Another Ontario PC candidate taken down by sexual harassment allegations

With the provincial election only two months away, another Ontario Progressive Conservative candidate has been taken down by allegations of sexual harassment.

The Ontario PC party has disqualified MPP Michael Harris from running in the June 7 provincial election after receiving a complaint Friday that he had sent a former female intern texts “of a sexual nature,” according to a statement released Monday by Ontario PC caucus chair Lisa Thompson.

Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Michael Harris is not the same politician as former Ontario premier Mike Harris.

“The evidence presented to us included a written complaint from 2013 by a former intern about how she had been passed over for employment,” Thompson’s statement says. “There was also a series of text messages from the same time period, between the young intern and the MPP.”

“These text messages were of a sexual nature. They included a discussion of potential part-time employment, as well as a request for her to send him photos, an invitation for her to meet with him late that evening, and reference to something that may have previously taken place in his Legislative office.”

“The MPP was asked about the issue, and only denied that a ‘formal’ complaint was ever made,” the statement continues.

The party says it held an emergency meeting on Friday to review the evidence, and unanimously decided to disqualify Harris from running as a PC candidate in the election. The member of provincial parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga has also been removed from the Ontario PC caucus.

Late Monday night, Harris posted an apology on Twitter.

“I want to issue an unequivocal apology for the inappropriate texting conversation I engaged in nearly six years ago with an individual who had previously worked with the PC Party.

“Although that conversation was the end of this interaction and nothing further occurred, I think we are all looking back on past actions in a new way following the revelations in various industries over the past number of months.”

On Saturday, before the allegations broke, Harris released a statement saying he had decided not to run. “It has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, but I know for the sake of my health, it is the right call.” He said his keratoconus, an eye illness, had worsened and he needs a corneal replacement.

“I shouldn’t wait any longer,” Harris said in the statement. “I need to put my health first.”

In his statement on Monday, Harris clarified that he had received an email from the Ontario PC Party early Saturday morning revoking his candidacy. He said he had the opportunity to appeal the decision, but decided not to “due to the rapid deterioration of my eyesight.”

Harris’ removal from caucus and as a candidate follows former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown’s announcement in February that he would not run in the leadership race following allegations of sexual misconduct first reported by CTV. In March, Brown announced he wouldn’t run in the election, either. He has denied the allegations.