Canada’s opposition party drops two candidates over controversial comments
ByAnirudh Bhattacharyya
Apr 03, 2025 11:23 AM IST
The nominations of Don Patel, a candidate from the Etobicoke North riding in the Greater Toronto Area and Lourence Singh, a candidate from New West-Burnaby-Maillardville in British Columbia, were cancelled
Toronto: The opposition Conservative Party dropped two Indo-Canadian candidates on Wednesday amid concerns over their comments or social media activity in the past.
Don Patel (left), who was dropped as a candidate by the Conservative Party on Wednesday, with its leader Pierre Poilievre in December 2023. (Don Patel/X)
Don Patel (left), who was dropped as a candidate by the Conservative Party on Wednesday, with its leader Pierre Poilievre in December 2023. (Don Patel/X)
Lourence Singh’s nomination from New West-Burnaby-Maillardville in British Columbia, was cancelled by the party on Wednesday without ascribing a reason for the action. Singh, who was born in Hong Kong, was dropped as he defended Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang during the course of a podcast interview in 2021, according to the outlet Business in Vancouver.
Later, also on Wednesday, the party also announced it was ejecting Don Patel, its candidate from the Etobicoke North riding in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The party took exception to Patel reacting favourably to a social media post that stated, “Should be stop these people by Canadian Government and deported to India then PM Modi can take care of these non-sense people.” He was also alleged to have reacted similarly to another post that supported action against pro-Khalistan elements by India.
That reference was to pro-Khalistan elements in Canada and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Patel had faced attacks online for organising a car rally in 2019 to celebrate the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections held that year.
A party spokesperson told the outlet CTV News, “Endorsing such a statement is clearly unacceptable.” While it shared a screenshot of the offensive statement with the outlet, the date on which it was posted was unclear.
That makes for three Indo-Canadians dropped by Federal parties ahead of the April 28 election.
Indo-Canadian Chandra Arya had been disqualified by the Liberal Party last month due to what it said “new information” that was made available to it. Arya was a three-term MP from Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa, the Canadian capital.
A day later, the party announced that Prime Minister Mark Carney would be its candidate from that riding.
Voting in Canada will take place on April 28.
Conservative Party
Toronto
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