TORONTO — Ontario Liberal leader John Fraser defended the party’s nomination process Tuesday and welcomed an appeal over the Scarborough Southwest nomination challenge raised by former Liberal MP Erskine-Smith.Speaking at Queen’s Park following the release of the Auditor General’s report, Fraser said the Ontario Liberal Party would allow its board of arbitration to review the complaint thoroughly and quickly.“Everything I said yesterday, I stand by everything I said yesterday,” Fraser told reporters. “There’s an appeal process, the board of arbitration. The head of the board of arbitration is David Zimmer. There’ll be two other lawyers. They will adjudicate it expeditiously and thoroughly.”.Fraser said he was confident in the arbitration panel’s ability to review the challenge and emphasized that the process was part of the party’s democratic procedures.The dispute follows concerns raised about the recent Scarborough Southwest nomination vote. Reporters asked Fraser about allegations related to voting irregularities, including claims involving addresses and voter eligibility. Fraser said he had not yet reviewed the full appeal documents and would leave the matter to the arbitration panel.“Now that that appeal has gone to the board of arbitration, I’m confident they’ll be able to take a look at those things and address those,” Fraser said.Fraser also defended the conduct of the nomination meeting, saying party officials worked to ensure an open and transparent process.“We had 50 people out on the first sunny May Saturday to sit inside a cafeteria to make sure that there was a process where people could vote,” Fraser said. “There were scrutineers all over, so it was done very well.”When asked whether the controversy could damage the Liberals’ prospects in Scarborough Southwest, Fraser said the party remained focused on winning the upcoming byelection.“We came in third the last three elections, so it’s going to be a lot of hard work,” he said. “We’re not going to let something like this distract us.”Fraser declined to speculate on how long the arbitration process would take but said it would not drag on for months.
