Navdeep Bains enters race as 19-vote Scarborough defeat stands

navdeep bains entered the Ontario Liberal leadership race after Nate Erskine-Smith lost his appeal of the Scarborough Southwest nomination contest on Sunday. The party’s three-person arbitration committee dismissed the challenge late Sunday night and upheld Ahsanul Hafiz as the candidate for a yet-to-be-called by-election.

Scarborough Southwest vote

Erskine-Smith had been defeated by 19 votes in the May 9 nomination contest. He filed a notice of appeal on May 12, setting up the review that ended with Hafiz retaining the nomination. The committee said, “Having carefully considered all of the evidence, we find that there were no irregularities in the conduct of the nomination meeting that affected the result of the vote or that call the meeting’s integrity into question,” and, “We are satisfied that the party’s rules were followed and that Ahsanul Hafiz was the true winner of the vote. The appeal is dismissed.”

Zimmer panel decision

Former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister David Zimmer chaired the arbitration committee. The panel said the appeal’s claims about voter identity, residency and direction on how to vote did not hold up, and it said the evidence did not support the inference that anyone who was not entitled to vote cast a ballot.

It also addressed the complaint about 34 more ballots than recorded voters. The committee said the discrepancy was between ballots counted and names crossed off the voters list during the meeting, and it described the gap as a technical administrative error that did not amount to an irregularity.

Scarborough Southwest contest

The nomination settles who will carry the Ontario Liberal banner in Scarborough Southwest, where the seat was previously held by the NDP. The seat became vacant when Ontario NDP deputy leader Doly Begum quit to run for the federal Liberals. John Fraser said, “Now that the arbitration committee dismissed this appeal, our focus is the voters of Scarborough Southwest. They have an important decision ahead, and we will work hard to earn their trust.”

The party said the nomination process was open and transparent, and it said its focus now is on winning the seat in Scarborough Southwest. For voters there, the ruling leaves Hafiz as the nominee and ends Erskine-Smith’s path through the party appeal process.