A lawsuit which alleges that Calgary-West MP Rob Anders was improperly acclaimed can proceed, a judge ruled on Wednesday.

Anders was declared the Conservative party's candidate earlier this month.

A group of 11 party members contended the nomination process itself was flawed, arguing that the party didn't properly notify members about the process.

Justice Allen Sulatycky ruled that the courts had jurisdiction over the matter.

"It would be inconsistent for me to find political parties are legal entities … and to find at the same time that they are sheltered from judicial review," he said.

Lawyers for the party have argued that the grievance should first be handled internally and not in the courts.

The group of 11 have charged that the party did not widely enough advertise the date of a nomination meeting, did not hold it within the minimum 30-day guideline, and failed to do a search for qualified potential candidates — all part of the organization's rule book.

Walter Wakula tried to vie for the seat, but was disqualified from running by the party.

"The law won out on this one and not the judge's feelings, and I think the law is on our side in this," he said.

Anders told CBC News earlier Wednesday his nomination was handled like hundreds of others across the country and called it a "nuisance lawsuit."

"I see this type of thing with increasing regularity in modern politics, and that's unfortunate. Anyhow, I think it will be put to bed and dismissed fairly shortly."

It's normal for parties to hold nominations in preparation for the next election.

Fire at home of former MP

Meanwhile, Calgary police are investigating a small fire set outside the home of former MP Jim Hawkes Monday night.

Hawkes, who represented Calgary-West for 14 years and is part of the group contending Ander's nomination, says he doesn't know who set the fire.

"Our political struggle is in Calgary-West and up until about three weeks ago, I was a grandfather, playing with the grandkids, curling, golfing, enjoying retirement," he said.

"And now all of a sudden there's a fire on my front porch, so I think you have to look carefully at coincidences."

Anders said he hopes it was just a random act of vandalism and that police catch the culprit.

With files from the Canadian Press