EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. It was updated on Thursday to state an emergency meeting to address an official complaint against Jason Kenney had been cancelled.
An emergency meeting of the PCAA Board of Directors to address an official complaint against leadership candidate Jason Kenney has been cancelled by party president Katherine O’Neill.
The meeting, which was scheduled for Feb. 24, was called by Calgary VP Darcy Schumann, but was challenged by a point of order from the party’s VP of Communications Demetrios Nicolaides.
In his point of order, Nicolaides said section 8.1.1 of the PCAA Constitution gives the president the power and authority to set the agenda of the party, including all board meetings.
“Therefore, a member or members of the board cannot dictate the agenda of a meeting,” Nicolaides argues in his submission.
“They can suggest items for consideration and it is within the purview of the president to determine whether such items should be brought forward for consideration.”
When calling the meeting, Schumann argued he had the power to do so under a provision in the party’s constitution that allows an area VP to call a meeting when the president is unwilling to do so.
In his point of order, Nicolaides argued the threshold hadn’t been met.
“At the conclusion of the January board meeting, the president gave members notice that the next board meeting would be held on March 19, 2017. The president has thus indicated her intent to hold a meeting and thus there is no legitimate claim that the president is refusing or neglecting to call a meeting,” his submission reads.
O’Neill accepted the point of order. The next meeting will go ahead March 19 as originally scheduled.
“A point of order was raised and as the Chair, it is my responsibility to rule on the order,” said PCAA President Katherine O’Neill in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Our volunteer board’s job has been to run an open, fair and transparent race, and I’m confident that we are fulfilling that duty. But it is ultimately up to our membership to elect our next leader. We need their voice to be heard.”
This all stems from allegations that Kenney has breached the PCAA constitution and damaged the PC “brand.”
The complaint was filed by party member Jeffrey Rath, who claimed Kenney is actively undermining the party so it can be taken over. Kenney is running on a platform to merge the PC party with the Wildrose to run a single conservative banner in the next election. He believes Kenney should be disqualified from the race altogether. Rath was a volunteer with the Richard Starke campaign, which is running on a platform to rebuild the party, although he says he filed the complaint on his own.
The PC leadership election committee dismissed the call earlier this week.
READ MORE: Jason Kenney to stay in PC leadership race after complaint tossed
In a statement released before the meeting was cancelled, Kenney said he was disappointed to have to go through this process again.
“In considering this motion, the PC board will be considering whether or not to throw out the votes of the thousands of grassroots members and the 1,300 delegates who have been elected across the province, the vast majority of whom have pledged to support our unity campaign,” the statement reads.
“I do not expect all PC members to agree with our effort to re-unite Alberta conservatives, and put the grassroots in charge with a referendum on the party’s future. But I do expect all members to respect the basic principle of democracy: that the voters get to decide.”
Party members will elect a new leader at a delegated convention March 18 in Calgary.
Along with Kenney and Starke, Calgary businessman Byron Nelson is also seeking the top job.
With files from The Canadian Press
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