Liberal Candidate Apologizes After Requesting $ 300 Fee To Appear On Election-Related Community Panel

When Shaugat Ali Sagor, editor and publisher of Notundesh weekly, a Bangladeshi and Canadian newspaper, approached federal election candidates of Bangladeshi origin to appear on a live panel discussion, not expecting to be asked to pull out his checkbook.

“My campaign office requires $ 300 plus a donation so that I can attend any talk show or event,” wrote Afroza Hossain, the Liberal candidate from Oshawa, in a message to Ali Sagor that was shared with the Star.

The Star reached out to the Liberal Party of Canada for comment and received the following statement, attributed to Hossain:

“I asked for donations by mistake in a context that is completely unacceptable,” Hossain said. “I apologize for this error and error in judgment. I remain focused on earning the trust of Oshawa residents and representing their priorities and interests in Parliament. ”

Ali Sagor said he was surprised by Hossain’s request. He refused to pay Hossain and donate to his campaign and issued an apology to his audience on Sunday.

“I had to tell them, ‘I invited all the candidates, but I couldn’t pay for her appearance, so I couldn’t have her on the show,’ and I’m sorry,” she said. “An audience member said, ‘We’ve never heard of something like this, how can a candidate ask for money to participate in a show?'”

That audience member is not alone in his confusion. Political scientists contacted by the Star also found the situation puzzling.

“Ethically, that is very out of character and strikes me as unusual behavior,” said David Cameron, professor of political science at the University of Toronto. “I thought the candidates were eager to appear in public to spread their message. I don’t know if it’s formally against the law, but my instinct is that if it isn’t, it should be. “

Elections Canada spokeswoman Natasha Gauthier said that while she cannot comment on specific situations, something of this nature does not appear to contradict Canada’s Elections Act regulations. The only caveat is that companies cannot make campaign donations. So if Ali Sagor, not his newspaper, signed the check, everything should, in theory, be fine.

“We do not make judgments about whether something is legal or not,” Gauthier said. “The job of the Canadian Elections Commissioner is to investigate possible violations of the law. Someone would have to make a complaint about this. ”

Neil Nevitte, a political science professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs, said he found the situation “very strange.”

“The only way I could think that someone would dream of doing this as a candidate would be if they didn’t trust the media source or think they were being misled, and used this as a way out of the interaction.” he said, although there is no evidence that this is the case for Hossain and Weekly Notundesh.

Ali Sagor said four candidates from various constituencies, including a split between the Conservatives and the NDP, readily agreed to sit down with Weekly Notundesh on Sunday for the 1.5-hour program.

Ben Cohen is a Star staff reporter in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @bcohenn

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