Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Calgary West nomination issues

Rob Anders says "Liberals" are trying to take over his EDA Board. The woman who wants to run against him says she's not a Liberal, but DOES admit she was at "Joe Clark's leadership review".

Humm... was she a Joe Clark supporter? If so, then that somewhat lends credence to Rob's accusation... that "Progressives" are trying to cause trouble for a hard-right MP.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mass-resignations-deepen-tory-riding-rift/article1465377/

Also of note is that most of the resigning Board members were part of the takeover that occurred last year... which means their resignation is no big loss.

Final note... I'm no fan of Anders, and thing he's a bit of an idiot, so don't think I'm trying to defend him. I just can't stand Liberal/Progressive trouble makers at the EDA level.

Sent from my Blackberry

posted by Christian Conservative @ 10:28 a.m.  

15 Comments:

  • At Fri Feb 12, 11:22:00 a.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I am a voter in Calgary West, one of the problems that has occurred over the last few years is Jennifer Pollock. She had lost the nomination to Anders a few years back and she thought she was wronged in some way. She then turned to the Liberals and was automatically nominated to run against Anders in the following elections. She lost, but has complained ever since how things are run in the riding and her supporters(Red Tories) are trying to infiltrated the CPC riding association to oust Anders.

     

  • At Fri Feb 12, 11:35:00 a.m. EST, Blogger Simeon (Sam) George Drakich said…

    I with a couple of strong right members ousted the progressives, hissy fits of untold proportions.

     

  • At Fri Feb 12, 11:38:00 a.m. EST, Blogger Mr. Lorne said…

    Anyone who thinks that Joe Clark is/was a "conservative" needs to give their head a shake. The only difference between him and PET was...

    ummm, err,

    I'll get back to you on that.

     

  • At Fri Feb 12, 11:48:00 a.m. EST, Blogger Ted Betts said…

    On the conservative side of things, there was only the Progressive Conservative Party at the time, so how does "being at Joe Clark's leadership review" equate with being liberal, let alone being a Liberal????

    Mulroney was at that same review. Conservatives backed Joe Clark at the time as well.

    I generally think that ordinary liberals and conservatives and Liberals and Conservatives generally conduct themselves in life pretty much the same. In Canada, even most of their ideas are pretty much the same.

    But there are some things that are different. One of the things I just don't understand about conservatives - very very large sweeping paintbrush of generalization here, I admit - is their penchant for throwing opponents from within under the bus, labelling them as "other" as the enemy of the party and the ideology. Rather than label them on the "far left" or "far right" of the party, there is a tendency to claim they aren't even part of the party. Liberals do a lot of things wrong, but they don't tend to do that. Tom Wappel as an example was never considered or attacked as a non-Liberal or a "Conservative" trying to take over the party. He was always just "on the extreme right" of the party on social issues or a "pro-life" Liberal, but always a Liberal.

    You saw the same thing with McDonnel, Lisa Raitt's incompetent staffer who left the binder behind and then left a tape behind. I was stunned by how vicious and how quickly vicious she was attacked personally and deemed to be a Liberal in Conservative clothing. Same could be said for Joe Clark himself or even the way John Tory was dealt with by some.

    I actually think it is one of the biggest internal cultural barriers to the Conservatives growing much past their base. If there are such litmus and purity tests, then how can an ordinary Canadian - who like most ordinary Canadians has their beliefs but does not belong to any political party and is generally non-partisan - feel comfortable attaching themselves or feel like they belong or feel like the purist Conservative Party will always have their interests in mind and heart?

    Canada is a big tent country and if you can't be a big tent party your long term success is limited.

    Something I just don't get about the Conservative Party and something that was never an issue with the Progressive Conservative Party.

     

  • At Fri Feb 12, 11:56:00 a.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sir:

    The more Mr. Anders squawks about the departed Board members, the more ridiculous he looks.

    Of those that resigned, there were at least 4 who had previously been on that very same Board, but who had left after the blatant manipulation of its operation, including but not limited to the undemocratic 2004 nomination fiasco. One of those that resigned included a talented and bright 16 year old, one whose idealistic sense of Conservatism and democracy has been shattered. Of those that resigned, a number have had elected positions in other Conservative EDAs across the country. Of those that resigned, a number had and continue to hold significant positions in the Provincial Conservative arena.

