Mr. Speaker, in Ontario, people who want to become municipal candidates must avoid conflicts of interest by resigning their seats in provincial or federal parliament, which serves this Parliament well. However, no law currently prevents opportunistic municipal councillors from running both municipally and for a federal nomination at the same time.
The Liberal leader has approved this loophole by allowing Oakville councillor Max Khan to stand as a Liberal candidate in next year's federal election for Oakville North—Burlington while he is running to be re-elected on October 27. It is a clear sign that they all know he cannot win the riding federally.
However, Max Khan did the same thing in the last federal election, and the conflict became blatant when Liberal supporter Mayor Rob Burton cancelled three weeks of council meetings during the campaign to allow Mr. Khan to campaign full time and to avoid a contentious issue of taxi licences, which might have cost him federal votes. Now it is déjà vu all over again in Oakville.
Will the Liberal leader put Parliament first and insist that Liberal candidates choose which level of government they are really running for?