New Green Party executive director sees opportunity, potential amid challenging times

Along with a new party leader to be announced in the fall, the Green Party of Canada will soon have a new executive director at its helm, with Prateek Awasthi set to take over on May 4, becoming the first person of colour to hold the post. “The Green Party’s in an interesting place, where […]
Conservative MPs need to raise $15,000 by year’s end to fend off nomination challenges, says party

All 121 Conservative MPs are being required to raise $15,000 by the end of 2020 in order to fend off nomination challenges. In a briefing before the national Conservative caucus on Wednesday, Jaime Girard, acting executive director of the party, and Conservative MP Diane Finley (Haldimand–Norfolk, Ont.), the caucus liaison to the national council, said […]
Crisis or not, Canada’s right-wing sticks with the politics of anger and division

OTTAWA—Despite the need for the country to pull together in this emergency, Canada’s right-wingers appear incapable of resisting a Donald Trump-style campaign of inflammatory, xenophobic hype designed to spark anger and divide Canadians. At the federal level, it’s obvious the Conservative can’t stand it that the COVID-19 crisis has deprived them of the opportunity to […]
Conservative leadership election process ‘disgraceful and undemocratic,’ says riding association president Perry

An Ontario federal Conservative riding association is lobbying Conservative electoral district associations across Canada to push the national council, the highest governing body of the party, to either suspend the leadership contest retroactively to March 1, 2020, or cancel it altogether and restart it after the COVID-19 pandemic is effectively dealt with. In an email […]
Pausing CPC race was the right move, and campaigns should seize the chance to retool

OTTAWA—The Leadership Election Organization Committee (LEOC) of the Conservative Party eventually made the right decision last week in deciding to postpone the leadership vote originally scheduled for June 27. The official reasoning the party provided was that staff resources and logistical challenges made it impossible to continue. It is right the party is making the […]
Unhappy with some of committee’s decisions, Conservative Party’s powerful national council could take over leadership process, say senior Conservative sources

The Conservative Party’s powerful national council could take the reins from the leadership organizing committee in setting the process for the race due to some of the controversies over the committee’s decisions, say senior Conservative sources. Sources familiar with behind-the-scenes conversations among national councillors have told The Hill Times that the appointed Leadership Election Organizing […]
COVID-19 is affecting us all, and CPC leadership race shouldn’t be exception

OTTAWA—COVID-19 may be the challenge of our time. One hopes its impact ends as quickly as it arrived, but none of us will be left untouched. It is unlike anything else we have experienced in most of our lifetimes. It is damn tough, but we are resilient and will get through it. I have yet […]
Unprecedented virtual campaigning for Conservative leadership will mean end of candidacy for some

Some candidates for the Conservative Party leadership will be knocked out of the contest by the COVID-19 pandemic, unable to get the required 3,000 signatures and $300,000 by the March 25 deadline after being forced to campaign solely in virtual settings, said some of the contestants. “We’ll see what happens on March 25, but we […]
Conservative MP Gladu says party is ‘tone deaf’ for refusing to extend race deadline as Canadians grapple with coronavirus fallout

Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu who is running for the party’s top job says her party is being “tone deaf” to the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on Canadians and its effects on the leadership race, saying its refusal to make any changes to the looming deadline means only “three white” men and no women […]
‘It’s a lot of work’: Conservative leadership candidates scrambling to meet final race entry deadline

With the clock ticking for all interested candidates to meet the requirements to be officially approved for the Conservative leadership contest, candidates are scrambling and pulling out all the stops to raise $300,000 and secure 3,000 signatures from party members by March 25. “Well, clearly, it’s a lot of work,” said Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu […]