‘You’re the star candidate’—Conservative hopeful says he was courted for donations, then dumped without explanation

Keshav Mandadi says he spent tens of thousands of dollars pursuing a nomination to be the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville, after being repeatedly assured by party insiders and told he was a “star candidate”— only to be disqualified without explanation.

"They didn’t even give us a democratic process. This kind of treatment, unfair treatment, and undemocratic process is totally unacceptable," Mandadi told The Pointer last week. "I am shocked seeing closely how the politics in the Conservative Party are run and I'm really disappointed with the way Pierre Poilievre is running this nomination process."

After handing over tens of thousands of dollars, while being promised he was the Conservatives’ “star candidate” in the riding, Mandadi says he was told in November that an up front payment of $50,000 for an appearance by Poilievre at Mandadi’s Mississauga home would help secure the nomination, with another $50,000 to be paid after the event which was targeted for December. 

Mandadi had already grown concerned after rumours swirled that another, preferred, candidate was being parachuted in. 

“I was told by the people the Party had told me to work with, not to worry, it was a great idea to bring Poilievre to my house and that there was nothing to be concerned about.”

He did not provide the money, sensing, a year after coming forward as a hopeful candidate, that things were not right, as his nomination application still had not been approved despite repeated attempts by Mandadi to find out what the problem was.

Mandadi claims that despite repeated assurances from individuals working with the Conservative Party—including two politicians with a checkered past and ties to Peel—that there would be a fair and open nomination process, the Party instead parachuted in Nita Kang, someone he says has no roots in Mississauga East—Cooksville. He says she was advanced as the riding’s candidate without any contest, describing it as “a serious malpractice and betrayal of democratic principles.”

"She is through the nomination process without having to go for any nomination process. This is not good. And this doesn't speak well about the party and its process," he said.

Keshav Mandadi sought the Conservative nomination in Mississauga East–Cooksville. He says he was misled, pressured to raise tens of thousands in donations, and ultimately disqualified without a fair process.

(Supplied)

The allegations are similar to others across the country involving claims the Conservative Party failed to hold fair nomination processes, forcing hopeful candidates out of races, which often were never held. At least seven other Conservative candidates or candidate hopefuls have publicly voiced concerns about the Party’s nomination process, including two in Peel who have publicly voiced their concerns.

In the riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Sabrina Maddeaux dropped out of the nomination process in May last year alleging the race had become “corrupted” after another candidate allegedly received the Party’s membership list before her. Aurora Councillor Rachel Gilliland was campaigning for over a year to get the nomination in the same riding and alleges she was blocked from doing so. The Party claims she was in “clear violation” of the nomination rules, but provided no further explanation according to media reports. 

Anthony Yacub, the Conservative riding president in Pickering—Brooklin (formerly Pickering—Uxbridge before the recent federal riding changes) claims the Party blocked him from running in order to put forward a “star” candidate. 

“I’ve never seen a Party that’s going this hard against its own people,” Yacub told the CBC in May last year. 

RightNow, an anti-abortion group alleged in March 2023 that Gerrit Van Dorland was disqualified from seeking a nomination for a byelection in the riding of Oxford based on his views on the controversial topic. The Conservative Party said the reason was a failure by Van Dorland to disclose necessary information during the application process, but details were not provided. It was reported that the Conservative Party claimed it has strict rules about social media content posted by prospective candidates and that even deleted or inaccessible information is supposed to be provided. 

One of the candidates in that byelection nomination race, Arpan Khanna, who Mandadi says was a key player in the alleged efforts to mislead him, was the centre of controversy in 2023.

Catherine Agar was president of the Conservative’s Oxford riding association and Brian Kaufman was vice-president. They both eventually quit, alleging Khanna, who had worked as a communications staffer for the Conservatives, was the beneficiary of the Party’s effort to make sure he won the race. He did, and is now the incumbent in the current election campaign.

