Politics

Eve Adams's nomination vote postponed amid allegations

The Conservative Party is postponing the nomination meeting to choose its next candidate in Oakville North-Burlington after allegations by both Eve Adams and Natalia Lishchyna that the other side isn't playing fair.

Pitched battle led to complaints of dirty tricks by both Eve Adams and Natalia Lishchyna

Tories in Oakville North-Burlington were to cast ballots for either MP Eve Adams, left, or chiropractor Natalia Lishchyna on May 24, but the party has postponed the nomination meeting to review complaints. (CBC/Canadian Press)

The Conservative Party is postponing the nomination meeting to choose its next candidate in the Ontario riding of Oakville North-Burlington after allegations by both Eve Adams and Natalia Lishchyna that the other side isn't playing fair.

The vote was to be held this weekend.

"To ensure a fair and open nomination process, the Conservative Party of Canada has determined the Oakville North-Burlington nomination meeting, scheduled for this Saturday, May 24, must be postponed in order to fully review complaints received," spokesman Cory Hahn said in a statement released Thursday night.

"The Conservative Party believes in upholding the integrity of our nomination process, and apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The nomination will be rescheduled at a future date after a thorough review has been completed."

Most recently, Lishchyna's campaign alleged Adams's campaign may have paid for the memberships of some of the people who signed up to support the MP.

It's against the rules for someone to pay for another's party membership.

Generally, members vote for the person who sign them up for party membership, making signing new members a valuable way to gain support within a party.

Adams's fiancé fired from party

In a statement Thursday, Lishchyna's campaign alleged it had discovered 38 cases of ineligible members signed up by Adams's campaign.

The Lishchyna campaign news release included an audio recording purporting to be of a woman who said Adams's campaign paid for her membership, but the campaign refused to provide further information so that CBC News could verify the information.

Lishchyna supporters have also alleged Adams was abusive to members of the riding association, and that Adams's fiancé, Dimitri Soudas, abused his position as the party's executive director to campaign for Adams.

Soudas was fired from the party after that allegation surfaced. He and Adams deny doing anything wrong.

The Adams team alleges Lishchyna's campaign has badgered Conservative supporters with repeated telephone calls.

'Our people are ours'

"As many people in Oakville and Burlington know, the opposing candidate undertook very disconcerting tactics. We believe these tactics to be illegal and we duly filed complaints with the CRTC and Elections Canada," a spokesman for Adams said in an email to CBC News. The spokesman refused to provide a statement until CBC News agreed not to name him.

Adams addressed the allegations in a tweet Thursday night.

"We are happy to knock on every door again and sign them up again. Our people are ours," she said on the social media site.

The Conservative Party last month warned Adams to behave.

Adams has signed up as many as three times more members than Lishchyna.

Adams is the MP for the neighbouring Mississauga-Brampton South riding, which is to be split among several new ridings in 2015 when Elections Canada adds another 30 electoral districts to the Canadian map.

With files from Hannah Thibedeau