Ousted Liberal leadership candidate Ruby Dhalla loses appeal

Former MP Ruby Dhalla has lost her appeal after being disqualified from the Liberal leadership race last week.

Party national director Azam Ishmael said in a statement late Monday – just minutes before the party’s French-language debate was set to begin – that the permanent appeals committee confirmed the decision of the party’s vote committee “after an exchange of written submissions and an oral hearing.”

The party’s vote committee last week said Dhalla had violated multiple rules.

“The Committee reviewed Dr. Dhalla’s appeal to the decision of the Leadership Vote Committee and the Leadership Expense Committee that on Friday unanimously determined that Dr. Dhalla was in breach of 10 violations of the National Leadership Rules, Leadership Vote Rules, and the Leadership Expense Rules,” Ishmael wrote Monday.

“The party will have no further comment on this matter at this time.”

Ishmael said last week there were alleged violations of the Canada Elections Act, not disclosing “material facts,” inaccurate financial reporting and other election finance violations.

Ishmael said the investigation was extensive, including “interviews, questionnaires and an opportunity for Dr. Dhalla to directly address the committees.”

Dhalla rejected Friday’s decision and said the party just did not want her to win. She called the allegations against her “false” and “fabricated.”

In posts on X, Dhalla identified some of the concerns raised by the party but said she had done nothing wrong. She said six out of several hundred donations involved a couple using their joint credit card to make donations for both the husband and wife.

“This is entirely LEGAL,” she posted.

She said another “fabricated violation” was that donors made $21,000 in contributions directly to her campaign instead of using the required custom link that sends the funds first to the party.

“The campaign refunded the donations and asked the donors to resubmit them via the customized link,” she said. “These donations estimated $21,000. This was not a VIOLATION. Yet another fake, false and fabricated allegation, designed to keep me from the ballot.”

The disqualification narrowed the field to four candidates: former Bank of Canada governor Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, Montreal businessman Frank Baylis and former Liberal House leader Karina Gould.

–With files from The Canadian Press