Embattled Toronto MP says he won’t step down
Some voters left angry after candidate dropped by Liberals went on to win downtown seat
Kevin Vuong, the embattled incoming MP for Spadina—Fort York, will not step down from representing the riding, he announced Wednesday, as outraged constituents complained of being cheated out of their votes.
Vuong was declared the winner Wednesday in the downtown riding. He was dropped by the Liberals just days before the election, after the Star revealed he had been charged with sexual assault in 2019, a charge later withdrawn by the Crown. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Vuong’s decision to stay on means he will sit as an Independent in the House of Commons.
“On Monday, Canadians across the country cast their votes. Not everyone will have received the result they wanted, but everyone is counting on those elected to devote themselves to the service of everyone they represent,” he said in a statement tweeted Wednesday.
“That is what I intend to do.”
“I appreciate that not everyone is happy with my election, and I very much understand why it is different in my case,” he said. “For those who feel this way, I understand the source of your doubts and I will work hard to earn your trust.”
As the Star reported, the complainant in the sexual assault case said she “didn’t have the energy” to proceed with a criminal trial, but maintained that her allegations are true.
The Liberals said they only learned of the allegation last week, and dropped Vuong on Sept. 18, two days before the election. The military is also reviewing the case as Vuong, a former naval officer, failed to notify the Armed Forces of the charge against him in 2019.
By the time the sexual assault charge came to light — followed by the Liberals’ decision to drop Vuong — plenty of voters had already cast ballots in advance polls or by mail.
Vuong also remained on the ballot as the Liberal candidate on election day, because the decision to oust him came weeks after the Aug. 30 cut-off date for candidate nominations.
That deadline is in place to give Elections Canada enough time to print ballots and send them to polling stations across the country.
Sharon Mustos was one of those early voters who chose Vuong. She told the Star in an interview she was “flabbergasted” by his decision Wednesday to stay on.
“He’s already proven he’s not trustworthy,” she said. “I feel like the right thing for him to do is resign. He was elected under false pretenses.”
Mustos is a long-standing Liberal supporter who had considered voting NDP this year, because she was frustrated with the timing of the election. But she changed her mind when she saw Vuong’s name. She remembered him running in the Toronto municipal election and liked him after meeting him and doing her research.
She said she “felt sick” when the news about Vuong came out, days after she voted for him.
“I wanted the opportunity for a redo,” she said. “I know logistically it’s not something easily done, but I felt there should have been an option and I’m just absolutely gobsmacked that this riding therefore has no Liberal candidate.”
Spadina—Fort York resident Michael Marino said that, had he known about the allegation against Vuong and the subsequent decision by the Liberals to oust him, he would have gone with his natural choice, the New Democrats, when he voted early.
“This year I voted Liberal as I can’t trust a Conservative government to get us through the pandemic and the Liberals felt like the best bet to keep Conservatives from winning federally,” Marino said in an email to the Star.
Vuong should have disclosed the information at the start of the campaign, Marino said.
“Kevin has surely forever lost the trust of all Spadina—Fort York residents, so he should step aside and a byelection should be called.”
A petition launched Tuesday calling on Vuong to resign had gathered more than 1,700 signatures by Wednesday afternoon. “They’re feeling their vote went to waste, or that they were misled,” said the petition’s creator, Mark Slapinski.
If Vuong resigns, it would trigger a byelection. The fact he’s staying on basically leaves angry voters without any recourse, said University of Toronto political science professor Christopher Cochrane.
“They’re stuck with him, unfortunately,” Cochrane said.
One option in other jurisdictions outside Canada, such as California, is the power of the electorate to recall an elected official and spark a new election. “Certainly this is the greatest example in living memory that I can think of that would support a recall law,” Cochrane said.
In his statement Wednesday, Vuong also said he would address the sexual assault allegations “at a later date more wholly in a dedicated forum,” while maintaining he was in a “casual but intimate relationship” with the complainant.
A growing number of public figures are also calling on Vuong to step down, including Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, re-elected Toronto Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and Coun. Joe Cressy, who represents Spadina—Fort York on city council.