Ontario Liberals drop 18-year-old candidate in the Sault, reject Indigenous lawyer

In the span of 24 hours the Ontario Liberals acclaimed, and later dropped their 18-year-old candidate in Sault Ste. Marie.

Aidan Kallioinen, a high school student from Espanola, Ont., said he decided to run for the party in Sault Ste. Marie, about 240 kilometres from his home, when he learned the party did not yet have a candidate in the northeastern Ontario city.

Kallioinen said he was already volunteering for Algoma-Manitoulin Liberal candidate Timothy Vine, and decided to apply for the candidacy.

He sent in his application on Monday, May 9, and said it was accepted later that day.

"By 8 p.m. that night I was nominated as the candidate," Kallioinen said.

But the next day he got a call from the Liberal Party to say he would no longer continue in that role. He said party officials told him a media report had surfaced that alleged he made some inappropriate comments in an online gaming forum.

Kallioinen has denied the allegations.

"My memory is a bit fuzzy on the matter, but I think I was 13 or 14 at the time and certain members of that forum myself, I had no knowledge of my name being being used in this manner on the forum but certain members of the forum engaged in I suppose what could be deemed derogatory comments," he said.

He said his name was part of the forum against his knowledge, but the Liberals dropped him as a candidate due to his association with the forum.

"I understand their decision and I respect their decision," Kallioinen said. "I think obviously that sort of thing becomes a liability for any political party after a while."

In an email to CBC News, Ontario Liberal Party press secretary Andrea Ernesaks said the reports about Kallioinen were not reported to them during the vetting process.

"We have spoken to Mr. Kallioinen and have informed him that he will not be running as part of our Liberal team," the email said.

Liberal hopeful turned independent

Naomi Sayers, an Indigenous lawyer from Sault Ste. Marie, said she applied for the Liberal candidacy in early April, but was rejected later that month.

"Given the additional information you have provided in recent days, the enormous volume of material (including over 200,000 social media posts) that still requires review and research, and the ongoing legal proceedings you are party to, we will not be able to complete the vetting process in time for you to stand as a nomination contestant/candidate," said an email Sayers received from Ontario Liberal nomination commissioner Charrissa Klander on April 28.

Sayers has been outspoken on social media about her past as a sex worker.

She said the Liberals never said they rejected her nomination due to her past, but added she provided them with content about her history.

"I gave them all my problematic social media posts and some of them were like, look, I talk about my sex work. I talk about when I did drugs," she said.

Sayers is running as an independent candidate in Sault Ste. Marie, and said it's important for her to represent people in her community who feel unheard.

"While growing up in Canada as an Indigenous woman, I'm well aware of how our experiences are dismissed. We're just invalidated," she said.

"You know, even growing up as a kid in the Catholic school system, if I experienced racism, teachers would say, well, that never occurred, or that wasn't my intention."

Sayers added government accountability is also an issue that is important to her.

On Wednesday night the Ontario Liberals nominated Liam Hancock as the candidate for Sault Ste. Marie.