Conservative Party blocks controversial candidate Richard Décarie from running for leadership

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© @RichardDECARIE/twitter Richard Decarie, a social conservative whose views were widely condemned by some senior Conservatives, has been barred from running the party’s leadership race.

OTTAWA — The Conservative Party has released a “final list” of candidates approved to run in the leadership race, and Richard Décarie is not on it.

Décarie had prompted outrage last month after he went on national TV and said that in his view being gay is a choice, among other inflammatory remarks. His comments were strongly condemned by many Conservative MPs and leadership candidates including Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole, Marilyn Gladu and Rick Peterson.

The Conservative Party’s leadership nomination committee interviewed Décarie on Thursday, which indicates he had fulfilled everything else needed to enter the race, including a $25,000 fee and 1,000 signatures from party members. (To stay on until the final ballot, he would have needed to pay a further $275,000 and collect 2,000 more signatures by March 25.)

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Décarie’s campaign team told the Post on Friday that they had met the basic entry requirements and expected Décarie would be approved to run.

“No reasons were provided to me by the committee,” said a statement from Décarie on Saturday. “It seems, then, that my candidacy was viewed as a threat to the establishment of the CPC and to the kind of leader that THEY want to select. Thus far I was the only candidate who took a strong position in support of traditional marriage and who proposed to defund abortion federally since it is not health care.”

Party spokesperson Cory Hann would not confirm on Saturday why Décarie was not on the final list of applicants, saying that reasons for approving or disqualifying a candidate aren’t released. Hann did say that the final list has been signed off on by the full leadership election organizing committee (LEOC).

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A party official with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the rejection was not specific to Décarie’s TV interview, but related to his application as a whole. The application includes a lengthy questionnaire and various screening measures such as background checks and scanning social media feeds, previous activities and written work.

The official also pointed out that other socially-conservative candidates (Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan) are in the race, so the party is not looking to block people with those views.

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According to the leadership race rules, there is no further route of appeal for Décarie now that the entry deadline of Feb. 27 has passed.

“All decisions of the LEOC are final and are not subject to internal appeal or judicial review,” the rules say.

© Darren Calabrese A man is silhouetted walking past a Conservative Party logo before the opening of the Party’s national convention in Halifax on Thursday, August 23, 2018. The leadership questionnaire that had to be filled out by all candidates did include questions that could have formed the grounds to block Décarie , such as whether the candidate has ever “been accused of, or been engaged in, activities that promote discrimination or hatred against people on the basis of…sexual orientation.”

Décarie’s statement said his supporters, who he called “True Blue Conservatives” with “traditional values,” will still be a force in the party and this leadership race.

“They will continue to be with or without my candidacy in this particular leadership contest,” he said. “I will continue to work with all True Blue conservatives who want to support and take action in the conservative movement, and within the Conservative Party of Canada regardless of how uncomfortable this makes the unelected Red Tory elite.”

The list of eight candidates approved to run are:

Marilyn Gladu

Rudy Husny

Jim Karahalios

Leslyn Lewis

Peter MacKay

Erin O’Toole

Rick Peterson

Derek Sloan