KITCHENER — An Ontario PC Party MPP who was part of the review of texts sent by Michael Harris to a former Queen’s Park intern said the nomination committee did not agree they were a firing offence.

That contradicts the official party line that the Kitchener-Conestoga MPP was turfed after the Tory’s provincial nomination committee (PNC) “unanimously decided to disqualify” Harris as a candidate, after looking at some of the politician's text messages from 2012.

But Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett, one of two MPPs who sit on the Tories’ committee, said the PNC didn’t recommend Harris be turfed over the texts.

Instead, the decision to dismiss the two-time incumbent came from the party’s leadership. He couldn’t explain how a text conversation that the party was aware of back in 2013 suddenly became grounds for dismissal in April 2018.

“We were just reviewing the evidence. I don’t know whether we were necessarily making a recommendation to remove him,” Barrett said.

The Haldimand-Norfolk MPP also said the committee didn’t recommend Harris be replaced by Mike Harris Jr., the son of former premier Mike Harris.

That came straight from PC Leader Doug Ford himself, Barrett said — contradicting Ford’s statement last week that he was just acting on the advice of the PNC when he appointed Harris Jr.

“That was an appointment by the leader, in that particular case,” Barrett said.

The allegation against Michael Harris was raised internally on April 6, the day after Harris Jr. lost the PC nomination in neighbouring Waterloo.

As details emerge that contradict the official version of the Harris story, PC party insiders — including former and current MPPs and Queen’s Park staff — say Harris’s firing for sexting with a former government intern looks more and more like a manufactured scandal.

That includes the revelation the former intern involved never filed a formal complaint, and that her 2013 grievance with the party was about a PC Party of Ontario job she was passed over for, not Harris’s behaviour.

It appears the woman only shared the flirty text messages she exchanged with Harris — from a BlackBerry Messenger conversation that took place in 2012 before he was married — as leverage in the dispute.

That former intern, now a civil servant, said she can’t talk about her interaction with Harris because of her job. The Record is not revealing her identity.

The Doug Ford campaign declined to talk about discrepancies in its story around Harris’s dismissal.

Harris, meanwhile, said he’s troubled by the new information about the scandal that derailed his political career.

“It’s troubling to hear the most recent developments and to get a clearer picture of how this actually transpired,” he said, in a statement.

“These past few weeks have been a very difficult time for me and my family. I care deeply for our community and it was an honour to serve my constituents here in the Region and at Queen’s Park as their MPP.”

Harris Jr.’s surprise appointment continues to anger local Tories, who point out the new candidate’s father is one of the PC Party’s biggest fundraisers, and a longtime friend of Ford.

When the sexting allegation against Michael Harris was raised internally in early April, the MPP was never brought before the committee to defend himself, Barrett said.

Harris has previously said he didn’t know the issue was being raised until he got an email on April 7 that informed him he was being dropped as a candidate.

The Kitchener-Conestoga MPP, now sitting as an independent, has called the Blackberry conversation an embarrassing lapse in judgment.

The woman he texted with was briefly employed under a PC Party internship program — but never complained at any time to her managers or the legislature's human resources office about her conversation with Harris. She was never an employee of his.

So why was an allegation from more than five years ago coming to light in 2018? That’s less clear. Doug Ford's campaign just says there’s no place for questionable behaviour in the party.

“(Doug Ford) cannot speak to what happened in previous administrations. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of misconduct in our party,” said Melanie Paradis, press secretary for the Ford campaign.

The former intern did not file a new complaint about her conversation with Harris. Instead, someone else within the party dug up the 2013 allegation from a so-called “red file” — a collection of potentially damaging information all parties keep on their own MPPs — and used it to get rid of Harris.

Harris, who chaired the campaign of Ford’s leadership rival Christine Elliott, did not have many allies in the new Ford regime. After Ford became leader, Harris was immediately moved to the legislature’s back benches — a not-so subtle sign about his reduced status in the party.

When the evidence against Harris surfaced in April, it was never explained why the PNC was dealing with such an old allegation, Barrett said.

“The Michael Harris case, that was something that just came out of the blue. That wasn’t what I thought was part of my work on the committee,” he said.

“I can’t really say how it arrived at our committee or where it came from.”

When Harris was dropped as PC candidate, he announced he was stepping down because of a degenerative eye condition. It wasn’t until his wife, Sarah Harris, announced she’d like to replace him that he was booted out of caucus.

On April 9, PC caucus chair Lisa Thompson issued a statement that said the conversation between Harris and the young woman included text messages “of a sexual nature,” a discussion about potential part-time employment and a request for her to send him photos.

There was also “a reference to something that may have previously taken place in his Legislative office,” leaving it open to speculation the MPP was having a sexual relationship with the former intern.

According to multiple people who worked at the legislature at that time, they suggest that’s actually referring to an incident in September 2012, when they say the intern drank too much at a Queen’s Park reception and passed out in Harris’s office.

The sight of MPPs and young interns partying together is not uncommon at Queen’s Park, where boozy receptions are sometimes part of the culture.

Harris reportedly helped the woman get into a cab. Others who were there say they’re puzzled why the incident appears to have been blown out of proportion by their own party.

“I don’t think anything happened in his office, and I feel comfortable saying that,” said Rob Leone, who was the MPP for Cambridge at the time and had an office across the hallway.

“Is this just an intern getting drunk and walking into an office? I don’t think it’s anything more than that.”

Garfield Dunlop, a five-time MPP for Simcoe North, said his PC party has an unfortunate knack for airing its dirty laundry in public.

But in purging the party in favour of Ford loyalists, some good candidates have been lost — including Michael Harris, who was the Tories’ top MPP when it came to raising money for elections, he said.

“We have lost our best fundraiser,” Dunlop said.

He said he’s puzzled as to why the Harris allegation came to light when it did. But with an election looming, and the party leading in the polls, there seems to be no time to ask too many questions.

“Our objective is to win the government,” Dunlop said. “Maybe we can do some healing after.”

gmercer@therecord.com, @MercerRecord

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