A complaint was filed against Liberal candidate in Laurier-Dorion, Deepak Awasti, for courting senior citizens at a residence where a polling station was located during the primary.
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“As seniors, we experience a lot of fear and vulnerability. He could have taken advantage of this situation, ”denounces Madeleine Héroux, the local resident who made the complaint.
The incident dates back to September 25 at the Alfredo Gagliardi residence on Berri Street in Montreal. The building approved for postal voting was then in the middle of the election period.
However, according to Élections Québec, it is forbidden to distribute leaflets and make statements during a vote in a building within the walls of which is a polling station.
“Under all circumstances [le candidat] must not advertise his candidacy in the polling stations or try in any way to influence the voters’ vote,” explains Gabriel Sauvé-Lesiège, spokesman for the organization.
” Not allowed “
According to Ms Héroux, the liberal Deepak Awasti knocked on all the doors on his floor to introduce himself to residents and leave them leaflets.
“It’s against politics, it’s serious! So I told him to leave the building,” explains the 76-year-old eldest.
The lady trusted her intuition and then went to the floor where the polling station was located to make sure that Mr. Awasti had indeed left the premises. It was then that she spotted him sitting in front of the elevator doors, greeting seniors coming out, and getting ready to vote.
“You have to deal fairly with all candidates. Since there are no security forces, I accompanied him to the exit and told him that he had no right to be there,” Ms Héroux explained.
Other pranks
Alerted to the situation, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) confirmed that their candidate had been called to order by Quebec’s chief electoral officer.
“Mr Awasti has assured us that he has taken all necessary means to ensure that this situation does not repeat itself,” Maxime Roy, PLQ’s communications director, told the Journal.
In early September, the Liberal candidate was also unfairly brought up for discussion when a letter he published in May 2021 in the English-language Montreal newspaper The Suburban resurfaced.
In particular, he questioned the legitimacy of Quebec to designate itself as a “nation” in Canada’s constitution and to include French as the province’s “sole” official language.