Ches Crosbie rebuff a blow to N.L. Conservatives
ST. JOHN’S, N.L.— Rejecting Ches Crosbie as a federal Conservative candidate in Newfoundland and Labrador is a headline-making blow to a party that needs all the help it can get in the province, says a former adviser.
Tim Powers said Crosbie, a successful lawyer and son of former Tory cabinet minister John Crosbie, is the sort of prospect the Conservatives should embrace.
“It’s unfortunate for the Conservative party not to have a candidate like Ches Crosbie because those are the sorts of people we need to attract,” Powers said Thursday from Ottawa.
Powers, a lobbyist and vice-chairman of Summa Strategies, is a cousin of Crosbie’s. He said it makes no sense to stonewall qualified people in a province where the Conservatives don’t hold even one of seven seats.
Powers said it’s also unhelpful to raise the ire of John Crosbie, one of the most quotable politicians to ever serve.
Ches Crosbie was the only person to file papers for the Conservative nomination in the riding of Avalon before a deadline last month. He confirmed Wednesday in a statement that he was rejected. He has no plans to appeal. John Crosbie said Thursday his son is not commenting while on vacation in Europe. He said the vetting committee in a 15-minute phone call last week objected to the younger Crosbie’s part in a recent fundraising skit that poked fun at Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Wearing a Harper-esque wig, kilt and sealskin vest, Ches Crosbie performed in April to raise cash for a local theatre company. His send-up of Macbeth saw his character, King Harper, face off against “Macduffy” with reference to staffers being sacrificed for political expediency.
It was a bit of fun for a good cause, John Crosbie said in an interview.
“The whole thing is an affront to the democratic system,” he said of his son’s rejection. “I think it’s a disgrace.” Conservative Party of Canada spokesman Cory Hann said the issue is an internal party matter.