The Conservative Party has named eight candidates who passed the first hurdle to become a contender in the party’s leadership race — a list that does not include former Stephen Harper adviser Richard Décarie, who made controversial comments about the LGBTQ community earlier this year.
The Conservative Party named eight candidates Saturday who passed the first hurdle to become a contender in the party’s leadership race — a list that does not include former Stephen Harper adviser Richard Décarie, who made controversial comments about the LGBTQ community earlier this year.
In response to his unsuccessful bid, Décarie, a social conservative from Quebec, took aim at the Conservative Party’s committee responsible for having final say in the decision.
“The unelected Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has decided I am not an ‘Approved Candidate,'” he said in a series of tweets. “Despite the support and signatures of thousands of CPC party members, this unelected committee has disallowed my candidacy and will not allow my supporters to cast their ballots for me.”
No reasons were provided to me by the committee. It seems my candidacy was viewed as a threat to the establishment of the CPC and to the kind of leader THEY want to select. 2/7 #cdnpoli #cpcldr
The party would not say why Décarie’s application failed to land a green light.
“Eight candidates were approved by the committee. Reasons for not approving a candidate are not disclosed, but it’s not a decision the committee ever takes lightly,” said party spokesperson Cory Hann.
Approved candidate Derek Sloan — a Conservative MP in Ontario — slammed the committee on Twitter, calling its decision “outrageous”.
Outrageous @RichardDECARIE not allowed in CPC leadership race. As a founding member of this party, and a principled conservative, Décarie deserves to be in this race. #cdnpoli 1/4
LGBTQ comments yielded backlash
In January, Décarie caused an uproar when he appeared on national television and claimed that be