Three PC riding executives resign
Concerns over nomination process help prompt sudden departures
CALGARY — Three Tory constituency association executives in Chestermere-Rocky View have resigned, citing concerns the nomination race that saw one candidate disqualified — and a Wildrose defector acclaimed — was poorly handled by the party.
Riding association president John Fitzsimmons, director Gloria Wilkinson and secretary Ada Rawlins submitted their resignations Saturday.
Rawlins said she left, in part, due to “general stress,” but also expressed concern PC riding associations were being stripped of their responsibilities. “It used to be the associations did a lot ... Now you have to follow the directions from the headquarters,” she said.
But the breaking point, for her, came after the Tories disallowed Jamie Lall to run as a candidate in Chestermere-Rocky View and acclaimed incumbent MLA Bruce McAllister, who crossed the legislature floor from the Wildrose to the Tories late last year.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years of being involved,” Rawlins said. “Why even bother having an association?”
McAllister did not respond to an interview request.
Lall, who ran for the PCs in Calgary-Buffalo in 2012, maintains he was never given an official explanation for his disqualification and is now running as an Independent in the riding.
Kelley Charlebois, PC party executive director, downplayed the resignations, saying two of the three are now volunteering on other PC campaigns and the third, Rawlins, left due to health reasons.
While Fitzsimmons is now campaigning for PC candidates in other ridings, he lamented how the nomination in Chestermere-Rocky View unfolded. “I wish we would have had a nomination,” Fitzsimmons said. “I wish we would have had candidates, and Bruce had won it that way.”
When asked why he wasn’t staying on as riding association president in Chestermere, Fitzsimmons replied: “I don’t know him. I’ve been trying to find someone to run against him for four years.”
Speaking to reporters in Three Hills, PC Leader Jim Prentice said there were no problems within the party. “I spoke to Ada Rawlins … and she has made it very clear to me that she remains a loyal PC member, a supporter of mine, and that she has stepped down for health reasons,” he said.