Liberals say Toronto candidate won’t represent party after dropped sex assault charge was revealed
SASKATOON-Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says it was difficult but important" for his party to publicly cut ties with a downtown Toronto candidate who faced a charge of sexual assault that was dropped in 2019.
In a statement Saturday morning, the Liberals said Kevin Vuong - their candidate whose name is on the ballot in Spadina - Fort York - will not be a member of the Liberal caucus" if he is elected to Parliament on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in Richmond Hill, Trudeau pushed back against accusations from his political rivals that he was too slow to take decisive action in the situation.
When information came forward we took immediate action: we stopped the campaign," said Trudeau, referring to how the Liberals said they suspended Vuong's election effort after the Star revealed he faced a sexual assault charge that was dropped in 2019.
Vuong told the Star by email that the allegations against him are unequivocally" false.
We followed the processes that were in place in the party to ascertain and to look into this, and we've come to the conclusion that this individual can no longer be a Liberal candidate in this election," Trudeau said Saturday.
It is a difficult but important thing to do because it is the right thing to do."
But that wasn't enough for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who laid into Trudeau at a press conference in a Saskatoon park on Saturday morning, and tried to link the Liberals' response to the allegations against Vuong to the party's failure to address sexual misconduct in the Canadian military during its six years in power.
It took them two days to do something that shouldn't have taken them 20 minutes, and that is an insult," Singh said.
Mr. Trudeau does not believe women ... He protects powerful men instead of standing up for women."
Moments later, Singh was asked about his own defence of Wab Kinew, the Manitoba NDP Leader who was charged with assault in 2003 before the charge was dropped the next year. Singh stood by Kinew when asked about the leader's past in 2017, and did so again Saturday.
Wab has been really honest about his life and has changed things in his life," Singh said, turning again to accuse Trudeau of a complete failure of leadership when it comes to believing women and doing anything to protect women."
The Liberals' decision to cut ties with Vuong comes after Trudeau admitted the Spadina - Fort York candidate passed the party's vetting process before he became the party's flagbearer in the riding in August, shortly after incumbent Liberal MP Adam Vaughan announced that he wouldn't seek re-election.
Court records obtained by the Star show Vuong was charged with sexual assault in April 2019 and that the Crown lawyer withdrew the charge later that year after speaking with the complainant in the case and concluding it would not be in the public interest to proceed any further."
The complainant told the Star this week that she didn't have the energy" to proceed with a criminal trial but maintained that her allegations are true. She said she did not know the charge against Vuong was dropped until the Star informed her, and only realized he was running for the Liberals when she recently returned to Toronto and saw his face on placards in the city.
It is the Star's policy to grant anonymity to people who allege they are victims of sexual assault.
The Liberal party has rules that require all candidates to undergo a criminal record check, and answer questions about their background. The NDP also confirmed Friday that it performs criminal record checks for its candidates, and also asks them whether they've ever been arrested or charged with a crime.
The Globe and Mail also reported this month that Vuong is facing a $1.5-million lawsuit related to his pandemic mask-making business.
With files from Althia Raj and The Canadian Press
Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga