A brief history of controversial candidate nomination bids

OTTAWA – Ches Crosbie, the son of former Tory cabinet minister John Crosbie, isn’t the only would-be 2015 federal election candidate whose nomination has been surrounded in controversy. Some other recent examples:

Eve Adams

Adams crossed the floor to the Liberals in February, citing a falling out with the Conservatives. But the decision also came months after Adams, citing health reasons, dropped out of the nomination for the Toronto-area riding of Oakville North-Burlington after being accused of unfair tactics. Her opponent, accused of dirty campaign tricks, dropped out as well. The Tories had to redo the entire race, which ended with Effie Triantafilopoulos earning the nomination in early June. Adams, meanwhile, is slated to run for the Liberals in the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, held by Finance Minister Joe Oliver, but has yet to contest a nomination vote.

Christine Innes

Innes ended up launching a libel suit against Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the co-chairman of his Ontario campaign team after she was barred from seeking the nomination in the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina ahead of a 2014 byelection. She had run unsuccessfully twice before in the riding for the party, losing to Olivia Chow. The party not only blocked her bid for the nomination, but blocked her from running under the Liberal banner in the 2015 campaign.

Zach Paikin

The fallout from Innes ended Paikin’s candidacy for the newly created riding of Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas. Paikin announced on Facebook that he wouldn’t seek the nomination, claiming Trudeau had broken his promise of holding open nominations. Paikin had been involved with the party for years, and was considered a star candidate.

David Bertschi

The one-time Liberal leadership candidate was blocked from running for the nomination in the Ottawa riding of Orleans. He took three of Trudeau’s advisers to court, and police had to help keep the peace at the riding’s nomination meeting in December. With Bertschi unable to run, Trudeau’s military adviser Andrew Leslie was acclaimed in front of a divided crowd that saw some tear up their membership cards.

Rob Anders

The Conservative MP won’t be running for the party in the coming federal election because he lost not one, but two nomination contests in Alberta. After losing a nomination contest in Calgary Signal Hill, Anders was branded a drop-in candidate for the nomination contest in Bow River. He then dangled the idea of running for the leadership of the Wild Rose party, but was rebuffed in that effort as well.

Devinder Shory

Shory was acclaimed as the Conservative candidate in Calgary Skyview after the party disqualified the two challengers for the position. Both challengers told the Calgary Herald that they were given no explanation for the decision, and had their appeals denied.

Vancouver East

The race to replace Libby Davies as the MP for the B.C. riding has been controversial for both the NDP and Liberals. The NDP candidate, Jenny Kwan, is a former member of the provincial legislature who paid $35,000 after it was made public that a non-profit group paid for her family’s trips to Disneyland and Europe. The Liberals had to delay their nomination meeting on short notice amid questions over the accuracy of the local membership list. That came after the party denied two other candidates the right to run for the nomination, including marijuana activist Jodie Emery.

Paul Manly

The son of former NDP MP Jim Manly was blocked from seeking the party’s nomination in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, even though he said the local association had given him the OK. Manly claimed it was because his position on Israel conflicted with that of the party. Manly ended up as a candidate in the riding, carrying the Green party banner into the 2015 campaign.