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Premier-designate Doug Ford has intervened in a local federal Conservative nomination race to support Colin Brown in his bid to succeed his late uncle as member of Parliament.
Only hours after Brown announced on Monday that he would seek the Conservative nomination for the byelection, voters in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes started receiving robocalls from Ford, who urged them to support Colin Brown.
In the recorded calls, Ford calls Brown a hard worker whom he knows personally.
Brown, who wants to fill the shoes of his late uncle Gord Brown, got to know Ford as a campaign worker during the recent provincial election.
Brown worked on the Ford tour, riding in advance of the leader’s bus. He said he got to talk with Ford daily and that the two are friends.
“I was honoured that he was willing to do that for me,” said Brown, in reference to Ford’s willingness to do the robocalls. Brown said that Ford emphasized a team approach on the campaign trail and the workers became quite close.
“When I told the team that I was thinking about running for the nomination for my uncle’s seat, I had nothing but great support from them and they encouraged me to do it,” Brown said.
Brown said when Ford heard of his plans, he offered “to help out in any way he could.” They settled on the robocalls.
The decision by Brown, 25, to seek the Conservative nomination for the byelection came as a surprise to some of the local party brass, who were touting retired senator Bob Runciman as a “unity candidate” to carry the Conservative banner in the byelection. The 75-year-old Runciman would serve out the remainder of Gord Brown’s term and then step aside, allowing the party the time to select a candidate for the October 2019 general election in the traditionally safe Tory seat.
The plan would have required all would-be candidates to stand down and let Runciman take the byelection nomination unopposed – meaning that Brown’s announcement has thrown a wrench into those plans.
Runciman called Ford’s calls perplexing and curious, saying that it is unusual for a provincial party leader to campaign in favour of a candidate in a federal race.
Runciman said at least one supporter found it odd that a provincial party leader would intervene to thwart a former party leader. (Runciman, who spent 29 years at Queen’s Park as Leeds-Grenville MPP, served a stint as interim party leader.)
Runciman said he doesn’t know Ford well, although he was good friends with Doug’s father, a former MPP, and their two families vacationed at Ford’s condo in Florida.
Runciman said he likes to think that Ford didn’t know that he was interested in running before he endorsed Brown.
“But if he did, then ‘perplexed’ would be the word I’d use,” Runciman said.
Runciman supported Caroline Mulroney during the Tory leadership campaign, but he didn’t think it had an influence on Ford’s decision to back Brown.
Runciman said he will decide in the next few days whether to run or not. He said he has been swamped by calls from party members urging him to run.
Several others have indicated that they are interested in running if he doesn’t, Runciman said. He said he will make his decision soon so as not to keep the other candidates on the hook.
The Conservatives have yet to set a date for the byelection nomination. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has until Oct. 31 to set a date for the byelection.
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Only hours after Brown announced on Monday that he would seek the Conservative nomination for the byelection, voters in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes started receiving robocalls from Ford, who urged them to support Colin Brown.
In the recorded calls, Ford calls Brown a hard worker whom he knows personally.
Brown, who wants to fill the shoes of his late uncle Gord Brown, got to know Ford as a campaign worker during the recent provincial election.
Brown worked on the Ford tour, riding in advance of the leader’s bus. He said he got to talk with Ford daily and that the two are friends.
“I was honoured that he was willing to do that for me,” said Brown, in reference to Ford’s willingness to do the robocalls. Brown said that Ford emphasized a team approach on the campaign trail and the workers became quite close.
“When I told the team that I was thinking about running for the nomination for my uncle’s seat, I had nothing but great support from them and they encouraged me to do it,” Brown said.
Brown said when Ford heard of his plans, he offered “to help out in any way he could.” They settled on the robocalls.
The decision by Brown, 25, to seek the Conservative nomination for the byelection came as a surprise to some of the local party brass, who were touting retired senator Bob Runciman as a “unity candidate” to carry the Conservative banner in the byelection. The 75-year-old Runciman would serve out the remainder of Gord Brown’s term and then step aside, allowing the party the time to select a candidate for the October 2019 general election in the traditionally safe Tory seat.
The plan would have required all would-be candidates to stand down and let Runciman take the byelection nomination unopposed – meaning that Brown’s announcement has thrown a wrench into those plans.
Runciman called Ford’s calls perplexing and curious, saying that it is unusual for a provincial party leader to campaign in favour of a candidate in a federal race.
Runciman said at least one supporter found it odd that a provincial party leader would intervene to thwart a former party leader. (Runciman, who spent 29 years at Queen’s Park as Leeds-Grenville MPP, served a stint as interim party leader.)
Runciman said he doesn’t know Ford well, although he was good friends with Doug’s father, a former MPP, and their two families vacationed at Ford’s condo in Florida.
Runciman said he likes to think that Ford didn’t know that he was interested in running before he endorsed Brown.
“But if he did, then ‘perplexed’ would be the word I’d use,” Runciman said.
Runciman supported Caroline Mulroney during the Tory leadership campaign, but he didn’t think it had an influence on Ford’s decision to back Brown.
Runciman said he will decide in the next few days whether to run or not. He said he has been swamped by calls from party members urging him to run.
Several others have indicated that they are interested in running if he doesn’t, Runciman said. He said he will make his decision soon so as not to keep the other candidates on the hook.
The Conservatives have yet to set a date for the byelection nomination. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has until Oct. 31 to set a date for the byelection.
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