Such action would be a violation of party rules.

Chatha said Monday the accusations are false, and he is being targeted for exposing the recruitment misconduct elsewhere.

“I have nothing to hide,” said Chatha, who added he has requested a copy of the affidavit and would pursue legal action to defend his reputation.

Chatha said he has never met the three individuals quoted in the Globe story and hasn’t been given the names of the other three.

According to Chatha, Jass Johal, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party candidate in Brampton North, is a Bernier supporter and paralegal at the law firm that handled the affidavit.

Chatha adamantly denies offering to pay anyone’s membership fee.

O’Leary campaign spokesperson Ari Laskin said the Globe has not made the affidavit available for review.

“He (Chatha) brought this right to the party, and then the party alerted us,” said Laskin. “So Ron really was the whistleblower on all of this and it’s shameful that they’re going and attacking the whistleblower on this one.”

In a statement released Sunday, the O’Leary campaign insisted it would proceed to operate by the rules in a transparent manner, and call for an audit of the voters list when it is finalized at the end of March.

Bernier’s camp, which said it would not provide a copy of the affidavit, now wants to put an end to any mudslinging and focus on campaign issues.

“We consider the matter closed,” said Maxime Hupé, a spokesperson for Bernier’s campaign.

Hupé said the campaign is confident the party has the necessary checks and balances in place to catch such attempts at recruitment and voter fraud.

