Tory candidates make final push in Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE — After months of political drama, candidates hoping to carry the Ontario PC Party banner in Cambridge were rushing to sign new members as a deadline loomed .

The riding’s party members will choose their candidate for the June election on April 14. Three candidates have been approved to run for the nomination — Bert Laranjo, Sunny Attwal and newcomer Belinda Karahalios.

Right up until the Friday midnight deadline, local conservatives were buzzing at the possibility that a fourth potential candidate, Mona Bains, was eyeing the race. But Bains, the former campaign manager to controversial parachute candidate Tanya Khattra, who’s since dropped out of the race, declined to confirm if she was considering vying for the nomination. She announced on Facebook Friday afternoon she would be a candidate.

The Cambridge contest has been a roller-coaster for the Tories, rocked by repeated delays and interference from party headquarters. Some complained that strings were being pulled to aid Calgary’s Khattra, or a wellconnected appointed candidate or former leadership contender. Now that the dust appears to be settling, those remaining in the race were in their final push to register as many supporters as possible.

“I see all the background noise, but I’m just focused on one thing: to have a strong local candidate who will represent our community,” said Attwal, who was knocking on doors right up until the deadline. “Since the beginning, there was so much noise about ‘this person is running, this person isn’t running, this person isn’t from here.’ So we’re just trying to keep going, and remember why I put my name in the first place.”

Karahalios, who was only approved as a candidate late Thursday night, opened her campaign by playing the residency card — saying she’s the only person in the race who actually lives in the riding. Laranjo, an ER manager at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, and Attwal, who owns a pita business on Hespeler Road, work locally but live outside Cam-

bridge.

Karahalios jumped into the race after the party cancelled the March 24 nomination. Her husband, conservative activist Jim Karahalios, is leaning on his network of supporters to boost his wife’s chances. As for the hundreds of allegedly suspect memberships signed up by the Khattra camp, Attwal says scrutineers will be closely watching who shows up April 14.