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Indo-Canadian lawmaker accused of misleading voters
Toronto, Aug 24
An Indo-Canadian MP from the
Conservative Party has been accused of "lying" about a Liberal
candidate's views over pension policy for new immigrants, a media report
said.
Liberal candidate Ruby Sahota has accused Parm Gill, the
Tory incumbent in the hotly-contested Greater Toronto Area riding of
Brampton North, of attacking a former political foe with the same first
name as her, for championing a policy that she does not support, The
Huffington Post Canada reported on Sunday.
"Ruby and the Liberals
have been pushing to lower the residency requirement for Old Age
Security (OAS) from 10 years to 3 years for new immigrants," Gill was
quoted as saying in a pamphlet sent to voters in Ontario district.
But the Ruby who championed that policy was the former Liberal MP, Ruby Dhalla.
"I don't know what to call it other than a blatant lie," Sahota said.
"He
has eliminated last names in the letter and sent this out to all the
constituents, clearly lying and misleading them to believe that I'm in
support of this bill," she added.
Dhalla in 2009 introduced a
bill -- C-428 -- which sought to reduce eligibility requirement for
monthly old age security pensions. The bill was not supported by the
Liberals.
The bill, according to Gill, would cost Canadians $700 million per year.
Gill beat Dhalla for the Brampton-Springdale seat in 2011 with 48.3 percent of the vote against her 27.9 percent.
Canadian federal elections are scheduled to be held in October this year.