Ford drops Granic Allen from Conservative ticket
TORONTO — Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have dropped a controversial candidate from their roster ahead of the spring election, with the party’s leader saying “her characterization of certain issues and people has been irresponsible.”
Tanya Granic Allen, a social conservative and outspoken opponent of the province’s sex education curriculum, has been taken off the PC ballot in Mississauga Centre just over a month before Ontarians go to the polls.
PC Leader Doug Ford said in a statement Saturday that the Tories “are a party comprised of people with diverse views that if expressed responsibly we would respect.”
Granic Allen responded to her dismissal on Twitter, saying she was “disappointed” to be informed of the decision by Ford’s campaign manager.
“I’ll have more to say about this and Ontario politics in the coming days,” she wrote.
Granic Allen’s dismissal came just hours after the Ontario Liberal Party shared an edited video showing her expressing views the Liberals described as representing “hatred and homophobia.”
The clip posted on the Liberals’ website shows Granic Allen discussing sex education in Croatia, saying that when she sees the country “trying to push radical sexualization on the young, or gay marriage, I almost vomit in disbelief.”
Granic Allen’s comments have landed her in hot water before. Last month, she defended comments she made online years ago about Muslims and gay marriage.
Before securing the PC nomination in Mississauga Centre, Granic Allen denied that posts in which she suggested gay marriage shouldn’t be legalized in the United Kingdom represented homophobic views.
She also said posts saying women should not wear burkas in public do not represent Islamophobia.
Ford has been under constant pressure from the Liberals and New Democrats to drop Granic Allen from the ballot, but repeatedly refused.
When her old posts surfaced in April, Ford said in a statement that “our base is growing, and we want all Ontarians to feel like they have a place in our party.”
Ford and Granic Allen were considered the more socially conservative candidates in the Tory leadership race, and Granic Allen was the only one to appear by Ford’s side as he was declared the winner in March.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Ontario’s three main political parties will square off on the same stage for the first time tonight, just days before the official start of the province’s spring election campaign.
Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, Ford and New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath will all participate in the live debate in Toronto, which will be broadcast on City TV.
It’s the first of three debates scheduled before the June 7 vote and observers say it will give voters a clear view of how the parties and their leaders intend to campaign once the writ drops two days later.