Most recently, an article by The Hill Times highlighted the situation faced by Nikki Kaur, Murarilal Thapliyal and Ranbir Parmar. Each reported being blocked, sidelined or pressured during nomination races. It points to a pattern that Mandadi, who was also featured in The Hill Times reporting, says he was drawn into. 

While the Conservatives have offered no explanation to Mandadi for his disqualification, according to documentation he provided to The Pointer, claiming strict rules had to be followed without explaining what those were, the Party has been forced to drop several candidates in recent weeks, calling its apparently selective rules and vetting process into question. Etobicoke North candidate Don Patel was recently dropped by the CPC after his support of a social media post calling for the deportation of people to India so “PM Modi can take care of these non-sense people” was unearthed. 

On Tuesday the CPC announced, without explanation, that Lourence Singh was no longer the candidate in the riding of New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville in B.C. The same day, Stefan Marquis, a Montreal-area candidate and Mark McKenzie who was running in the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore were dropped from the Party over questionable past behaviour on social media.

Khanna’s own social media history did not lead to the same response by the Party. In 2019, when he became the Conservative candidate ahead of that year’s election, a homophobic post he had made on Twitter (now X) was highlighted, but the Party did nothing.

This election, the Liberal Party has also faced criticism. 

Earlier this week Paul Chiang departed the race in Markham-Unionville after controversy over remarks he made about handing a Conservative politician to the Chinese government for inflammatory comments that were allegedly made. 

For Mandadi, his expensive ordeal began more than a year ago, when he sought the Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville nomination in the fall of 2023.

Mandadi says he was almost immediately drawn into a web of assurances and financial pressure from individuals he believed were acting on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada. Among them are former Oakville Councillor and political fundraiser Stephen Sparling; Khanna, former MP Parm Gill (who is the current Conservative candidate in Milton East—Halton Hills South), a Peel Region CPC coordinator named Tamara Tomilko, and strategist Muhammad Ishaq, who is the CPC candidate in the Mississauga Centre riding. 

"They told me I was the star candidate, that the Party had sent them to mentor me. I was excited. But now I believe it was all a scheme to extract money," Mandadi said in an interview with The Pointer.

He eventually signed a contract with Sparling, who Mandadi says was recommended by CPC National Council member Stewart Kiff, to guide him through the nomination process. Mandadi paid Sparling $5,000 for the first phase of the campaign. In text messages shared with The Pointer, Sparling appeared to endorse Mandadi’s efforts, giving him repeated “thumbs up” on his campaign efforts.

"I will keep pushing and report back to you and I’ll let you know anything you need to do. You did a great job getting people there. You did a great job speaking. You did a great job with all of your men that were in attendance," Sparling wrote in one message.

Text message exchanges between Stephen Sparling and Keshav Mandadi in which Sparling endorses Mandadi’s campaign efforts.

(Supplied)

In a Facebook post on February 22, 2025, Sparling also described Mandadi as the “Mississauga East—Cooksville Conservative Nominee”, wrote that he had signed up “thousands” of new Conservative members and praised his grassroots work. But shortly after, Mandadi was disqualified.

A February Facebook post by Stephen Sparling refers to Keshav Mandadi as the “Mississauga—East Cooksville Conservative Nominee”, praising his grassroots organizing efforts alongside community members.

(Stephen Sparling Facebook)

"I can confirm that I am an independent political consultant and was engaged by Dr. Keshav Mandadi in 2024 to assist with his campaign to become the Conservative candidate in Mississauga East–Cooksville,” Sparling told The Pointer in an emailed response. “I am not employed by, nor do I report to, the Conservative Party of Canada in any official capacity. The decision regarding Dr. Mandadi’s candidacy—whether successful or not—was solely within the discretion of the party. Beyond that confirmation, I am not in a position to comment further at this time."

Sparling did not respond to questions about how much was paid to him (a second round of campaign services, as outlined in the contract, would have cost Mandadi $10,000), the nature of the influence and assurances that Mandadi described or Sparling’s involvement with MP Khanna, Gill and CPC strategists.

Mandadi told The Pointer that Sparling recommended multiple times that he meet with Khanna and Gill and that he was told their endorsement was critical to him receiving the nomination. 

