A candidate for the federal Liberal nomination in the riding of St-Leonard—St-Michel laid accusations Wednesday against his chief opponent.
Domenic Cusmano claims lawyer Nicola Di Iorio is not abiding by party rules by giving away membership cards, which are supposed to be sold to supporters.
Federal Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti held the riding for over a decade, but was tossed out by leader Justin Trudeau in light of allegations of sexual harassment.
The move opened the riding for a hotly contested race for what is considered a safe Liberal seat.
Of the two candidates in the running, Di Iorio has already acquired a solid team that's busy selling membership cards in the riding.
His opponent, magazine publisher Cusmano, claims there have been some improprieties.
“Many people, not just a few, did not pay for their membership and most of these people came from the other candidate's list as far as we know,” he said.
Cusmano estimates that hundreds of new party members were never asked to pay for their card.
For example, one member of his team signed up 60 members living in this new condo complex at the corner of Jarry and Viau.
Many were allegedly not asked to pay their $10 membership fee, Cusmano claimed.
“Some people told me they were asked to sign a piece of paper. Some of them didn't even know what they signed,” he said.
A potential violation of party rules, Cusmano has filed a formal complaint with the Liberal party.
Di Iorio did not respond to numerous requests by CTV for an interview, but in an earlier statement his team indicated they followed all the proper procedures leading to the nomination process.
Di Iorio's office issued a second statement Wednesday afternoon that read:
“We are fully cooperating with the party in order to shed light to these allegations."
Cusmano wants his opponent to withdraw from the nomination race.
