Ditched Tory candidate plans to fight new vote
The Ontario Progressive Conservatives might think they’ve got Jeremy Roberts as their candidate in Ottawa West—Nepean, but the candidate they ditched to get him is challenging the legitimacy of the meeting that picked him.
Karma Macgregor has never been officially informed that she’s out, lawyer Joshua Henderson claims, and the Wednesday night meeting to acclaim Roberts as her replacement in Ottawa West— Nepean is invalid.
“Not only has my client never received official notification from the party president or the (provincial nominations committee) that her nomination was overturned almost one month ago, but over the last few days, she has received dozens of calls and emails from concerned members in (the riding ), who were not aware there was even a new nomination meeting,” Henderson wrote in an email to the Tory party executive, forwarded to the Citizen.
The nominations committee is a group of senior party officials who say yes or no to would-be candidates and authorize local groups to hold nomination meetings.
The Progressive Conservatives didn’t answer questions about the challenge Wednesday afternoon.
“Please provide me with the proof that an official notice of this nomination meeting was sent out to the entire OWN membership, in accordance with the rules,” his email to the party brass said.
The Tory rules say riding association members have to be told of nomination meetings in writing at least three weeks in advance, “or at the discretion of the provincial nominations committee.”
Henderson also said Macgregor has been targeted by anonymous threats and harassment and has reported them to the police.
Macgregor, a Senate staffer, was picked as the PC challenger to Liberal minister Bob Chiarelli in a contentious meeting last May. She beat Roberts, another Parliament Hill Conservative, by 15 votes, but local party officials complained there were 28 more ballots counted than there were registered voters. Emma McLennan, the riding association president, complained that dozens of memberships in the riding appeared to be bogus.
When then-leader Patrick Brown used his authority to confirm Macgregor as the candidate, the local party people quit en masse.
Macgregor’s daughter is Tamara Macgregor, an early supporter of Brown’s, one of his deputy chiefs of staff and a former girlfriend.
After Brown quit as Tory leader amid sexual misconduct claims, the party’s nominations committee announced it was overturning Macgregor’s nomination and a similarly messy one in Scarborough. She appealed the decision to the party executive, another level up, but that group denied her.