Candidate apologizes after requesting fee to appear on panel
Liberal was invited for election-related discussion by newspaper
When Shaugat Ali Sagor, editor and publisher of Weekly Notundesh, a Bangladeshi-Canadian newspaper, reached out to federal election candidates of Bangladeshi origin to appear on a live panel discussion, he didn’t expect to be asked to take out his chequebook.
“My campaign office requires $300 plus donation to have me attend any talk show or event,” wrote Afroza Hossain, the Liberal candidate for Oshawa, in a message to Ali Sagor that was shared with the Star.
The Star reached out to the Liberal Party of Canada for comment and received the following statement, attributed to Hossain:
“I mistakenly asked for donations in a context that is entirely unacceptable,” Hossain said. “I apologize for this mistake and lapse in judgment. I remain focused on earning the trust of Oshawa residents and representing their priorities and interests in Parliament.”
Ali Sagor said he was shocked at Hossain’s request. He declined to pay Hossain and donate to her campaign and issued an apology to his audience Sunday.
“I had to tell them, ‘I invited all the candidates, but I was unable to pay for her appearance, so I couldn’t have her on the program,’ and that I’m sorry,” he said. “One audience member said, ‘We’ve never heard of something like this, how can a candidate ask for money to come on a program?’”
That audience member isn’t alone in their confusion. Political scientists contacted by the Star also found the situation perplexing.
“Ethically, that’s way out of line, and seems like off-the-wall behaviour to me,” said David Cameron, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. “I thought candidates
were keen to appear in public to get their message out. I don’t know whether it is formally against the law, but my gut instinct is if it isn’t, it ought to be.”
Elections Canada spokesperson Natasha Gauthier said while she cannot comment on specific situations, something of this nature does not appear to contradict regulations in the Canada Elections Act. The only caveat is that companies cannot make campaign donations. So, if Ali Sagor, not his newspaper, signed the cheque, all should, in theory, be well.
“I mistakenly asked for donations in a context that is entirely unacceptable.”
AFROZA HOSSAIN LIBERAL CANDIDATE
“We don’t pass judgment on whether something is legal or not legal,” said Gauthier. “It’s the commissioner of Canada Elections’ job to investigate potential violations of the act. Someone would have to file a complaint about this.”
Neil Nevitte, a political science professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs said he found the situation “very odd.”
“The only way I could think that someone would even dream of doing this as a candidate would be if they did not trust the media source or thought they were being set up, and used this as a way to get out of the interaction,” he said, though there is no evidence of this being the case with Hossain and Weekly Notundesh.
Ali Sagor said four candidates from various ridings, an even split between Conservative and NDP, readily agreed to sit down with Weekly Notundesh Sunday for the hour-and-a-halflong show.