WATCH ABOVE: Many are wondering what kind of candidates the Conservative Party are approving after two Toronto candidates were dropped within 24 hours over questionable behaviour. Jennifer Tryon reports.
TORONTO — Two Toronto Conservative candidates have been officially dropped from the election campaign after one was once caught on video urinating in a coffee cup and the other was seen making prank calls in several online videos — including one where he pretends to have a mental disability.
Jerry Bance, who represented the riding of Scarborough-Rouge Park, has been officially dropped from the election campaign after a video of him urinating in a coffee cup surfaced, a spokesperson from the Conservative Party National Campaign office confirmed to Global News on Monday.
The incident occurred in 2012 while Bance was working as an appliance repairman and was recorded on video by CBC’s Marketplace program.
READ MORE: Conservative who reportedly urinated into coffee cup ‘deeply regrets’ actions
The show had set up the hidden cameras as part of a story into home repair companies.
Bance, who runs an appliance repair company, was recorded peeing in a coffee cup and pouring the contents down the kitchen sink.
“I am truly sorry about this recent incident. A 30 second decision made 3 years ago can really change one’s life,” Bance said in an emailed statement to Global News.
“I had a health situation and needed to make an emergency decision, ironically to save myself from embarrassment back then.”
Bance called the incident a “lapse in judgement” that he deeply regretted, but added he has never knowingly lied to, cheated or disrespected anyone in his many years as a business owner.
“I have always been a hard-working person who loves this country and it saddens me that in spite of all my effort to serve this riding, all that is left is this negative impression,” he said.
“I have resigned as of this morning and do wish to thank the Conservative Party, my volunteers and my supporters.”
WATCH: Former Conservative candidate’s offensive prank call videos surface online
A Conservative official confirmed told The Canadian Press on Monday that Tim Dutaud was the same person seen in prank call videos posted on YouTube and will no longer be running in the riding of Toronto-Danforth.
News of Dutaud being dropped from the Conservative slate comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to improve disability grants if re-elected next month.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded to the incidents at an announcement in Scarborough, where he said he would increase the Disability Savings Grant to $4,000.
“What this says is we keep the highest standard for candidates,” Harper said. “And these two individuals are no longer candidates.”
Tom Mulcair: Jerry Bance urinating in a cup was ‘one mugshot Canadians were not expecting’
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who was in Toronto Monday for the city’s Labour Day parade, made light of the situation by cracking a joke about the latest Conservative misstep.
“We have, like a lot of you, taken note of the number of times Conservatives have broken the law. There has been a lot of criminal activity and noted on the part of Conservatives,” Mulcair told reporters.
“But I guess this was one mugshot that Canadians weren’t expecting from the Conservatives. He must be someone who’s adept at Stephen Harper’s trickle-down theory of economics.”
The original Marketplace show only named Bance as “Jerry” and did not reveal his past political history.
The Conservative candidate ran in previous election campaigns in 2006 and 2008.
WATCH: Prime Minister Harper offers short, terse comment regarding loss of two Conservative candidates in separate scandals
With files from The Canadian Press
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