Controversy Grows in Cariboo-Prince George Nomination
By Peter Ewart
The nomination process for the Conservative Party of Canada seat in Cariboo-Prince George is caught up in a controversy that grows day by day. The MP for the riding, Dick Harris, has held the seat for over 20 years and it is considered to be one of the safest Conservative seats in British Columbia. As many have expected, Dick Harris is retiring and will not run in the federal election next year. And thus the drama has unfolded – just who in the party will replace him?
Earlier this year, supporters of Prince George mayor Shari Green took over the local riding association in a way that alarmed a number of longstanding members. Green, who is just finishing her term as mayor, is deeply unpopular with many in the city as a result of her policies as mayor. She is also not popular with many in the ranks of the local Conservative Party voters.
Nonetheless, she and her supporters now control key positions in the riding association, and on November 5, Green publicly announced her intention to run for the Conservative Party nomination in Cariboo-Prince George.
Since Green and her supporters took control of the riding association, some interesting things have happened. One of the candidates planning to run for the nomination, Todd Doherty, suddenly departed from his fundraising position at the upcoming Canada Winter Games in Prince George, despite achieving almost 100% of the Games’ fundraising goal. The City of Prince George, with Shari Green as mayor, is a major partner and host city for the Winter Games.
In addition, a snap nomination meeting has been scheduled by for December 15. Nomination packages have to be submitted by the 13th of November. This will essentially take another candidate, T.J. Grewal, out of the race because his renewed membership was one week short of the qualification time requirements.
All of these incidents bring into glaring light, the fly in the ointment of the party-dominated nomination process for the federal parliament. Because this is considered to be a “safe” Conservative Party seat, the eventual MP for the riding may well be decided, not by the 75,000 eligible voters in the riding, but by a few hundred party members. As T.J. Grewal has candidly admitted to the PG Citizen, “Nomination is the election.”
Even worse, it could be argued that a handful of the directors of the riding association, through control of the nomination date, party lists, and the approval of memberships, will be the ones ultimately deciding who gets the nomination and, as a result, the “safe” seat in Parliament. Is it any wonder that an ugly atmosphere is developing?
In any case, 75,000 voters get left out in the cold. And this is not a problem confined to Conservative Party of Canada nominations. It also applies, in one degree or another, to other federal parties such as the NDP and Liberals. Whatever the particular rules these parties have, the problem remains – the party controls the nomination process.
The result is that more and more people in Canada are feeling dis-empowered these days, and – along with the virtual dictatorial powers that the prime minister’s office has taken on, the muzzling of scientists, the sidelining of parliament, the erosion of civil liberties, and so on – a crisis in our democracy is brewing, not just at the local level, but also at the national level.
Opposition political parties, and even some Conservatives, are calling for electoral reform of one kind or another, and have their own preferred options. But the issue is not the parties’ “preferred options”, but rather those of the Canadian people.
Canada has an extreme party system which is getting worse every year. Indeed, we need a reform and renewal process of our democracy that starts with the Canadian people and not the demands of or control by the political parties.
There are other options to consider, including taking the selection of candidates out of the hands of the political parties and putting it into the hands of the electorate. Why couldn’t a non-partisan process be put in place whereby all the voters in a riding, no matter which party they support, come together to nominate 4 or 5 candidates? The eventual winner, of course, would then have first allegiance to the electorate of the riding, not a particular political party.
And other models exist. Indeed, British Columbia had a non-party election system up until the early 1900s, and there are other electoral models in Canada (e.g. Nunavut), U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
The point is that we, the people of Canada, need to discuss democratic renewal, and we need a non-partisan process to do so. Otherwise, we are doomed to be subject to a tainted, essentially anti-democratic, electoral system, and endless controversies and fights like the one currently unfolding in the riding of Cariboo-Prince George.
Peter Ewart is a columnist and writer based in Prince George, British Columbia. He can be reached at: peter.ewart@shaw.ca
Comments
Funny how election make strange alliances. The latest I am shocked about and at first had difficulty believing but Nick and Shari. The insiders say they made an alliance last week just before the nomination announcement. Shari I was not surprised about but Nick. I thought you were better than that.
Some of your team members are ticked.
The only way to beat this utter disgusting display of democracy is to go to the web site today and take out a conservative membership and show up to vote in December! If you’re the type who says you don’t involve yourself in politics, your voice doesn’t matter, you have a moral issue with joining a political party or the conservatives need to sort this one out on their own…. sadly, you may be why crappy politicians always rise to the top. Everyone has a role to play in changing the outcome in this nomination battle… Shari Green is betting that you will stay home and do nothing!
Be interesting to see if they allow TJ into the race
Sadly, it isn’t very difficult to be disillusioned with politic! Greed is not somethng new. But yep, I’m going to do my part to try and put a stop to it, and I’m certainly passing the word along!
Can’t blame her for trying to win a seat in Ottawa by running in the safest Conservative riding in B.C., if not all of Canada! I quit the Conservative Party when Brian lied about the GST. Then along came the Schreiber affair and the brown paper bag…
Where can u sign up for the Conservative party.
Can’t let scary Shari ruin the region. She’s already tried to ruin Prince George
Green is delusional!!!! She is so out of touch with the people, It will be nice to watch her fail… she has no hope and no votes from any honest hard working people that aren’t corrupt
The web site for membership sign up is conservative.ca You have until 11:59pm November 20th to make the voting list, but please do it today! (and hold on to your registration number as proof) Anyone over the age of 14 years old is eligible to vote so signing up as a family will maximize your voice. You need to be living in the PG Caribou riding, if you’re unsure just goggle “find your MP Canada” (sorry the link won’t attach) and that will take you to a parliamentary web site where all you need to do is plug in your postal code.
