The Conservative Party Electoral District Association for Fort McMurray – Cold Lake says they aren’t pleased with the appointment of Laila Goodridge as a candidate in the next federal election.
In a letter made available to MyLakelandNow.com on Friday, the board says they do not support the idea of Goodridge being chosen or appreciate how it came to be.
“This appointment severely undermines the fundamental values of conservatives and everyone’s constitutional right to democracy. Our constituents were cheated of the opportunity to democratically select their candidate and were FORCED by the party on who will represent them. Many qualified candidates were not given the opportunity to apply nor were their conservative views vetted by the local Board”
The board claims that within hours of learning that current MP David Yurdiga would not be running again, they had received interest from multiple other potential candidates to run.
“We were appalled upon receiving notification of the appointment and notice citing Section 13 Abridgement of the Rules per the Rules and Procedures for Candidate Nominations, that is not subject to appeal and their decision was final, to challenge or review, on any grounds whatsoever. We were completely blindsided. There was no discussion or consultation from the Party with our Board on any level.”
The party had announced on Monday that Goodridge, the current provincial MLA for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, would be the federal candidate for the riding.
A full letter is now available on the EDA’s official Facebook page.
The federal election will take place on September 20th.