Former N.S. Liberal candidate said she has no interest in speaking to Iain Rankin right now following scathing social media posts
The former Liberal candidate for Dartmouth South says party leader Iain Rankin called her Thursday morning following posts she made online, but she’s not interested in speaking with him right now.
"All I wanted was for my truth to get out and I don’t want to be a spectacle anymore. I just wanted to bring attention to something bigger than I am,” Robyn Ingraham told CTV News at her Dartmouth barbershop Friday, saying she wasn’t interested in speaking on-camera.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Ingraham said the reason she dropped out of the Nova Scotia election was because of revealing photos she had posted in the past -- photos she said she had disclosed to the party.
Ingraham described receiving an overwhelming number of messages on social media - some supportive of her and some attacking her - after she said the Liberal party sent her a prepared statement to use, which blamed her mental health as reason for dropping out of the race.
In her post, Ingraham said the party was concerned when boudoir photos surfaced after it was announced she was the candidate.
Ingraham said she has used multiple platforms including Tumblr, Instagram, and OnlyFans—a site where people earn money from fans who subscribe to their content.
"I’m having people tell me they don’t want me to be role models for their daughter," Ingraham said.
She said during the vetting process, she provided the Liberals with an extensive list of past and present social media accounts.
Rankin, who is campaigning in Sydney, N.S., said he's tried to connect with Ingraham several times since her post surfaced online.
He said his team "assisted" with the first statement and "that's the one that I rely upon."
“My understanding is she withdrew and … as a team we helped put together her statement,” Rankin said.
"I’m sad to lose a candidate race."
Rankin said there are elements in Ingraham's second statement that made him "uncomfortable."
"I want diverse candidates that have different life experiences. I want to make sure we have an open inclusive party and I’m going to continue to do that. We’ve made huge strides forward especially with this campaign and our candidates. We’re going to continue to recruit people that have different experiences," he said.
In her post, Ingraham said a member of the Liberal team asked whether she has had sex in exchange for money. She said she has not, and doesn't believe the party has the right to ask her that question.
When pressed on whether the Liberal Party asks every candidate if they have been paid for sex, or whether the party posed that question to Ingraham, Rankin said he doesn’t believe that’s part of the questionnaire.
He said he's not aware if the party asked that, and can’t speak for every single screening question asked by the party.
"I wasn’t a part of those conversations. I haven’t had a conversation with Robyn. That would not disqualify a candidate," Rankin said.
Tory Leader Tim Houston says the incident suggests there's been a pattern of alleged misogynistic attitudes in the premier's office, in reference to the resignation of former Liberal cabinet minister Margaret Miller in June.
At the time, emails had emerged in which Miller had suggested a staff person in Rankin's office had displayed misogynistic behaviour.
"Margaret Miller, a former minister colleague of (Rankin's) for seven years, raised concerns about misogynistic behaviour," Houston told reporters Friday. "He never even picked up the phone and called her. That's concerning."
Houston added that Rankin consistently blames others when he should be directly involved in decisions such as the vetting of candidates.
NDP Leader Gary Burrill, who made a child care announcement in Halifax Friday, has responded to Ingraham's allegations by calling on parties to take a stand against misogynistic attacks on female candidates.
With files from The Canadian Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.