eve Adams and Marco Mendicino raising questions about hundreds of new members.
The Star has learned that formal challenges of hundreds of members signed up by the Adams campaign, as well as an unknown number of new Mendicino supporters, have been filed with the Liberal riding association.
It’s the latest salvo in what has been a bitter battle between Adams, a former Conservative MP, and Mendici- no, who has support among Toronto’s Liberal establishment.
Neither campaign would discuss the specific nature of their concerns when contacted by the Star. But riding association president Rocco Piccininno confirmed that hundreds of the riding’s 5,000 members were being called into question.
“Our riding association has benefited greatly from a competitive nomination race,” Piccininno, who has publicly endorsed Adams, wrote in an email. “We are energized and strengthened for the October election. I am confident that the candidate we choose on Sunday will use the energy and momentum from this great race to win Eglinton-Lawrence for the Liberal Party.”
Piccininno, along with Liberal insiders in Ottawa, downplayed the issue as routine in nomination con- tests — particularly ones as heated as Eglinton-Lawrence.
Adams, a former Mississauga councillor who represented that area for the Conservatives in Ottawa, chose to run in Eglinton-Lawrence after defecting to the Liberals in February.
Adams and her fiancé, Dimitri Soudas, a former adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, ran afoul of the Conservative party after allegations of dirty tricks in an Oakville nomination battle. Adams quit that race in August 2014, saying she needed time to recover from a concussion.
Adams did not return a request for an interview Wednesday. On her behalf, veteran Liberal campaigner Tom Allison sent a written statement to the Star.
“With respect to the questions you posed, all candidates have signed an undertaking with the Liberal Party not to publicly disclose this type of information,” Allison, who recently helped secure Premier Kathleen Wynne’s re-election, wrote. “On Sunday, members will choose who they believe can best fight for the community and win the election.”
Charles Bird, who has been working on the Mendicino campaign, confirmed that they had filed challenges but refused to discuss specifics.
“The Mendicino campaign has filed a series of challenges with the party . . . and it’s our understanding that the Adams campaign has filed similar challenges,” said Bird. “Challenges are generally issued on (questions about) the basis of individual memberships, and that is, as I understand, that is what’s transpired with the challenges issued by both the Mendicino and the Adams campaigns.”
Mendicino, a lawyer, has secured the endorsement of former Liberal leader Bob Rae, Liberal MP Judy Sgro, local Liberal MPP Mike Colle, and a number of prominent Liberals both inside the GTA and beyond.
CBC reported Thursday that Soudas bought a Liberal Party membership in Eglinton-Lawrence. But because he and Adams don’t live in the riding, they can’t cast ballots in Sunday’s vote, CBC added.