Conservatives snipe at Gallant before weekend voting
MP has been nigh unassailable since 2000, but Coates should pose a serious challenge
For 18 years, Cheryl Gallant has been unafraid of mocking her enemies. This weekend, we’ll see how she makes out with her friends.
For the first time since 2000, the MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke is facing a challenge for the Conservative nomination in the sprawling riding that takes in much of the Upper Ottawa Valley.
She is being opposed by Michael Coates, 61, a lifelong Conservative who recently retired as a senior executive in the field of communications and government relations with Hill & Knowlton Strategies.
“I think people are ready for change,” said Coates, a resident of the Calabogie area for about 12 years who has deep international business experience. “They like the idea that the nomination is being contested and I think they like the message about jobs and investment.”
There are indeed signs that, despite large victory margins, Conservatives in the riding are looking for a different voice, which is a polite way of saying they may have grown weary of Gallant’s style and outlook.
(Her mock CNN broadcasts in 2017 — GNN, in her case — were loaded with jabs at the “elite” media and “fake news” references while her take on climate change, for someone with a science degree, comes across as odd to say the least.)
She does not speak freely to the media, mainstream or otherwise. Unless I missed it, there hasn’t been a single media report about her reaction to the race since it was announced, or forced upon the party, in January. She hasn’t spoken to this newspaper in years.
Coates said he’s spoken to her once, and only to hear her displeasure at his intentions. He invited her to a public debate and said he’s had no response.
So cracks are appearing in the Conservative fortress, which some of us remember as a Liberal stronghold for nearly 40 years.
David Reid is a longtime Conservative who happens to be the mayor of Arnprior, a town of 9,000 that is one of the most bustling in the riding. He gets along fine with Gallant but thinks it’s time for change, so he’s personally endorsing Coates.
“She’s been hard-working and attentive to needs, but there comes a time when you have an opportunity to look for a new message and a different voice,” Reid said.
The letters pages of Valley publications, meanwhile, have bubbled with polite displays of opposition.
“(Our riding) deserves a credible federal representative who is respected by the Conservative caucus, and who can bring more jobs and positive recognition to our riding,” reads a letter from Susan Taylor in the Arnprior Chronicle- Guide. “Mr. Mike Coates would appear to be just that individual.”
J. Hugh Brownlee of White Lake was more pointed in his criticism about the small window in which new $15 memberships could be sold to new voters — about 21 days, with the closing deadline of Feb. 1.
“Healthy for the riding ’s democracy, I thought, when the challenger Mike Coates announced his candidacy a mere two weeks before Christmas,” he wrote. “It hasn’t taken long for our riding ’s experiment in direct democracy to begin a downward spiral into dirty politics, which in this party member’s view is an all-too-familiar behavioural pattern for Ms. Gallant and her associates.”
Coates said he had to slap together a campaign network in a hurry. He said membership went from about 1,350 before the vote to about 2,300 today and he believes his team sold the most new cards.
After short candidate speeches, voting is to take place Saturday in Renfrew and Barry’s Bay, then on Sunday in Pembroke. The result should be known Sunday evening.
“I’m just focusing on myself,” Coates said, “but after 18 years, I think there is interest in another candidate with another approach …
“We’ve had 20 years of factories closing, people leaving the valley. They’re looking for hope. They’re looking for someone with a positive approach to developing the valley, and the opportunities are there.”
The Nova Scotia native also sees huge potential growth with both the nuclear and defence industries, as the riding is home to CFB Petawawa and the Chalk River nuclear facility.
He recognizes that Gallant is a formidable opponent. She’s been elected six times in the riding, narrowly defeating incumbent Liberal Hec Clouthier in 2000 when she ran for the Canadian Alliance.
None of the other five elections were close. Even during the Liberal surge of 2015, she won by about 7,500 votes.
“This is a real race,” Coates said. “I think it’s going to come down to turnout this week.”