Chandra Arya, a Liberal backbench MP whose short-lived bid to replace Justin Trudeau as leader was cut short by the party, says he has been dropped as the candidate for the Ottawa riding of Nepean.
The 62-year-old has represented the riding since 2015.
National campaign director Andrew Bevan informed Arya of the decision in a letter Thursday, just days before an expected election call.
The move to remove him comes almost two months after the party also told Arya it would not accept him as a candidate for the party leadership.
Arya had already been nominated, but the letter says new information obtained by the party’s “green light committee” led the campaign co-chair to recommend that his “status as a candidate” be revoked.
Bevan does not include any details about the new information.
Arya, who shared the letter on his Facebook page, says being an MP was the “responsibility of my life.”
Liberals reject candidacy
“While this news is deeply disappointing, it does not diminish the profound honour and privilege it has been to serve the people of Nepean — and all Canadians — as their Member of Parliament since 2015,” he wrote.
The party also refused to provide any information when it rejected Arya’s candidacy for the leadership race in January.
The decision opens an Ottawa seat as an option for Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has thus far not declared which riding he intends to run in during the election.
Various Liberals have suggested Carney could run in Edmonton, where he grew up; in Toronto, where the Liberals tend to do well; or in Ottawa, where he now lives.
Carney is widely expected to visit Rideau Hall to launch the election on Sunday, for a vote on either April 28 or May 5.
