Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith Faces Nomination Defeat
Ethnic politics were all fun and games for MP Nate Erskine-Smith until they devoured him last Saturday. Erskine-Smith was running for the Ontario Liberal nomination in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, with hopes of winning the riding's provincial byelection and eventually the party leadership. He had a prominent public profile and face-time with Prime Minister Mark Carney, but he was no match for opponent Ahsanul Hafiz, who won by 19 votes. Hafiz was aided by a mass of voters who did not appear to know English.
Background of the Candidates
Born in Bangladesh, Hafiz immigrated to Canada in 2002 and built a career in business, owning dozens of Domino's Pizza franchises in Ontario. According to The Bangladesh Today, he comes from a political family; his father was a labour leader back home. Home-country connections appear to have brought the nomination race down to the wire.
Irregularities on Nomination Day
On nomination day, images circulated online showing sample ballots nearly entirely in Bengali, instructing voters to rank Hafiz first. The Globe and Mail's Laura Stone reported that candidates were giving speeches to a near-empty room while supporters lined up waiting to vote. Then, Hafiz won. Instead of taking it quietly, Erskine-Smith went public on his Substack with a litany of problems observed during the nomination. He has since filed a formal challenge.
Among the issues: 34 more ballots were counted than there were voters. People were observed hanging around watchfully in the voting area, telling voters what to do. Multiple voters took video and speakerphone calls to allegedly get instructions in the voting booth. Many voters took photos of their ballots, which Erskine-Smith's chief scrutineer said was evidence of vote buying. A large number of temporary residents voted, many of whom could not state their address or claimed they recently lost their driver's licence or moved to the area.
Questionable Voting Documentation
Voters could obtain ballots with asylum claim documents, unsigned apartment leases, Amazon orders, digital report cards, and even a visitor's visa, according to Erskine-Smith's team. The Ontario Liberals lost control of the voting process nearly entirely towards the end, with people loitering around and returning to lines after they had voted.
Comparisons to Past Interference
The Scarborough Southwest situation bears an uncanny resemblance to the 2019 nomination for the federal riding of Don Valley North, in which busloads of international students appeared to vote, benefiting Han Dong, who won the nomination and became a Liberal MP. Filings with the subsequent Foreign Interference Commission stated that the Chinese government coerced the students. Dong was later excised from caucus, but the Liberals maintained the nomination was above board. Notably, Hafiz and Dong had the same campaign manager.
As the investigation proceeds, some onlookers are gloating, seeing Erskine-Smith's loss as a strike of karmic justice.
