Good Day Readers:
You might remember this little Eve Adams number from some negative publicity she garnered not long ago. It seems during the last election she tried to claim something like $700 for personal care products but when Elections Canada challenged these expenditures she got into a snit arguing some of it was for her staff and volunteers - but of course everyone had to look body beautiful.
EC wasn't buying it so whacked her back to about $200. Actually, if candidates are voted into office based on looks
CyberSmokeBlog gives its vote to the chiropractor who's prettier and probably a lot smarter too.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
A controversy in the Conservative Party of Canada
Tuesday, March 25, 2015
First it was the Liberal Party of Canada that
had its
problems with so-called "open nominations"
for candidates seeking to run in the pending Trinity-Spadina
byelection.
Now the Conservative Party of Canada is having its problems around the same
kinds of issues, with an added layer of complication because of a personal
relationship between the party's Executive Director and one of its MPs.
The riding in question is a new one with no current sitting member: Oakville
North-Burlington. And the problems began when a sitting MP from another
riding - Mississauga-Brampton South - decided she didn't want to run for
re-election in that riding, but rather, wanted to switch to the Oakville-North
Burlington one, despite winning in 2011 by a healthy margin.
Eve Adams was a Mississauga city councillor until the 2011 federal election,
when she ran for the Conservatives and upset a rising star in the Liberal Party,
Navdeep Bains. But since then, Adams and Conservative Party Executive Director
Dimitri Soudas have become romantically linked. They're now engaged to be
married. The couple now lives in Oakville North-Burlington and so, Adams
wants to run in the riding in which she now lives.
Conservative MP Eve Adams and Conservative Party Executive Director Dimitri Soudas.
That has upset the plans of another candidate who had already set her sights
on the riding: Dr. Natalia Lishchyna, an Oakville chiropractor and college
professor. Lishchyna can't understand why Adams wouldn't simply stay in the
riding she's already represented since 2011. Based on the 2011 election returns,
Oakville North - Burlington is a more Conservative riding and thus presumably
easier to win.
Lishchyna
figures it would be better for the party as a whole if Adams stayed in
Mississauga-Brampton South, used her superior name recognition and experience
to hold that seat, and left the "easier" seat for her.
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Dr. Natalia Lishchyna
|
For her part, Adams is somewhat perplexed that she shouldn't continue to do
what she's been doing for years as both a city councillor and an MP: seek a
mandate from the voters to represent the community in which she actually
lives.
But this story has got more intense because of some nasty behind the scenes
machinations. On March 19, Adams showed up to meet with the Oakville North-Burlington riding association. She is an MP, but technically, not the MP of that
riding. So the question of whether she actually had any standing to attend that
behind-closed-doors meeting was raised. According to a few people I spoke to who
were at the meeting, when one member of the riding association's board asked her
to leave, she allegedly declined, prompting that Board Member to call the
police.
Complicating matters is the fact that Dimitri Soudas, as Executive Director
of the party, has the final say on when nominating meetings can happen. But
given the obvious conflict, he has recused himself from influencing the Oakville
North-Burlington race. Except he was there, with Adams, the night of the
brouhaha, albeit not in the actual meeting, but rather, waiting in the
hallway.
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The boundaries of the new riding at the centre of the controversy. |
The Soudas-Adams relationship complicates this
nomination fight, but it's not unprecedented in Conservative Party circles. The
late Senator Doug Finlay ran the party machinery when his wife, cabinet minister
Diane Finlay, was running for office.
But some Soudas critics in the party charge he's abusing his position to
favour Adams. They find it hard to believe Soudas won't use his authority behind
the scenes to influence when the Oakville North-Burlington nominating meeting
will be called, presumably to Adams' advantage. They also claim Soudas fired an
Ontario Regional Organizer named Wally Butts because Butts was making a stink
about Adams' contesting Oakville North-Burlington.
Here's an email Butts sent to the Conservative Party's Director of Political Operations on March 20:
Fred (DeLorey) -
Got a report this morning that Eve Adams
showed up (late) at a Board meeting
in ONB [Oakville North-Burlington] last night, while the Board
was discussing sensitive issues.
It was reported to me that she was driven to the venue by Dimitri
Soudas.
She was respectfully asked to leave several times and she refused, as
the
Board's business was not complete.
As the standoff ensued, several of the Board members left the
meeting,
leaving the remainder, which no longer constituted a quorum, so the
Board
could no longer continue with the business at hand.
Apparently she was also very rude to the Board and President, commenting
that
she contributes more to the Party than does the President, and she
has
access to CIMS for data information. [CIMS is a Conservative Party
database.]
This kind of conduct is totally unjustified, in my opinion, and serves
only
to sully the Party.
As no nomination has been called yet in ONB, she is not an official
candidate, and deserves no special privileges at this point. She should
not
have access to CIMS either, as those lists are made available only when
an
individual is declared by the National committee to be a candidate.
Also, making personal attacks on Board members is definately not
warranted.
When this situation originally arose, it was made clear to me that
Dimitri
would not be involved, and Eve was to be treated just like any
other
candidate seeking nomination as a candidate.
I am in a totally untenable position in this matter as Dimitri is
my
ultimate boss.
Can you please take action in this matter to straighten out this
worsening
mess?
Wally Butts,
Regional Organizer,
Hamilton, Niagara
Regions,
Conservative Party of Canada
Butts was fired by Soudas shortly after firing off that email. A Conservative
Party source insists Butts wasn't fired because of this controversy, that the
two have a good relationship going back more than a decade. It was simply time
to make some hard decisions to the party's personnel.
There are, however, more emails. Here is an excerpt of a confidential email
widely distributed by a Conservative Party CFO to a list of party insiders on
March 24:
The way our party’s leadership treats its
paid staff is a clear indication of what’s to come for volunteers. This is not
just about Wally, it’s the principle. When HQ plays games in our local
nominations process it significantly impacts our ability to win ridings in the
next election. The political process depends on the accountability, honesty and
integrity of our nominations process – a process that is being compromised in
Oakville-North Burlington by Wally’s dismissal.
And then there's this from another Conservative riding association president,
also sent on March 24:
When I received an email blast announcing Mr Butts' dismissal, I was shocked
that the party would handle a termination in such a non professional manner, as
well as it's exposing the party to bad press and, if it were me, an unlawful
dismissal suit against the party. I am sending this email to the Prime
Minister's office, with copies to the party executive. My purpose in doing so is
to get this situation resolved to everyone's satisfaction before it blows up in
our face. I do not agree with Mr Butt's (sic) dismissal and unequivocally state
that his leadership and support for our EDA [Electoral District Association] has
been outstanding, and not deserving the treatment he has
received.
And from yet another Conservative riding association president: "What caused
this is known and a sham and an embarrassment to all surrounding ridings. I hope
the Prime Minister dismisses those involved."
Nominating races are always one of the hardest parts of politics. It's a
fight within the family and these battles often leave hard feelings. It's
possible as many as 10 sitting Conservative MPs could face nomination
challenges, despite the party's wish that that not happen. In fact, Prime
Minister Harper yesterday came out and
endorsed
all sitting MPs in a bid to lower the temperature.
It's a reminder that the worst fights in politics are rarely across the floor
with members of other parties. They're inside the party's own tent, which makes
them particularly hurtful.
Image credits: eveadams.ca; @D_Soudas/Twitter; undated handout photo;
Elections Canada.