With just over one week to go before the provincial election, the NDP is ramping up its calls on the Liberal Party to pull its candidate in Chatham-Kent-Leamington.
Former Essex NDP MPP Taras Natyshak held a press conference Wednesday morning to double down on allegations that the Liberal candidate in Chatham-Kent-Leamington, Audrey Festeryga, filed fraudulent documents when registering for the nomination.
“On May 12, the Liberals dropped their former candidate and that was their choice but they submitted paperwork for Ms. Festeryga using the same old paperwork that had been dated and witnessed the day before,” he said.
According to Natyshak, four individuals have come forward to say they did not provide their signatures for Festeryga’s nomination.
According to the Election Act, the 25 elector signatures needed to submit a nomination must be for the specified candidate.
As well, the NDP alleged a local Elections Ontario official working in Chatham has confirmed to the party that a mistake was made in accepting Festeryga’s nomination papers.
“They’ve quite clearly, after reviewing them, stated that they should not have accepted them in the first place given the information and the knowledge that they have,” said Natyshak.
In an email provided to CKXS News, Elections Ontario has confirmed to the NDP that it is investigating the allegations.
“The election is in just over a week. People are already advance voting. This is not the time to delay,” said Natyshak. “I would ask Mr. Del Duca to do the right thing and if he won’t, then the candidate herself should recuse herself from the election knowing that those nomination papers are illegitimate.”
The Liberal Party has said it plans to stand behind its candidate.
“Our lawyers have looked into the NDP complaint and we are very confident the nomination of our candidate Audrey Festeryga is perfectly valid,” Press Secretary Andrea Ernesaks said in an email sent to CKXS News on Tuesday. “Elections Ontario approved the candidacy almost two weeks ago and issued a Certificate of Nomination to our candidate.”
Festeryga has not personally responded to interview requests from CKXS News.