There is so much back room manipulating going on in this nomination process, you could write a book. Stacking the local riding association; the sudden departure of Todd Doherty from the Canada Winter Games; Dick Harris’s endorsement, and most puzzling of all, TJ Grewal jumping on the bandwagon one week too late. The only thing I can make of his announcement, is that he will sell a lot of memberships and they likely won’t be voting for Shari.
Frankly, I would be surprised if Shari wins the nomination. She is such a poison pill, Harper will do anything to ensure she is not successful.
Wow, how slimey is green… she has proven she will do anything to get the seat.. so what is she willing to do if she ( YIKES) actually wins the seat.. We would be sacraficed at her whim..
JUST SAY NO
Dwarf must be a liberal, got his rose coloured glasses on.
first comment of ‘lives here longtime’ what’s that ?? a dirty campaign trick ? Who ever orchestras that ridiculous comment must be afraid of Nick. That is not how you win a nomination, there are no alliances ‘winner takes it all’ period. Nick and Shari that is serious BS. Folks get your memberships to vote. Nick is your best choice. Make sure you have a vote !!!!!
@Philomena Sadly, unlikely alliances happen all the time in politics. Promises are made in back room deals, its just the nature of the business. Nomination battles are the worst and dirtiest part of our political system.
… Shari Green is betting that you will stay home and do nothing!
That’s the whole story of why we have such poor representation in all levels of government. Its all about apathy changing the system we live under will only lead to more chaos.
And to those who think Shari has no support so why is Stoltz so eager to support her? Just ask any member of the Chamber of Commers and even more disgusting is that the Legion appears to support her.
Cheers
Get out of politics Green. You have already proven you are a worthless, incompetent, and high maintenance politician as mayor of PG. What is the real debt you created for Prince George?
To see the faces Legion, Northern Development, and the DBIA publicly support a candidate is shocking in itself. These organizations should be (publicly) politically neutral. Shows their level of professionalism. Very disappointing to see this behaviour in apparent leaders of our community.
I am very surprised of the people who are backing Green, put it this way if Green wins this I will not be supporting the Conservative Party. I urge everyone to renew their membership and come out and vote.I back up Todd Doherty all the way.
What would Shari Green say to people in a riding the size of the Cariboo-Prince George riding if we did not agree with her. I guess she would have to tell us to go find greener pastures in China? That comment she made in the Citizen still to this day makes me dislike anything she stands for. Did she apologize for that remark? NO arrogance at its best. You slapped the people of PG in the face with that comment Ms. Green and therefor you do not deserve one vote from Prince George because we all have disagreed with you from time to time.
@Philomena. I had the same response as you when, I heard. Go talk to Nick. He is accessible. Then ask him how he found out about the surprise announcement ahead of everyone else.
Interesting that the Pro Grewal group and / or the Pro Dougherty group use the anti Green sentiment to attempt to Slag Nick Fedorkiw!
Why are they afraid of Nick? Is it because he is probably the candidate with the least baggage?
At some point someone will do a little digging into Mr. Grewal’s business and political history. Perhaps someone will ask him some tough questions like how did he come to support the NDP in the last provincial election? Was he reading the tea leaves, believing the polls, and perhaps anticipating having an in with the soon to be elected NDP MLA?
How about asking him how many temporary foriegn workers he has employed at his 23 restaurants?
I’m sure there are some former business partners that would love to share a story or two about TJ….do some research!
If Green is a candidate in the next federal election, I sure won’t be voting Conservative!!!
Just noticed the Mayor of Vancouver got a donation from Cupe and Canadian Labor Congress overa $160,000.00 for his reelection campaign. What do you think of that jb.
Cheers
New to federal politics and have some questions:
1. If signing up as a member, how can one vote on December 15? Will mail ballots be offered for those outside of Prince George?
2. Will there be some sort of “all-candidates” forum for riding candidates before the vote? Will they be visiting outlying areas?
3. Can you buy a membership before you know which candidate you will support or is it best to make that decision before purchasing the membership?
Sorry for asking for a Civics 101 class – but this site and the comments have raised awareness and stoked a desire to get involved so it seems natural to turn to the site for answers.
The real question is why is this such a safe Conservative seat? Let’s change that picture, please. Who the hell cares what bluecoat is running. STOP VOTING CONSERVATIVE, STUPIDS.
Anyone, please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but to answer jales5’s question…
1. Ballots will be sent in the mail to anyone who lives in the riding.
2. I would expect a forum of some sort, but it may be only in Prince George. That would probably be up to the association for the riding.
3. You don’t need to decide who you are going to vote for before joining a party. You can join a party at any time.
Littlebirdie and jales5
No one seems to know the rules of this contest yet. That’s the issue.
Here’s what we do know:
– you need to be a member of the party – go get your membership – http://www.conservative.ca
– 14 yrs of age and older
– reside in the Cariboo Prince George riding – Google it or go to “find my mp”
– Canadian citizen
– permanent resident
$15 for 1yr
Taking a membership out with a specific candidate does not tie you to that person. Voting is anonymous.
November 20th is the deadline and memberships must be in Ottawa befor 5pm eastern time.
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