"I was asked again and again to go and meet Parm Gill and make a deal. I don't know what it means to make a deal. I went and met him. I presented myself. I told him what I’m doing, and how I'm working, and I needed his guidance,” Mandadi said. “He said, ‘you’re doing everything great.’"

In one text message to Mandadi, Sparling pointed to Khanna and Gill as key decision-makers.

"Those are the two guys we need on site if they're being legit we've done everything right,” Sparling wrote. “The party guided me to get you to them and that's the two guys they're listening to. Gotta have their support."

It’s unclear why the endorsement of Gill and Khanna would be necessary to secure the nomination for the Mississauga riding. 

Both have faced criticism in the past. Gill is a former Brampton MP and is now running in Milton. When he was a former parliamentary secretary, he was investigated by the federal ethics commissioner in 2015 after writing letters of support to the CRTC on behalf of radio license applicants while holding a position that explicitly prohibits such interventions. The ethics guidelines warned that any attempt to influence an administrative tribunal could breach the Conflict of Interest Act. In 2011, when Gill was a Brampton candidate during that year’s federal election, the CBC investigated allegations that he had already been working with former immigration minister Jason Kenney on visa applications for families in the city under questionable circumstances. Gill denied the allegations.

Khanna faced calls to step down as a Brampton candidate in 2019 over his previous use of a homophobic slur while responding to a friend online. When he apologized after the social media post was unearthed, Khanna characterized the comment as a youthful mistake, drawing national attention and criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.

Mandadi submitted his nomination application more than a year before the February 26, 2025 deadline. He received a vague and unsigned email on February 25, informing him — on the same day at least three other candidates in the Mississauga East—Cooksville riding received a similar message — that his application was incomplete. 

"This was a shock to me," Mandadi said. "Under section so-and-so, they cannot allow an incomplete applicant to run as a nomination candidate. That's all. It is not even signed by anybody. It says CPC. No reason was provided."

The Pointer has reviewed the communication which offers no explanation for his disqualification after claiming his application was incomplete. Mandadi said he repeatedly sent messages to the Party for months to ensure everything was in order with his application. When the timing of his own membership was questioned he provided documentation that showed he had easily met the required length of time before a new member could become a nominee. 

He remains perplexed by the lack of any explanation. 

"They should have asked us not to run for nomination if this was their plan. Instead, they cheated us."

Mandadi said he invited members of the local Electoral District Association (EDA, the official term for riding association) board to his home on February 26 to recheck his application. Together, they verified every document, he says. "There was nothing missing except my doctoral thesis, which I uploaded anyway, though it wasn’t required.” He printed the completed application once again and submitted it before the portal closed.

Despite this, the Conservative Party declared him ineligible two days later.

An email from the Conservative Party of Canada dated February 28, informing Dr. Keshav Mandadi that his nomination application for Mississauga East–Cooksville was deemed incomplete, with no explanation of what was missing.

(Supplied)

The disqualification was a shock. Mandadi had spent months working in the riding, organizing 30 team leaders and more than 100 volunteers. He says 1,460 new members were signed by his team for the Conservative Party, many from underrepresented communities.

"I have 462 Muslim brothers and sisters registering, 42 Somalians, a lot of Europeans, and a lot of Canadian Hindus. All of them were ditched."

Adding to his frustration, he says he was consistently assured by party contacts — including a staffer named Alex Osorio, Ontario Desk Officer at CPC Headquarters, from Pierre Poilievre’s office — that his candidacy was strong. 

Behind the scenes, he says he was pressured to donate large sums of money.

"They kept cheating me from the beginning, time and again. Even in November, from Pierre Poilievre's office, Alex…called me several times. He said by December 7, if you raise $50,000, I'm going to arrange Pierre Poilievre to come to your house, then you make another $50,000 donation," Mandadi says.

"I asked him, Alex, I can do anything for the Party. But can you make sure of one thing? I don't need any favours, just a nomination process. Fair nomination. ‘Oh, it's all fair, sir (Alex told him). Everything is fair, sir. Please, trust me, you arrange for it.’" 

