The federal Conservative party is being criticized over its decision to appoint a candidate for an upcoming byelection, instead of holding a nomination contest.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre surprised many when he announced at a rally on Sunday that Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis will be the party’s candidate in Brantford-Brant South.
The seat is vacant now that Larry Brock has returned to his job as a Crown prosecutor, but a byelection hasn’t been called yet. On Friday, Brock said he resigned from the House of Commons, after five years as the MP for Brantford-Brant South.
Conservative MP Larry Brock set to resign Sept. 18
Conservative MP apologizes after comments spark uproar on bilingual rights
Brock endorsed Dave Carrol, a local pastor who had hoped to run in a nomination race that he learned on the weekend will not happen.
Carrol says he’s “deeply disappointed” by the decision and adds he also had the endorsement of former MP Phil McColeman.
In a Facebook post, Carrol said that on Sunday he learned that “one candidate has been appointed rather than selected through the nomination contest that so many of us had been preparing for. I wish Kevin Davis well, but I would be less than honest if I said I wasn’t deeply disappointed.”
Carrol said “The grassroots tradition of this party is what drew me to it nearly two decades ago, and I’ve spent those years helping build it here… knocking on doors, getting memberships, raising money, supporting our candidates and trusting local members to make good choices. I hoped that same grassroots tradition would guide the process when I finally put my own name forward”
In a statement, the Conservative party says it wanted to ensure a candidate was ready to hit the ground running and that Davis was “overwhelmingly endorsed” by people who attended Poilievre’s rally on Sunday.
The House of Commons is scheduled to return from its summer recess on Sept. 21.
