Conservative party rejects three applicants for leadership race – Toronto Star

OTTAWA — Only six candidates will vie for leadership of the federal Conservative party after contest organizers rejected applications from three others who claimed to have met the entry requirements.

The party made the list of candidates official Monday morning, confirming that Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre would all be on the ballot.

The six had qualified to run well ahead of Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline, having submitted the $200,000 entry fee, a refundable $100,000 compliance deposit and the signatures of 500 Conservative party members.

Three other aspiring candidates had said they too met that threshold, and on Monday demanded answers as to why their bids were ultimately rejected.

One told the Star he delivered the funds and signatures in person to party headquarters, but was then told his materials didn’t make the cut.

“The party has so far refused to provide any accounting or data to the Etienne campaign to justify their position, a position which appears to be outrageous,” Joel Etienne, a Toronto lawyer, said in an email.

“The Etienne campaign is in the process of preparing a formal protest to the party and will be shortly seeking a reconsideration.”

Saskatchewan businessman Joseph Bourgault’s campaign posted a note on social media late Monday afternoon saying it were told it didn’t submit enough money.

“Our team submitted a total of $367,453. We are seeking clarification,” said the statement on his account.

B.C. businessman Grant Abraham’s campaign said on Facebook his team was told Sunday that its application was ineligible.

“Grant has responded to the party with a communication asking for a detailed justification of their decision,” his campaign wrote.

“As valued supporters of our campaign for Truth, Transparency and Real Conversations, we will give you updates as we question the ruling and seek to understand more.”

Conservative party representatives did not return a request for comment Monday.

Eleven people had been vying to get their names on the ballot ahead of Friday’s final deadline.

All had passed the first stage by April 19 after submitting $50,000 of the fee, as well as candidate questionnaires that probed their political and personal histories and views.

Two contenders, MP Marc Dalton and former MP Leona Alleslev, failed to raise the full entry amount by Friday.

While the fee is $300,000 in total, candidates actually had to raise more than that, as the party takes a cut of all donations to help fund the cost of the race.

Etienne was a past candidate for the party in York Centre, but neither Bourgault nor Abraham have had a previous presence on the federal political scene.

Both of their campaigns were backed by the anti-abortion group Campaign Life Coalition, which had been urging donors to support them to get them on the ballot.

On social media, CLC’s Jack Fonesca accused the party of “skulduggery.”

Bourgault also had traction among backers of the so-called “Freedom Convoy,” a movement that began in opposition to COVID-19 vaccination mandates but expanded into anti-government protests across Canada earlier this year.

In addition to his manufacturing business, Bourgault runs a not-for-profit organization called Canadians for Truth, Freedom, and Justice which, among other things, promoted the use of herbs, supplements and the controversial and unproven antiparasitic drug ivermectin as cures for COVID-19.

Abraham, who ran for election in Britain in 2019, sought to draw support to his campaign by referencing known conspiracy theories about a “new world order” and “globalist agenda” set to reshape Canada.

Lewis, who was the first of the six finalists to make it onto the ballot and whose campaign is also supported by the CLC, said the three disqualified applicants should be allowed to run.

“We want a fair race. I’m not afraid of a hard fight, and the Conservative party is not one that should be cancelling legitimate contestants,” she wrote Monday afternoon on Twitter.

“@CPC_HQ should let them run.”

Brown, the Brampton mayor who has framed elements of his campaign around ending so-called “cancel culture,” also seemed to defend the trio.

“A party that stands for free speech should be about open exchange of ideas, not gatekeeping,” he wrote on social media.

The six final candidates are expected at a pair of leadership debates later this month in Edmonton and Laval, and some will also be taking the stage at a political conference in Ottawa later this week.

Candidates have until June 3 to sell memberships to bolster their bids. Party members will vote using a mail-in ballot that will be sent out later this summer.

A new leader is expected to be announced on Sept. 10.

SHARE: