Former Tory president forms NL Alliance
Graydon Pelley offers alternative to province’s voters through new group
“You pull the party line or there are repercussions … If you have an opinion that you want to share, it’s best that you not share it, especially if it’s at all in conflict with what the party opinion is.”
Graydon Pelley
Graydon Pelley has split with the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador and isn’t interested in being part of the party politics that he says also exists within the other parties.
Pelley said he’s talking about the traditional way of doing business.
“You pull the party line or there are repercussions,” he said.
“If you have an opinion that you want to share, it’s best that you not share it, especially if it’s at all in conflict with what the party opinion is.”
Pelley says the people of the province deserve more, so he’s offering them another alternative through the NL Alliance.
Pelley, who lives in Deer Lake, had served as president of the Progressive Conservative party for more than two years prior to tendering his resignation on Oct. 30. He also was a candidate for the party in the Humber Valley in the last general election.
His decision to leave the party comes after much reflection and conversations with many people, and after taking a look at the way things are in the province. Pelley said everything is run by government.
“I find that it’s the same way of doing politics as has been for years, and years and years.”
He said apathy is at an alltime high and people are fed up with hearing the same things over and over.
He said the feeling is that the decisions that are made are not about what’s best for the people.
“It doesn’t matter who comes up with an idea, if it’s good for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador why don’t we just grab a hold of it and make Newfoundland and Labrador a better place to live.”
The PC party is under new leadership with Ches Crosbie, and Pelley said his observations so far have been that visions and ideas are being shared, but party politics is still going on and the decisions being made are not collaborative team decisions.
“It’s top-heavy and it continues to be that way.”
Pelley is not calling the NL Alliance a party. He said the word alliance means different people from different backgrounds and mindsets coming together and working together as a group collaborating to do better.
Pelley said he has support for the idea and is getting the 1,000 signatures necessary to submit to Elections Newfoundland and Labrador to officially register the alliance. Until it’s registered, regulations prevent the alliance from doing any fundraising.
The goal is to be ready with names on the ballot for the 2019 election. Pelley is not saying yet if his name will be one of them.