Monday, May 21, 2007

Update: Anders Nomination

Just to give us further insight into how anti-democracy Harper's Tories are, we have the latest update on the squabbles over Rob Anders' nomination in Calgary West.

The Cons are trying to rig the court-ordered nomination by imposing arbitrary rules on who is allowed to vote in the nomination meeting:

An unprecedented move by the party's national council to deny voting rights to new members in Calgary West is curtailing any potential challenges to Anders in a court-ordered second nomination battle.

"The secret, as everyone knows, to winning a nomination is to be able to sell your supporters memberships and get them out to vote," said John Knox, one of 11 disgruntled Tories who have fought the party's unwavering loyalty to Anders from courtroom to courtroom since last August.

The rule - which gives ballots only to those who were party members in the middle of August last year - contrasts with every other Tory riding in Canada, where anyone who has held a membership for more than three weeks can vote at a party nomination.


I can't say that I'm surprised. The HarperCons have done everything they can to subvert and damage the very notion of democracy. Considering the grassroots populist nature of the Reform/Alliance incarnations of this party, it is both disappointing and ironic.

That the Calgary West CPOC constituency association feels it necessary to manipulate and twist the nominations process (with the collaboration of "head office") in a city where a Conservative candidate is practically a shoo-in tells us a great deal about just how dishonest and internally corrupt the Cons really are. (I'm beginning to wonder just what kind of "material" Anders has sitting in a desk drawer somewhere for Harper's crowd to protect his nomination so fiercely...)

H/T: Canadian Cynic

1 comment:

leftdog said...

Ahh... Conservative Party democracy at its finest - 'eh????

Collective Punishment

Ever since Pierre Poilievre opened his mouth and declared that Trans Women need to be banned from washrooms and locker rooms , there's b...