Grewal rethinking resignation
OTTAWA— Brampton East MP Raj Grewal said Friday night he might not actually resign his seat, despite admitting to a gambling addiction that drove him to borrow money from family and friends and prompted him to announce he would step down just last week.
The 33-year-old MP at the centre of a rolling controversy about reported police investigations into his gambling activity broke his silence Friday night in a video submitted to the Globe and Mail.
In the video, Grewal is seen before a curtained window, speaking to the camera 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. He said he accumulated a personal debt in “the millions of dollars” by playing blackjack at the casino across the river from Parliament Hill, and that he fuelled his compulsion with loans from his friends and family. Grewal said all of the loans have been paid back.
Grewal apologized to friends, family, and constituents.