Liberals accused of failing to properly screen Vuong

Some believe vetting process took a hit due to hastiness of the election

Outraged constituents who regret voting for incoming Toronto MP Kevin Vuong are demanding answers from the Liberal party.

Chief among their questions: How did the party not know Vuong was charged in 2019 with sexual assault, a charge later withdrawn by the Crown? (Vuong has denied any wrongdoing.)

The existence of the charge emerged last week in a Toronto Star story and prompted the Liberals to drop Vuong.

But he went on to win in the downtown riding of Spadina— Fort York and will sit as an Independent in the House of Commons. He has said he will not resign.

The Liberals said they only learned of the charge last week from the Star. By then, many voters had already cast ballots for Vuong in advance polls or by mail.

“We’re a week past when the original story was published, and I still haven’t seen (the Liberals) say anything about what their vetting process is,” said Kim Coghill, who voted for Vuong in an advance poll.

“I think a week is plenty of time to come up with an answer … I’m surprised there hasn’t been an answer yet as to what happened in the vetting process.”

It appears Vuong did not tell the party about the charge, nor the military, where Vuong is a former naval officer. The armed forces is now reviewing the matter.

A withdrawn criminal charge would not appear on a criminal record check, which is required of candidates under the Liberal party’s national rules.

In response to Star questions on Thursday, the party referred to the rules and its previous statement dumping Vuong.

However, a phone call to an Ontario courthouse or the Ministry

of the Attorney General with Vuong’s name and birth date would reveal if there had ever been a criminal case against him.

“They could have absolutely done that,” said Lidia Ferrari, who voted for Vuong by mail.

“I think the issue is this election was seemingly done very much on the fly. They’re obviously not the only party that had problematic candidates, so I think the whole vetting process was probably compromised because this was being done just so quickly.”

Janice Grenkie, who voted for Vuong by mail, had two words to his announcement Wednesday that he would not step down: “Betrayed. Appalled.”

“How can he be asked or pressured to resign so there can be a byelection? Can the Liberal party do even more to make that happen in terms of a statement?” she said.

“Or they should be saying something about their lack of a vetting process. How did they drop the ball? I’d like to see something more than ‘We’ve ousted him, what more can we do?’ ”

What further complicated matters was that Vuong was dropped weeks after Elections Canada’s cut-off date of Aug. 30 for candidate nominations, meaning ballots on election day still identified Vuong as the Liberal candidate.

If Vuong were to resign, a byelection would be held to replace him.

A number of provincial and federal Liberal figures have publicly called on Vuong to step down, including Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca and re-elected Liberal MPs Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and Adam van Koeverden.

The board of the federal Liberal riding association in Spadina—Fort York has also joined those calls, releasing a statement on Instagram Thursday saying constituents deserve an MP “they can trust and rely on.”

“We also understand the impact this situation has had on people who volunteer and support an election campaign,” the statement said. “

We have heard concerns and agree that Mr. Vuong’s actions have wasted the hard work and financial contributions of our association’s supporters and volunteers who we work with.”

Vuong was acclaimed as the riding’s Liberal candidate last month, five days after MP Adam Vaughan announced he would not seek re-election, and just two days before the election call on Aug. 15.

Vaughan remains a member of the riding association’s board and helped draft the statement calling on Vuong to resign.

“The only person who can do this elegantly and with integrity is Kevin and he’s chosen through the statement he released yesterday not to, and I don’t think he understands the office, I don’t think he understands the oath he’s about to be asked to sign,” Vaughan told the Star Thursday.

“There’s a cloud and a suspicion hanging over this election and we’ve called on him to resign because he’s misrepresented himself and has acted without the integrity we expect of a member of Parliament, whether Liberal or otherwise.”

The riding association’s chair, Julia Metus, said in an email that the association was not involved in a search for candidates, “but I know the vetting process to be extensive and diligent and his failure to disclose was his failure in judgment.”

Asked if it was unusual that the riding association was not involved, Metus replied: “A locally sourced candidate and a vibrant nomination contest can bring a multitude of benefits to a local campaign including volunteers, fundraising and enthusiasm.”

A petition started Tuesday and calling on Vuong to resign has collected more than 3,000 signatures.

If Toronto MP Kevin Vuong were to resign, a byelection would be held to replace him