Conservative Party members in the federal riding of West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country delivered a decisive answer over the weekend when they voted to replace retiring MP John Reynolds with his former campaign team legal advisor, John Weston, as their candidate in the next federal election.
The party held four nomination meetings Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 13, 14, 15) in Powell River, Sechelt, Squamish and West Vancouver and after listening to brief speeches by hopefuls Weston, Doug Lang, Ted Milner and Jean Lewis, Conservative Party members gave overwhelming support to Weston who received enough votes on the first ballot to win the preferential ballot.
"The campaign was conducted in the most gracious way," Weston said following his nomination. He complimented the other nominees in the race, calling them great candidates.
Constituency Association president Alan Hackett said that gatherings in all four locations were well attended, with the final West Vancouver meeting tallying 400 members.
"It was a very enthusiastic meeting," said Hackett.
Not surprisingly, candidates' speeches touched on Conservative themes of justice system reforms, traditional family and marriage values and fiscal responsibility. The thrust of Weston's speech was that since this is the "Olympic riding", focus should be on good international relations, something all candidates agreed is on the decline in Canada.
Weston said he is the best candidate for the job because he speaks three languages (English, French and Mandarin) and has over ten years experience in Asia as a diplomat and lawyer.
Milner, the only candidate not from West Vancouver, surprised Sea to Sky residents with his last-minute announcement seeking the nomination. The former Whistler councillor said his campaign was at a disadvantage because he is not a West Vancouver resident, but he wanted a better local man on the ground to "get the masses out".
"We [the Conservatives] will be fine in the riding as long as we get some shoe leather in the Sea to Sky," said Milner. "And we're prepared to do that."
When it came to speaking about the Liberals, the candidates took on individual approaches. Lewis fell short of speaking directly on the Liberal government's sponsorship scandal, but placed strong emphasis on restoring accountability to government. Weston reminded party members that the Liberals are "throwing great resources behind" local Liberal candidate Blair Wilson, and that the Conservatives won the last election by too narrow a margin.
While Weston promoted a "positive, upbeat approach", Lang took a hard stance against Wilson, attacking him on what Lang felt was a premature acceptance speech during the last federal election. Lang said Wilson was perhaps the only politician in the country who responded to Reynolds's retirement not with congratulations, but by repeating earlier assertions that Reynolds had billed taxpayers for his campaign trips.
Now that the nominee has been chosen, Hackett said the focus is on the upcoming election.
"We have an election committee that is looking at all phases of an election," said Hackett. "Everything you would do to prepare is being considered."
"I'm very ready," Weston said of a potential election in the near future.
"Now we must work together to clean up the corruption in Ottawa, and defeat the Liberals who are ruining our nation's finances," Weston said in a news release issued Monday (May 16). "As an MP and strong Stephen Harper supporter, I will work hard for British Columbia and stand up for Canada."
Lang, the second place finisher in the nomination bid, said he will continue to be part of the process when an election is called.