    And what is totally missing from the discussion here is the impingement of the democratic process where the memberships wishes for who they want to serve has been usurped by a National Council hell bent on maintaining a mediocre, at best, representative in Calgary West.

    Shameful actions without consultation of the membership, don't you think?

     

  • At Fri Feb 12, 02:54:00 p.m. EST, Blogger Top Can said…

    Here's my question:

    To be honest, Harper doesn't seem to be much of an ideologue to me in his current state as PM. He seems more willing to bend his beliefs to accomodate the times, you know, like a Liberal. So for him to seem to be supporting without hesitation a guy like Anders, who isn't exactly going to help him expand his support base, surprises me. What exactly does a wingnut like Rob Anders have over the officials at the national party office that would make them move heaven and earth just to keep him around?

    Harper once represented Calgary West, so he should be aware that once a Tory is nominated, they are virtually guaranteed a route to Parliament. It's not like Rob Anders has any local appeal to the people in his riding. His most memorable act was calling Nelson Mandela a 'communist'.

    It's been 13 years and while I'm not a Conservative supporter, it would be more preferable to get a competent Conservative in there that's not going to set controversy ablaze.

     

  • At Fri Feb 12, 03:11:00 p.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    This all routine stuff. Most Liberal EDA's in AB don't have enough members to field a baseball team and a handful of conservatives can create a lot of mayhem. Any whiff of that though and Toronto intervenes in a hurry.

     

  • At Sat Feb 13, 01:05:00 a.m. EST, Blogger Guelph First said…

    Boys and girls, lets try and keep the arguments between the different members of the party within the family, shall we? The only one’s who win when we debate in the open is the LPC. That got us slammed into opposition for 13 friggn years last time. Red and blue Tories are all brothers and sisters to the cause.

     

  • At Sat Feb 13, 12:26:00 p.m. EST, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    HEAR HEAR Guelph First! I guess that's my BIGGEST issue with this whole thing... how some people are all to eager to air the Party's "dirty laundry".

    Let's keep this internal folks... those who are a little to willing to talk to the media, well, I tend to suspect their motives.

     

  • At Sat Feb 13, 03:50:00 p.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I will not apologize for my stance (I am anonymous Feb. 12 @ 11:56 AM). Both Guelph First and Christian Conservative want to keep things quiet? Try living in Calgary West. Quiet is what we have in Parliament with this MP. We deserve far better than we currently have. The current MP has made it very public. The National Council has shown disrespect for both the local EDA as well as the local Conservative supporters, including those who voted for the now departed Board. Silence only serves to be complicit in this fiasco. Believe me, Conservatives in Calgary West are just like other Conservatives in this extremely Conservative Province. We want a Conservative majority in Parliament. What we don't want is the squashing of our democratic right to choose our representative. We want a credible voice that speaks (and is heard in a positive way!) on behalf of Calgary West, something that we have not had.

     

  • At Sat Feb 13, 07:04:00 p.m. EST, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    "Conservatives in Calgary West are just like other Conservatives in this extremely Conservative Province. We want a Conservative majority in Parliament."

    Keep this up, and you'll help ensure that NEVER happens.

    Lots of us have had to make sacrifices to get where we are. Stay active, keep working for change, but DON'T continue on this self-destructive path. Work from WITHIN to foster change, but accept that you're not going to be successful in forcing a new nomination process.

     

  • At Sat Feb 13, 07:27:00 p.m. EST, Blogger Guelph First said…

    ?? No one ever said keep it quiet, we said keep the fight in the family and behind closed doors.

    Maybe give the EDA and Party constitution a read through as well, the party essentially has the right to do as it damn well wants. If you want that changed, bring it a montion forward at the next convention.

    Yelling and fighting in public? No one wins except the LPC.

     

  • At Sun Feb 14, 12:44:00 a.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    You obviously want a majority at any cost. You, sir, have been drinking the same kool aid as Anders.

     

  • At Tue Feb 16, 02:51:00 a.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I sympathize with a challenge to Anders coming from the progressive wing of the CPC, but Kennedy-Glans was rubbing shoulders too much with Liberals, and sitting MPs need to have a degree of security in any case.

     

  • At Tue Feb 16, 11:25:00 a.m. EST, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Progressive "conservatives" are nothing but liberals in sheep's clothing.

    Who said it was okay to divide up the conservative brand into "red" "blue" "progressive" etc. A conservative should be a conservative through and through, otherwise they're just a liberal.

     

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