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OTTAWA — The candidate who replaced Eva Nassif for the Liberals in the Montreal-area riding of Vimy is being forced to rely on money from Ottawa to run her campaign.

The Liberal riding association is refusing to transfer its funds to the new candidate, Annie Koutrakis, because members are furious with the party for dropping Nassif fewer than three weeks before the start of the election campaign and for parachuting in another person.

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Koutrakis has had to pay for her election posters with money from party headquarters in Ottawa and had to negotiate with the owner of her riding office for a delay in paying rent.

Nassif had told the Globe and Mail she was not nominated to run in the Vimy riding because she did not publicly support Trudeau as a feminist following the SNC-Lavalin scandal, which led to the resignation of two female cabinet ministers.

Trudeau denied the accusation. He told reporters last Wednesday Nassif didn’t meet the standards of the Liberal party’s protocol for vetting candidates — but he did not elaborate.