St. Charles bows out of PC nomination race

Progressive Conservative nomination candidate David St. Charles will not be seeking to represent the riding after a bitter dispute over the date of the selection meeting in November.
In a letter to Mary Anne Irwin, president of the Northumberland-Quinte West provincial riding association, St. Charles accuses the executive of lacking transparency and openness in the nomination process, followed by claims of insider manipulation and incompetence. He also alleges the other candidates - Jan Spragge, Cathy Galt and Carl Egginmann - already knew about the Nov. 7 date for the nomination meeting.
"It seems just a little too convenient and coincidental," he said in his letter. "My schedule is well known and transparent – November 7th is exactly the week I am scheduled to be in Banglore, India to meet with officials from the Indian Institute of Technology and several large Indian companies on behalf of the University of Ontario. The purpose is to bring research and development partnerships and jobs to our community."
He even lashed out at the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party for its lack of organization, professionalism and openness, citing his candidate interview as a mockery of good governance. The interview lasted 17 minutes with no follow-up or feedback, he said in the letter.
"There is more rigour in the selection process to participate in a television game show – at least they ask a 'skill testing' question!" he said.
Dirty political tactics, particularly in nomination meetings, is almost a tradition. Rarely does the public get to see how bitter and bloody the candidate selection process works. The exception was the battle between former Liberal deputy prime minister Sheila Copps and Tony Valerie when two ridings in the Hamilton area were combined. Copps, a staunch Chretien supporter was challenged by Valerie, who was a backer of former Prime Minister Paul Martin.  The content was an example of the inside war raging between the two camps, played out in the nomination process.
Still, talking to many riding association members, the nomination process is where grassroots party members get to slug it out and stretch their own political muscles. Often, when elections take place, riding associations often are given marching orders from campaign head offices far away. It can be said the nomination process is uniquely local on many levels. (That does not discount interference from outside. But mainly, it is a local matter, particularly in Conservative circles because they don't like to parachute candidates into a riding).
On the surface, it would appear Jan Spragge is the anointed one. This campaign is supported by some very powerful Tory insiders from Port Hope. One source described her as the next Janet Ecker, a very successful politician from Ajax-Pickering area, who became finance minister. She is a polished, professional who has an air that has been described as gracious and personable, by insiders.
But, if the allegations are true, it means party officials did not want her to square off against St. Charles.
One major factor must be the rainbow coalition St. Charles was trying to build. He brought in many Lliberal supporters, including high-profile people like Ryan O'Grady and Carolyn Campbell. There were other lesser known, but hard working Liberals who were actively recruiting within LIberal and NDP ranks.
It is easy to imagine how this would send the Conservatives over the moon. But rather than use it against St. Charles to rally Tory die-hards, they have used high school political tactics.
There may have been other reasons, no one may ever know. Was there a genuine fear that when Spragge and St. Charles might debate each other in some kind of joint event, Spragge would not meet the test? She is a bright, intelligent business woman, but St. Charles is an international businessman and academic with many more credentials than Spragge.
What is truly amazing is the local Conservative could have used St. Charles as a secret weapon. By opening the tent to disaffected Liberals, it was tearing away at support for Liberal incumbent Lou Rinaldi. Had anyone really thought about it, they should have let him go and watched with glee, as the Liberal riding association scrambled to contain the damage.
This is a tainted victory if Spragge wins. She had done it with a dark cloud overhead. The best move she could make would be to fight for a new nomination date and personally invite St. Charles back. He likely still has an organization. And, a public healing of the wounds would go a long way to raising the party's profile in the riding. Without it, she will look like her candidacy was handed to her on a platter and very elitist. That is not a good message to be sending to voters with an election only a year away. It may not be the way it really works, but for a majority of citizens, it is important that democracy looks, well, democratic.