Tag: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

A former Ontario PC candidate who says he was falsely accused of sending a threatening email just days before the provincial election has launched a $2.45 million libel and defamation lawsuit against Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, his former employer Toronto Police Services and others, according to his statement of claim. Roshan Nallaratnam’s bombshell lawsuit accuses Horwath, the NDP and others of engaging in a dirty tricks, “politically-motivated hit job” to turn voters against him in the hotly-contested Scarborough-Guildwood riding. Just three days before the June 7 vote, the NDP issued a release accusing Nallaratnam, who was then a police officer, of sending an “ominous” email threat in response to “concerns from a voter about why he was avoiding debates.” The email, made public by the New Democrats, stated “don’t do nasty campaign against me. Horwath, speaking at a campaign rally in Sarnia, said the allegation a police officer sent the email is “disturbing” and is “yet another example of a candidate of Mr. Ford’s whose behaviour…is questionable,” the lawsuit states. Toronto police also publicly announced a professional standards investigation would be launched into the email threat, though that never happened according to the statement of claim. “This is a totally random email created under my name a few days before the election… This is the low level of politics we’re getting into… It changed the election outcome.” His lawyer, Ted Frankel, said the actual writer of the email set up a phony account under Nallaratnam’s name, and the allegations were spread far and wide when the NDP sent out a news release linking the “star” PC candidate to the “threatening” email, and after Horwath publicly called on PC Leader Doug Ford to denounce him. “It’s something that’s particularly nasty and I think that any reasonable political actor in this day and age would have done some kind of investigation, research or due diligence before going public with something that could be so damaging and could undermine not only someone’s political career but their life as well.” William McDowell, a lawyer representing the Ontario NDP, said Horwath and the political party will defend the lawsuit. The Toronto Police Service added further weight to the accusation against Nallaratnam when a spokesperson announced a professional standards investigation was underway, says the statement of claim, which has not been proven in court. Mark Pugash, a spokesperson for Toronto Police Services, confirmed the service had been served with the lawsuit but that no further comment was available. “But before this election it was all positive because I do a lot of work with youth, I do a lot of mentorship programs… very recognized in the community.” On June 4, the NDP sent the following statement to various media outlets: “Alleged threats by Ford’s star candidate in Scarborough In response to concerns from a voter about why he was avoiding debates, Doug Ford’s star candidate in Scarborough-Guildwood, Roshan Nallaratnam, called the Tamil community member a f–ker and threatened to “teach the lesson” following the election campaign.