Are PC leadership contenders eyeing Cambridge?

CAMBRIDGE — The drama around the Progressive Conservative nomination in Cambridge continues to twist and turn — with one controversial candidate apparently out, and two high-profile newcomers possibly in.

Party insiders say leadership hopefuls Christine Elliott and Tanya Granic Allen may be eyeing Cambridge as a possible home riding as they vie for the chance to lead the Tories into the June election.

That comes after the frontrunner in the local race, Calgary dentist Tanya Khattra, was removed from the contest in a special meeting of the party’s provincial nomination committee.

Khattra’s candidacy raised eyebrows, since she was still living in Alberta in contravention of an Election Ontario rule that requires candidates reside in the province for at least six months prior to election day. Khattra is still acting as if she’s running, appearing on stage at a PC party event for Elliott on the weekend. Her husband Raman Khattra said that it was not true that she had been removed as a candidate, but declined to comment further.

Local Tories said the party had no choice but to turn down Khattra’s candidacy.

“When you’ve got some-

body like Mrs. Khattra who came in with very little community and, frankly, party connections, there were more questions than answers,” said Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Michael Harris. “I think this clears the air moving forward.”

Khattra’s departure leaves just two candidates in the nomination race, Bert Laranjo and Sunny Atwal, and plenty of speculation that others may jump in.

As the PC party scrambles to pick a new leader following the exit of Patrick Brown over sexual misconduct allegations, all leadership hopefuls are required to designate a riding where they would like to run. With the election looming just a few months away, there’s only a handful of open nominations still left in the province — making Cambridge suddenly a hot commodity. Elliott, expected in Waterloo Region for a rally Tuesday, did not confirm the report that she’s looking at Cambridge. She enjoys the support of many local Tories, including Harris, Kitchener South-Hespeler candidate Amy Fee and Kitchener Centre candidate Mary Henein Thorn. Harris said the region would benefit having the party leader, but stopped short of saying Elliott could be on the Cambridge ballot.

“When it comes to leadership candidates, of course Cambridge will be hotly sought after,” said Harris, who is Elliott’s campaign co-chair. “My focus right now is to get Christine elected leader on March 10. That’s my only goal. But it’s a fact that this area is very supportive of her.”

Granic Allen, president of Parents as First Educators, which lobbies against the sexeducation curriculum in Ontario and is in favour of more parental control of education, also couldn’t confirm if her leadership bid would run through the local riding. But the leadership hopeful said the number of open nominations is in flux as the party reopens controversial nominations as it investigates reports of alleged corruption.

“The party is demanding that I pick a riding, and since I’ve declared for leader, two more ridings have opened up,” Granic Allen said. “I don’t know how many more will be opened up in the coming days.”

Tory leadership contenders find Cambridge appealing in part because it has a history of voting conservative. Guelph and Waterloo are also open ridings that haven’t chosen a PC candidate yet. Liberal MPP Kathryn McGarry, who unseated Rob Leone in 2015 by more than 3,000 votes, was the first person since 1995 to buck Cambridge’s trend in choosing a Progressive Conservative candidate. But defeating the popular McGarry would be no small task, and it’s possible that the leader of the PCs might ask a candidate in another more winnable riding to step aside.

But that hasn’t dampened enthusiasm among those who see Cambridge as a good fit for the party’s potential leaders. “They’re certainly looking at Cambridge,” said Ron Dancey, vice-president of the local riding association. “Tanya is already asking for signature support here. Christine, if she wins the leadership, then this would be a consideration.” Khattra’s candidacy, meanwhile, had been controversial since it began. The party overruled the local riding association’s nomination date last fall, and bumped up the deadline for candidates by a month — a decision seen as either a move to benefit or block Khattra.

Jim Karahalios, the former riding association executive who sought an injunction to overturn the nomination date, said the whole problem could have been avoided if the party hadn’t intervened in the first place. He was happy to see Khattra gone.

“If we didn’t seek that injunction, we could have been stuck with a candidate who did not live in Ontario,” he said.