OTTAWA — The owner of an Ottawa gas station has released surveillance footage of Conservative MP Eve Adams taken last December, claiming she was rude and threatening, and disrupted his business.
The video shows Adams inside a gas station, speaking with owner — and long-time Conservative supporter — John Newcombe, who says the first-term MP was upset with the results of a $6 car wash.
When he asked Adams to show him her car so he could see what was wrong with the service, she immediately became indignant, Newcombe said.
Her vehicle, seen on tape from an exterior surveillance camera, is parked perpendicular to the gas pumps at Newcombe’s business.
READ MORE: Tory MP Eve Adams accused of misusing taxpayer funds
That parking job, he said, disrupted his business by blocking traffic.
Newcombe said he issued a refund to Adams after which she showed him a thin coating of ice on the back bumper.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Adams said she apologized “months ago,” though Newcombe said he wasn’t satisfied with it.
Recent controversies swirling around Adams prompted him to release the surveillance tapes, Newcombe said, even though he had previously written to the a cabinet minister about the incident.
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The letter Newcombe sent Health Minister Rona Ambrose is dated Dec. 21, but he said he didn’t send it until January.
“It is with great regret that I find it necessary to communicate with you today,” he wrote. “I am a loyal supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada and without exception have endorsed Conservative candidates at the polls for the past 40 years.”
The letter goes on to describe his account of Adams’ behaviour the morning of Dec. 18.
“I had the grave misfortune of experiencing first hand, the outrageous behaviour of your parliamentary secretary, Eve Adams.”
The MP had demanded a refund from one of Newcombe’s employees, who called over his boss, the letter recalls.
“I politely asked Ms. Adams to accompany me to her vehicle and identify the nature of her displeasure. She immediately became indignant, refused to discuss the matter and proceeded to sit in her vehicle stating she would be ‘responding to emails’ until she received the demanded refund,” Newcombe wrote.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the prime minister confirmed Prime Minister Stephen Harper had asked the party to investigate a series of allegations from grassroots members.
That news came on the heels of her fiancé, Dimitri Soudas, being forced to resign as executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada.
READ MORE: Harper asks Conservative party to investigate Tory MP’s behaviour
His ousting occurred amid mounting concerns he was using his position of power to help Adams win a heated riding nomination to run in the 2015 election.
Harper’s request for an investigation came after the Conservative riding association board in Oakville North-Burlington wrote asking him to help resolve issues surrounding allegations such as Adams unfairly using the party’s internal membership database, as well as her House of Commons mailing privileges, to contract potential supporters.
Adams currently represents the riding of Mississauga-Brampton North, but was gunning to run as the Conservative candidate in the newly-created Oakville-North Burlington riding, which will come into existence at the next federal election campaign.
Reports last week indicated she was using her taxpayer-funded privileges and supplies to mail voters in the new, non-adjacent consistency.
Adams maintained it is within her rights to send mailings outside of her current riding.
The Canadian Press has seen copies of two different flyers featuring the title, “Eve Adams, Member of Parliament,” under the House of Commons crest. Only the Commons envelope indicates that Adams represents the non-adjacent riding of Mississauga-Brampton North.
The flyer was mailed without a postage stamp, which indicates it was sent using taxpayer funds under an MP’s mailing privileges — a practice known in political circles as “franking.”
Natalia Lishchyna, a local chiropractor, is also fighting for the Conservative nomination in Oakville-North Burlington.
With files from The Canadian Press
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