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A town councillor who has been campaigning for the Conservative nomination in an Ontario riding says she was blocked by the party from running in the contest to be the candidate in Aurora―Oak Ridges―Richmond Hill.
Rachel Gilliland, a two-term councillor in Aurora, is the second Conservative candidate in recent weeks to complain about the nomination process in the riding.
Sabrina Maddeaux, a former National Post journalist, recently dropped out of the race saying the process had been “corrupted.” The party said her claims are “completely false.”
In a statement on the social-media platform X, Ms. Gilliland said she had started her campaign for the federal Conservative nomination in the riding a year ago.
She said she was deeply disappointed that the Conservative Party had denied her the chance to run in the contest and is “concerned and troubled by the number of irregularities and suspected contravention of party nomination rules during my campaign.”
She alleged that “negative character e-mails against 3 candidates” had been sent to new members, and that there had been “targeted e-mails and door knocks on new members.” This had happened prior to the official release of any final membership lists to candidates.
Sarah Fischer, the Conservative Party’s director of communications, said in a statement that Ms. Gilliland “was in clear violation of rules” outlined in the party’s Rules and Procedures for Candidate Nominations. She said she had been disqualified from standing.
“The local Candidate Nomination Committee (CNC) recommended disqualification and the National Candidate Selection Committee upheld the local CNC decision,” she said. “After review, the National Council did not accept Ms. Gilliland’s appeal of this decision.”
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Trump claims of FBI authorization to shoot him ‘extremely dangerous,’ U.S. Attorney-General says: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday called former president Donald Trump’s claims that the FBI was authorized to shoot him during its 2022 search of his Florida club “false” and “extremely dangerous.”
Antisemitism envoy tells MPs foreign conflicts need not lead to Canadians fighting one another: Canada’s antisemitism envoy says foreign conflicts – such as the one between Israel and Hamas – need not lead to Canadians fighting with each other “in our backyard” as she warned that Jewish students are facing “a tsunami of antisemitism” on Canadian campuses.
ICJ orders Israel to halt its Rafah offensive: The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, citing the “immense risks” of an assault that leaves hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians facing imminent threat of death.
Government bill will restore citizenship rights to ‘lost Canadians’: Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced a bill on Thursday allowing Canadians born abroad to pass on citizenship to their children born outside Canada. Bill C-71 would reverse a change by Stephen Harper’s government in 2009 that stripped children of a Canadian parent born outside Canada of their automatic right to citizenship.
Black Business Certification Program is working with Ottawa to diversify procurement: A non-profit Black business organization has partnered with Ottawa to certify companies as Black-owned and provide training to help them access more procurement opportunities.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, May 24 2024, accessible here.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada informed the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat that it has received a positive strike vote from the membership of the Border Services group.
Ministers on the Road: In Winnipeg, Dan Vandal, minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, is announcing $31-million of federal investment in the development of the Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn project at the site of the former Hudson’s Bay Company building downtown.
THE DECIBEL
On the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, troops occupied Chornobyl. Since the nuclear disaster in 1986, the 30-kilometre exclusion zone around the nuclear plant has been largely abandoned. But 38 years later, some Ukrainians still call the land home, including a handful of elderly residents and people who oversee the disused power plant. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
HALIFAX – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will make a health care announcement at a press conference in the afternoon
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, with newly nominated NDP candidate for Elmwood―Transcona, Leila Dance, will attend the Pride flag-raising ceremony with the Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL).
They will meet with the MFL and the Manitoba Building Trades. Singh will then speak virtually in the House of Commons on anti-scab legislation.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May will participate in Parliament in person, and travel to Toronto later in the day where she will attend her party’s nomination meeting for Toronto-St. Paul’s, where members will select the candidate for the June 24 byelection.
OPINION
Rishi Sunak’s lesson for Justin Trudeau
For a textbook example of political debate unglued from real-world concerns, it’s hard to do better than Tuesday’s Question Period - Campbell Clark
Ottawa should play fair on child-care fees
It’s happy days for parents getting affordable child care under the national subsidized daycare program. For families yet to secure a spot, not so much - the Editorial Board
Two new must-read books deliver a stern verdict on Trudeau’s political leadership
Although the next scheduled federal election is almost a year and a half away, two journalists who cover and comment on Canadian politics believe they’ve seen enough to render a verdict on Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. That verdict is stern - John Ibbitson
Trudeau needs to read the writing on the wall
In October of 2022, when I started working on my book about Justin Trudeau’s government, I told my interview subjects that I thought history would judge him favourably - Stephen Maher
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