Tory cries foul over nomination in Grewal's former riding
Last Updated: Monday, December 5, 2005 | 1:48 PM ET
CBC News
Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum says he's finished with politics after failing in his bid to replace Gurmant Grewal as the Conservative candidate in the riding of Newton-North Delta.
McCallum says he was not given proper notice of the nomination deadline, and was surprised to get a call on Friday morning telling him he had just two hours to file his papers. He wasn't able to file in time.
He says he had talked with riding president Jim Holt earlier in the week, and that there was no mention about when nominations would close.
"I never did get the support of the riding association or the president. And so they set up a structure to get the nomination papers in. Unrealistically, I was given two hours to get my nomination papers in and filled out, and these are 35 pages long."
McCallum says he had been asked to run in Newton-North Delta by Conservative campaign co-chair John Reynolds earlier in the week.
He said Grewal had also offered his support.
But he doesn't think the local riding executive felt comfortable with him.
"And I think that they looked at me – they are a very, very strong Reform part of the Conservatives, the riding association and the president – and I don't think they liked the moderate sort of Conservative that I am."
One candidate did get his nomination in on time. Phil Eidsvik, president of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition, says he rushed back from Calgary on Friday morning after he received a call the day before.
Eidsvik was acclaimed at the nomination meeting on Sunday night.
The Newton-North Delta Conservative nomination became available after Grewal announced he was stepping aside for the good of the party.
He came to national attention earlier this year when he released secret recordings of conversations with senior Liberals. He claimed the tapes showed the Liberals had offered plum jobs to himself and his wife – also a Tory MP in Surrey – for their support in a no-confidence vote.
