Barred Candidate Says Saint Croix Controversy Will Impact PCs

A candidate barred from running for the Tory nomination in the upcoming Saint Croix byelection believes the controversy will have a “great impact” on the party.

Lorraine Gilmore Peters said she first met with staff from the provincial party Dec. 5 and received an information package.

After submitting her application, Peters took part in a panel interview — the final step of the process — on Dec. 19.

Peters said everything seemed to go fine until she received a call the next day from Rick Lafrance, the party’s executive director.

“[I was] simply told that I was not permitted to run and I did not have a right to know why,” said Peters.

“I was not told that I did not meet the vetting process or that I didn’t meet criteria, I was told that I was not being permitted to run. I think those are two different things.”

Peters claims the party “manipulated” the process to ensure Kathy Bockus, the only other person to publicly announce her nomination so far, will become the candidate.

“I would have to say that that was the strategy for them. They said, ‘Nope, we are going to make sure that Kathy Bockus is the nominee,'” said Peters.

Bockus served as the constituency assistant for former MLA Greg Thompson until his death in September. She then became a regional assistant for ministers Andrea Anderson-Mason and Carl Urquhart.

Peters said she thinks the controversy involving the nomination process will impact the Progressive Conservatives when the yet-to-be-called byelection happens.

“I don’t think that people in the riding of Saint Croix, or any riding for that matter, appreciate the manipulation of the democratic process,” she said.

“I think if they lose that seat because of that strategy to put Kathy Bockus in and not let other candidates run, I think the premier’s assessment of risk would have to seriously be questioned.”

Beyond the nomination process, Peters said what bothers her most is the fact the riding has been “abandoned” since Thompson’s passing.

“How many opportunities have been missed to potentially backfill great jobs that have been lost at the flakeboard? How many opportunities are going by that we’re not able to at least investigate or try and secure for the riding? It has literally been abandoned and the premier and his people do not seem to see any urgency around that whatsoever,” she said.

Premier Blaine Higgs has said he will wait until March to set the date for a byelection in Saint Croix.

Our newsroom has reached out to the party’s executive director for comment.