In a post on social media, the party said Conservative MPs Scott Aitchison, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre, Brabton Mayor Patrick Brown, former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest and Ontario Independent MP Roman Baber by the Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) as “verified” candidates, meaning they have at least $ 300,000 to pay a range of entry fees and 500 endorsement signatures from members in 30 different games. Two candidates – Joel Etienne, a Toronto-based commercial lawyer, and Joseph Bourgault, a Saskatchewan-based business owner – will not appear on the final ballot, despite claims that they met the party’s requirements to be considered “verified.” But candidates need more than money and signatures to go ahead. LEOC is pleased to confirm that six Verified Candidates will appear on the leadership ballot. Congratulations to Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre. pic.twitter.com/GCQ72FMl1q – @ CPC_HQ
According to the party leadership election rules, the Leadership Candidates Committee (LCNC), the party force group that examines applications from potential candidates, may also rely on “any other information they deem appropriate to verify the suitability of a party.” applicant “. The LCNC may, in turn, recommend that the LEOC exclude a particular candidate from participation. Bourgault, 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 push the party to the right on social issues. In addition to his anti-abortion credentials, Bourgault was a member of the so-called Freedom Convoy and has been involved in protests against COVID-related measures, such as vaccine mandates in Parliament Hill earlier this year. Saskatchewan businessman Joseph Burgo is not among the six “verified” candidates on the Conservative leadership’s final ballot. (Joseph Bourgault / Facebook)
In a letter to supporters last week, Jack Fonseca, director of political operations for the CLC, said it was vital that Bourgault and at least two other candidates run in the race – Conservative MP Marc Dalton and Grant Abraham of BC , a consultant. promote a “pro-family” agenda within the party. These attempts seem to have failed – the only “so rogue” candidate still in the running is Lewis. Speaking on the phone Monday, Fonseca said Borgault’s exclusion from the final vote “looks like a skull”.

“They are corrupt”

“It’s another lynching of social conservatives. They are trying to cancel us and it is a complete shame. That is what the Red Tories are doing. The Red Tories are cheating. They are dishonest and do not like to play fair. They are corrupt,” Fonseca told CBC News. “It’s the same kind of corruption that the party used to oust Jim Karahalios and Richard Décarie last time – they do not like their views and that is why Bourgault is out, despite any excuses they will make in public,” he added. referring to the two socially conservative candidates who were barred from running in the last leadership elections. Bourgault did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fonseca said any attempt by the Conservatives to be “cleared” by the Social Conservatives would hurt his electoral fortunes in the next campaign. He said some anti-abortion activists could go to another party that is considered more hospitable to their cause. Canadian People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier attends a rally outside the CBC building in Toronto on September 16, 2021. A Campaign Life Coalition spokesman says any Conservative efforts to keep anti-abortion candidates out of the leadership race will lead people to the People’s Party. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)
“We have the corrupt Red Conservative establishment that excludes the ‘so against’ left and right because they can get away with it and destroy the party in the process. It just pushes people into the arms of Maxime Bernier and the People’s Party and I think they are wonderful that they do, “said Fonseca. Fonseca said the People’s Party’s relative success in the last federal election – Bernier and his candidates secured about 5% of the vote – was due to an ardent number of conservative voters tired of what he called “liberal” politics. He said the anti-abortion movement’s last hope in this leadership race is Lewis, a candidate who has vowed to table a series of social conservative measures if she ever gets to the prime minister’s office. Lewis has said she wants a ban on “sex-selective” abortions and criminal penalties for “forced” abortions. Leading candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada Leslyn Lewis speaks during the English debate in Toronto on Thursday, June 18, 2020. (Tijana Martin / Canadian Press)
“If they could get Leslyn Lewis out, they would. But she is very high profile and the party members really like her. They know she would ruin the party completely if they did. She is the only one we can trust,” Fonseca said. . Speaking to Radio Canada, CBC’s French-language service, Etienne, the other rejected candidate, said he had personally submitted the required documents to the party’s office in Ottawa last Friday at 2 p.m., well before the deadline. had been imposed by LEOC. He said he was later told the party would not accept a credit card as payment for some of the necessary charges. Etienne also said the party had rejected some of the signatures it had collected as “invalid”, but had not told him why. In an email to CBC News, Wayne Benson, the party’s executive director, said that “Mr. Etienne failed to meet all the necessary conditions within the deadline.” Benson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision to leave Burgos out of the ballot. Ontario Conservative MP Scott Aitchison is one of six candidates for the presidency. The other candidates are Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis, former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest, Ontario MP Roman Baber and Brampton Ont. Mayor Patrick Brown. (Facebook: Scott Aitchison)