The Conservative Party of Canada today released a list of candidates who will appear on the ballot when party members vote for a new leader in September – and it does not include two candidates who say they have collected enough money and signatures to qualify. .
In a social media post, the party said Conservative MPs Scott Aichison, Leslin Lewis and Pierre Poalier, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest and Ontario Independent MEP Roman Baber had been accepted by the LE Organizing Committee. ) as “verified” candidates. That means they have at least $ 300,000 to pay a series of participation fees and 500 signatures for approval from members in 30 different rides.
Two candidates – Joel Etienne, a Toronto commercial lawyer, and Joseph Burgo, a Saskatchewan business owner – will not vote in the final vote, despite claims that they meet the party’s requirements to be considered “verified”.
But candidates need more than money and signatures to move forward.
The LEOC is pleased to confirm that six vetted candidates will appear on the Leaders’ Ballot.
Congratulations to Scott Aichison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest, Leslin Lewis and Pierre Poalevr. pic.twitter.com/GCQ72FMl1q
– @ CPC_HQ
Under the party leadership’s election rules, the Leadership Nomination Committee (LCNC), a group of party supporters reviewing nominations for future candidates, can also count on “any other information it deems appropriate to establish the suitability of the applicant ‘. The LCNC may, in turn, recommend that LEOC be barred from participating in a particular candidate.
Burgo, president and CEO of Bourgault Tillage Tools, is a social conservative who has been strongly supported by the Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), an anti-abortion group that has long sought to pull the party to the right on social issues.
In addition to his anti-abortion credentials, Burgo was a member of the so-called Freedom Convoy and took part in protests against COVID-related measures, such as vaccination mandates on Parliament Hill earlier this year.
Saskatchewan businessman Joseph Burgo is not among the six “tested” candidates who will be in the final vote for the Conservative leaders. (Joseph Burgo / Facebook)
In a letter to his supporters last week, Jack Fonseca, CLC’s director of political operations, said it was crucial to bring in Burgo and at least two other candidates – Conservative MP Mark Dalton and BC consultant Grant Abraham – in the race. pro-family “agenda in the party.
These efforts seem to have failed – the only “so bad” candidate still running is Lewis.
Asked by phone Monday, Fonseca said Borgo’s exclusion from the final vote “looks like a scam”.
“They are corrupt”
“This is another lynching of social conservatives. They are trying to cancel us and this is a complete disgrace. That’s what red tories do. The Red Tories are cheating. They are dishonest and do not like to play fair. They are corrupt, “Fonseca told CBC News.
“This is the same kind of corruption that the party has used to disqualify Jim Carachalios and Richard Decari last time – they do not like their views and therefore Burgo is dropped, despite any apologies publicly,” he added, referring to two social conservative candidates who were barred from running in the last presidential election.
Burgo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fonseca said any attempt by the Conservative Party to “cleanse” itself of social conservatives would damage its electoral state in the next campaign.
He said some anti-abortion activists could join another party, which is seen as more supportive of their cause.
The leader of the People’s Party of Canada Maxim Bernier took part in a rally in front of the CBC building in Toronto on September 16, 2021. A spokesman for the Campaign Life Coalition said that any conservative efforts to keep abortion candidates away from the race would only encourage The People’s Party. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)
“We have the corrupt red Tories, which disqualifies the ‘so bad’ on the left and right, because they can diverge and destroy the party in the process. “It just pushes people into the arms of Maxim Bernier and the People’s Party, and they think they’re great for that,” Fonseca said.
Fonseca said the relative success of the People’s Party in the last federal election – Bernie and his candidates received about five percent of the national vote – was due to a number of ardently conservative voters who were tired of what he called “liberal-light” politics.
He said the anti-abortion movement’s last hope in this race is Lewis, a candidate who has vowed to introduce a set of socially conservative measures if he ever reaches the prime minister’s office. Lewis said he wanted a ban on “electoral” abortions and criminal penalties for “forced” abortions.
Conservative Party of Canada candidate Leslin Lewis speaks during the English debate in Toronto on Thursday, June 18, 2020 (Tijana Martin / Canadian Press)
“If they could get Leslin Lewis out, they would. But she’s too high-ranking and very popular with party members. They know she’ll completely destroy the party if they do. She’s the only one we can trust,” Fonseca said. .
Speaking to Radio-Canada, CBC’s French-language office, Etienne, the other rejected candidate, said he had personally handed in the necessary documents to the party’s Ottawa office last Friday at 2pm, well before the LEOC deadline.
He said he was later told that the party would not accept a credit card as payment for some of the required fees.
Etienne also said the party had rejected some of his signatures as “invalid”, but was not told why.
In an email to CBC News, Wayne Benson, the party’s executive director, said “Mr Etienne has not met all the necessary requirements by the deadline”.
Benson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Burgo’s decision to remove him from the vote.
Ontario Conservative MP Scott Aichison is one of the six contenders for leadership. The other candidates are Conservative MPs Pierre Poalievre and Leslin Lewis, former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest, Ontario MP Roman Baber and Brampton, Ont. Mayor Patrick Brown. (Facebook: Scott Aichison)
Add Comment