Embattled Toronto-area Liberal candidate Paul Chiang is dropping out of the race just hours after the RCMP confirmed it’s looking into whether he broke the law by suggesting people turn a Conservative candidate running in a nearby riding into the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.
Move comes after RCMP announced probe into comments made about Conservative candidate Joe Tay
Paul Chiang, Parliamentary Secretary of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, speaks during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, regarding support for Black community initiatives. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)Embattled Toronto-area Liberal candidate Paul Chiang is dropping out of the race just hours after the RCMP confirmed it's looking into whether he broke the law by suggesting people turn a Conservative candidate running in a nearby riding into the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.
"As the prime minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions in this critical moment," Chiang wrote just before midnight on Monday in a statement posted to social media site X.
"That's why I'm standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville."
It comes after Liberal Leader Mark Carney said Chiang could stay on after apologizing for his "deeply offensive comments" and "terrible lapse of judgement."
Pressure mounted from opposition parties and more than 40 organizations demanding Carney immediately drop Chiang and asked police to investigate.
Chiang, a former police officer, called his own comments "deplorable" after news broke he told a Chinese-language media news conference in January that he suggested people could hand Conservative candidate Paul Chiang over to the Chinese consulate — for a reward offered by police in Hong Kong.
More to come