Khattra pushes back against accusations
Calgary dentist is seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination in Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE — Tanya Khattra, the Calgary dentist seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination in Cambridge, is pushing back against accusations she’s a parachute candidate dropping in from Alberta.
In a Facebook post, she says she’s been the victim of “news reports that have attacked me with name calling,” and states she “loves” the people of Cambridge and North Dumfries.
She says she lived in Ontario until 2012 and only left the province because “liberal policies were choking small business owners and professionals.”
But Khattra is still refusing to answer basic questions about where she lives, her connection to Cambridge or the support she’s receiving from a well-connected director within the PC Party of Ontario.
“I opted not to answer to media, only because I don’t want our focus to be diverted on baseless reporting without verifying the facts,” she said, in her Facebook post.
Khattra has not responded to repeated requests to talk about why she’s chosen to run in Cambridge, a community where she’s only been leasing a house for a month.
A man who answered her campaign phone Friday said “she’s not obligated to return your calls,” before abruptly hanging up.
In a followup call, another campaign staffer said if Khattra wanted to explain where she lives, she would have done so already.
“I am a person of integrity and firmly believe in the democratic process. I believe in transparency and in serving my constituents and stand up for my constituents,” Khattra said, in her Facebook statement.
While Khattra’s candidacy continues to raise questions, she’s been getting a helping hand from Gulab Singh Saini, an influential fundraiser and party organizer for the PCs — and its director of South Asian development and membership growth.
Saini, who worked on the leadership campaign of party Leader Patrick Brown, has an influential position in the central party and has been involved in a number of nomination campaigns around the province.
He’s been very public with his support of Khattra, actively helping her campaign in Cambridge and often appearing by her side at local events.
PC party members in Cambridge, meanwhile, have complained that Khattra is an opportunist, parachuting into a community she’s never lived or worked in because it appears to be a winnable seat for the Tories.
She used an Alberta driver’s licence to fill out her candidate’s application form, and still works at a dental practice she owns in Calgary. But with Saini’s help, she’s been able to sign up hundreds of new memberships, which she’ll need to win the local nomination.
That process itself has been highly controversial. The PC party came under fire after it overruled the local riding association and bumped up the nomination meeting by a month, cutting off the deadline to sign up supporters.
After party members protested, alleging that decision ended the race prematurely to benefit Khattra, the PCs backtracked and cancelled the nomination meeting.
One former candidate, Paul Brown, dropped out of the race afterward because of concerns about Khattra’s candidacy, and the appearance that she has the backing of powerful people within party headquarters.
The PC party, meanwhile, maintains it has not tried to influence the local nomination meeting and has declined to talk about Khattra or any other candidate until they win the nomination.
Khattra told her supporters she won’t address her residency issue because it’s a distraction to her campaign.
“It’s time to strengthen the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party to face the election together. This is what majority of the general membership and constituencies want me to do instead of being distracted,” she wrote, in her post.
She also claimed the questions about her candidacy were being driven by people with agendas.
“Let’s put the differences and unnecessary fear created by vested people away and work together to select the best candidate to represent all of us. I would be honoured, if the membership chooses me to represent the riding of Cambridge and North Dumfries,” she said.
Khattra’s Facebook post has not been well-received. Most comments have been critical of the candidate, while others have urged her to drop out of the race.
Jim Karahalios, a Cambridge riding association board member who’s leading a campaign to make nomination contests more transparent and democratic, said Khattra’s statement doesn’t do anything to address the criticism around her candidacy.
“By ignoring the questions regarding her residency, I read Tanya’s statement as an admission that she actually doesn’t have an answer to these questions because she actually lives in Calgary,” he said.