Conservative nomination challenges to seven sitting Members of Parliament proves the adage politics is a strange business. Two of those MPs, Kellie Leitch and Jim Eglinski, chose to retire rather than fight a nomination battle in their ridings.
Whether intentional or merely co-incidence, the only Conservative MPs facing nomination challenges are social conservatives like Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant.
The Party denies it is behind the purge according to The Hill Times, yet MP Gallant’s challenger, Mike Coates, is a high-powered Ottawa lobbyist and a self-professed “long-time Party insider.”
Co-incidence?
A more likely explanation is the Party is tired of MP Gallant putting the wishes of her riding first, as she did June 6, 2017, when she voted against the Paris Accord, the Liberal Party’s vehicle to implement a Canada-wide carbon tax.
MP Gallant’s opposition to the Paris Agreement is twofold.
Under the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the maximum carbon reduction commitments were voluntary. Under Justin Trudeau’s government, those maximum emission caps are now Canada’s minimum targets and pave the way for Trudeau’s carbon tax scheme.
MP Gallant stood alone – a testimony to her courage and willingness to stand up for her constituents against a whipped Parliamentary vote.
With her lone voice against the Paris Accord, MP Gallant proved she was Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke’s representative to Ottawa, not Ottawa’s representative to the riding.
That didn’t sit well with the Party.
Then came the nomination challenge by “long-time Party insider” Mike Coates a few short months later.
Coincidence?
In two weeks (February 24 and 25, 2018) Conservative Party members of the Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke riding cast their votes for their representative in the 2019 federal election.
The choice is between Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke’s representative to Ottawa, MP Gallant, or Ottawa’s representative to Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, self-professed “long-time Party insider” Mike Coates.
Choose wisely, please.
Christopher di Armani is a political commentator and author of the Amazon #1 bestselling book “Justin Trudeau – 47 Character-Revealing Quotes by Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister and What They Mean for You.”
