The Conservative Party of Canada's national council decided, yesterday, to strip MP Helena Guergis of the right to run as a Conservative in her riding of Simcoe-Grey. Guergis first won that riding in 2004 by just over 100 votes. IN 2006, voters gave her a 12,000 vote cushion and boosted that again to 18,000 in 2008.
Now, because of her party's decision, the only way those in her riding can cast a ballot in a federal election again is if she runs as an independent.
She says the party's decision is wrong, that the governing national council “should be respecting the wishes of the grassroots electors and allowing due process to take course.”
Here's the text of her letter of appeal (it is addressed to Dan Hilton, the party's executive director):
Dear Mr. Hilton,
This letter is in response to your correspondence dated May 5, 2010, advising me of the decision The National Candidate Selection Committee (NCSC) of the Conservative Party of Canada has taken to remove me as the candidate of record in the Electoral District of Simcoe-Grey. Please be advised that this letter is notice of my intention to formally appeal the decision of NCSC.
Your letter refers to recent events as the reason that this decision was made; perhaps you could highlight for me what I have done to justify this drastic measure. Specifically, I ask that you please provide the details of what led the NCSC to make this decision, especially at a time when no election is imminent.
In recent weeks, in essence, I have been charged, convicted, and sentenced without any due process or knowing what I have done wrong. There have been endless rumours and allegations unfairly levelled against me, but to date I have not been given a specific reason for my removal from caucus nor has there been any investigation launched, let alone concluded.
I am confident that I have done nothing wrong and will be exonerated of all the baseless accusations in the media. It is unfortunate that I have been left in a situation where I am not able to defend myself appropriately and am waiting for the RCMP to make a decision on information that has not been made privy to me.
I have dedicated over six years of my life to advance the cause of our Federal Party and am grateful for the opportunity to have served both in the House of Commons and in Cabinet. I have also represented the constituents of Simcoe-Grey to the best of my ability and have been returned as a result as the Conservative Member in three separate elections. I should at least be given the opportunity to honour this record. The Party should be respecting the wishes of the grassroots electors and allowing due process to take course.
In conclusion, I humbly ask that the NCSC reverse its decision in order to give me the opportunity to clear my name and rejoin the Conservative Party of Canada caucus.
Hon. Helena Guergis, PC. MP.
Simcoe-Grey
Thank goodness she has a parliamentary supplied Blackberry. Otherwise, we'd never know she was still alive.
All that Helena Guergis has done wrong was that she acted inappropriately at the Charlottetown airport, and she apologized for that.
All the rest, including Rahim Jaffer's antics, is fluff, and neither she nor the public knows what allegations the RCMP are investigating.
The Ethics Commissioner has already stated there is no basis to investigate her, and the RCMP has yet to charge her with anything.
Therefore, it is premature to remove her as the nominated candidate based on known facts, which leads me to believe it was purely a political decision.
CTV news reports that “Sources told CTV News that Guergis was removed as a candidate because Conservatives are concerned an election could be called at any moment, and they need to have nominated candidates in all 308 ridings.”
That explanation rings hollow: nobody wants a spring election and the PM is hosting the G8 and G20 in the summer. Also, I wonder how many other ridings have yet to nominate candidates?
Given Guergis' high profile position, the National Candidate Selection Committee would never take a decision to revoke her candidacy without the prior approval or perhaps even direction of the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Full disclosure: I do not work for Ms. Guergis, nor am I a member of her EDA's Board of Directors.
Shades of Garth Turner, although without his panache. It will be interesting to see if she sticks it out as an independent or just slinks away.
No support for her anywhere. Not in caucus. Not in Cons funders. Not amongst her former staff. I bet the latest polling in her riding indicated no support there either
Re: Jaffer. As Mulroney used to often say: “Ya dance with the one who brung ya”
-her ministerial e-mail/blackberry given to him
-her chauffeur
-her office used for lobbying
-her letter to her cousin in support of a Jaffer project
Run as an independent. Membership has its privileges. It also has its responsibilities. The buck stops where, exactly? Not at her hideaway, apparently.
Since Helena has been booted out of cabinet she has not been on the job. There were several bills before the house today, and she wasn't there to register her vote. However, she has had time to holiday in the Dominican, be interviewed by Mansbridge, have her hair done, and get braces put on her teeth. I live in her riding, and she is a disgraceful excuse for an MP. She is trying to hang on for dear life to a political career gone horribly wrong, only because she lacks the skills to do a real job.