Mandadi did not proceed with the additional $100,000 donation. 

Reached by phone, Osorio declined to comment, stating it was a “bad time” and “we’re in the middle of an election” before asking for questions to be sent via email. 

As of publication, he has not responded to any follow-up inquiries.

Mandadi says he raised approximately $60,000 for the party, including $10,000 for Ishaq, the candidate for Mississauga Centre, and $20,000 for Khanna. 

"Unless I make donations, I cannot get an appointment to see him," he said of Khanna.

A WhatsApp screenshot shows a conversation between Muhammad Ishaq and a member of Keshav Mandadi’s team, discussing donation receipts and coordinating further contributions.

(Supplied)

Multiple donation receipts viewed by The Pointer confirm thousands of dollars donated to the Oxford Conservative Association by individuals with direct ties to Mandadi’s campaign. Many of these donations reached the $1,750 maximum contribution level.

In WhatsApp messages, Ishaq acknowledged receiving the money and encouraged more donations, saying, "Yes need these."

Mandadi said he helped arrange the donations as part of his effort to ensure he would be given a fair chance to win the Mississauga East—Cooksville nomination.

Mandadi told The Pointer that immediately after meeting with Gill, who he had been told to engage, he received a phone call from someone who suggested Mandadi help Gill to ensure his own fair chance at a nomination.

"After I finished meeting with him, someone called me, and they told me that if I really wanted a good deal from him [Gill], I had to buy table tickets (to an event with Poilievre)," Mandadi said. He declined to do so. 

The Pointer reached Gill by phone but he directed questions to his staff. No response has been received.

The Pointer sent questions to the Conservative Party of Canada; the Conservative candidate for Mississauga East–Cooksville Nita Kang, and CPC National Council member Stewart Kiff, the man who told Mandadi to engage Stephen Sparling. 

Kang was asked to disclose how much money she has raised for the party; how she secured the nomination without a contest; whether she was aware other candidates were rejected on the same day her successful candidacy was announced and whether she made any financial contributions or received instructions about how to bypass a traditional nomination process. She did not respond.

Donation receipts showing thousands of dollars contributed to the Oxford Conservative Association, where Arpan Khanna is the incumbent MP, by individuals closely associated with Dr. Keshav Mandadi’s nomination campaign.

(Supplied)

The Pointer asked the Conservative Party about the lack of transparency in Mandadi’s disqualification, and if the money he raised would be refunded. The Party was asked if an internal investigation would be conducted to probe allegations that individuals including Sparling, Khanna, Gill, Tomilko, and Ishaq pushed Mandadi to provide donations in order to secure his nomination. The Conservative Party did not respond. 

The Pointer also asked for a detailed explanation of why Mandadi’s application was deemed “incomplete” and why no nomination vote was held in the riding.

National Council member Kiff was asked about his role and why he allegedly advised Mandadi to engage Sparling. He did not respond.

CPC staffer Tomilko and Khanna were asked about their alleged involvement in Mandadi’s failed nomination bid. They did not respond

Gill was asked if he or anyone linked to him suggested that purchasing $17,500 worth of tickets for tables at a  fundraiser would help Mandadi’s chances. He did not respond.

Khanna was asked to explain why—despite representing a different riding—he was so involved in the Mississauga nomination process and whether he encouraged or facilitated donations to his Oxford EDA from Mandadi’s team. He was also asked if he received $10,000 from Mandadi. He did not respond.

Mandadi said legal action is on the table, not just to recoup some of his money, but to shine a light on what he believes is a broken and undemocratic process.

"I want to take these people, the Conservative Party, to court and fight against them because it should not happen to someone like me—you know, honestly, coming into politics and then being duped by some of these people who are going to damage this country. They are the dangerous people to this country, and I really want to expose them to the public so that the public knows who to vote for and who not to vote for here."

The Pointer's 2025 federal election coverage is partly supported by the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund. 

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