Contested Tory riding nomination to get redo

Defeated candidate to run again in West-Nepean

Jeremy Roberts, who lost the disputed Ontario Progressive Conservative nomination in Ottawa West-Nepean last May by 15 votes, says he will run again in a new nomination process announced by the party.

“Over the past 12 hours I have heard from hundreds of supporters across Ottawa West-Nepean,” Roberts said in a news release Saturday.

“The message has been clear: They have asked me to put my name forward in this new nomination contest.”

Roberts’ statement praised the provincial Tories’ “strong steps … to clean up the party.”

“Our party’s fortunes are looking bright,” the statement reads. “Through (interim leader) Vic Fedeli’s fine work, we are cleaning up our party so that Ontarians can have faith in our ability to put forward a government of integrity.”

At a meeting Friday night, the Tory nominations committee announced two new contests, in Ottawa West-Nepean and Scarborough Centre, after examining allegations of voting irregularities in the previous contests.

Karma Macgregor won the nomination in Ottawa West-Nepean under suspicious circumstances that caused a rift among PCs in the riding, held by longtime Liberal MPP Bob Chiarelli. Among the discrepancies, officials discovered there were 28 more total votes in the contest than there were registered party voters.

In addition, a list of eligible voters included a large number from a Bayshore apartment tower but 71 voters had no unit number and 58 had phone numbers with Toronto area codes.

Concern was so widespread in the weeks following the vote that riding president Emma McLennan, who eventually quit along with the riding association’s executive, called the process a “mockery.” McLennan was backed by several party heavyweights, including former senator Marjory LeBreton.

Macgregor was one of three candidates who issued a statement Friday night asking for the nomination review to be halted.

“We learned today that there are actions being taken against a number of candidates by certain individuals based on rumours and innuendoes,” read the statement from Macgregor, and Torontoarea nominees Thenusha Parani (Scarborough Centre) and Charity McGrath (Newmarket-Aurora). “What’s more, we have not been asked for or provided an opportunity to provide our perspective.”

The Macgregor campaign was not immediately available for comment Saturday.