Conservative nomination candidates Leela Aheer and Wyatt Claypool (Calgary Signal Hill, AB) have been barred from running in the race to become the next candidate, the Western Standard has learned. While Aheer has not commented about being disqualified, a source confirmed to the Western Standard this is the case. The source did not provide the reason why Aheer had been disqualified. Aheer was elected as the Alberta Wildrose MLA for Chestermere-Rocky View in 2015. She became the Alberta United Conservative Party MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore in 2019. Upon the Alberta UCP forming government in 2019, she was appointed culture, multiculturalism, and status of women minister. However, she was kicked out of cabinet in 2021 for speaking out against former Alberta premier Jason Kenney. She ran in the 2022 UCP leadership race, finishing in seventh place. After she lost the leadership race, she opted not to seek re-election. Claypool works as the senior correspondent at Canadian conservative blog the National Telegraph. He holds a bachelor’s degree in policy studies from Mount Royal University and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Calgary. Claypool did confirm he had been disqualified. In 2004, he pointed out Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre ran at 24 years old to become an MP like he was trying to do. Claypool said he received an email on Wednesday morning about him being barred from being a Conservative nomination candidate. The National Candidate Selection Committee (NCSC) had declined his application. While he was disqualified, he said the NCSC did not provide him with a reason. However, he will be appealing the disqualification. If he had to speculate a reason, he said it would be certain Conservative insiders did not want him in the nomination race. Based on what he had been hearing in the background, he said he was unsurprised. He accused insiders of favouring Conservative nomination candidate Jeremy Nixon (Calgary Signal Hill). He said Nixon “won’t blow the whistle on anything.” While the appeal is in now, he said it can take a while to hear back. If the Conservatives do not get back to him in a few days, he said it has “effectively destroyed my ability to actually campaign.” This is because the voting date has to happen on or before June 24. While he does not believe Poilievre is behind his disqualification, he alleged insiders want pliable candidates. Since he has worked on obtaining the nomination for one-and-a-half years, he said his disqualification was shattering. He has made multiple donations to and volunteered on numerous Conservative campaigns. Claypool said allowing him back into the race is the right course of action. “It should be the membership deciding who ends up being their MP,” said Claypool in a Wednesday interview. “If you’re going to disqualify anyone, it should be for cheating, it should be for corruption reasons, it should be objective standards of what would make anybody think this person isn’t an OK individual to be a political representative.” Conservative Director of Political Operations Jeremy Liedtke said in an email to Claypool the NCSC had voted to decline his application to be a nomination candidate. “Per the Conservative Party of Canada Rules and Procedures for Candidate Nominations: ‘the NCSC shall decide whether to invite the Applicant to contest the Nomination or decline the Applicant’s application to contest the Nomination,’” said Liedtke. The Conservatives said these decisions are communicated to applicants by the executive director or a designate without reasons. Conservative MP Ron Liepert (Calgary Signal Hill) announced in 2023 he would not be seeking re-election to the House of Commons. READ MORE: Calgary Conservative MP says he is leaving politics“I want to thank my constituents for the trust they have placed in me as their Member of Parliament since 2015,” said Liepert. “It has been a sincere honour to serve.”.The NCSC voted to disqualify former Conservative nomination candidate Gerrit Van Dorland (Oxford, ON) from the race in 2023 over his pro-life views. READ MORE: Conservatives disqualify pro-life Ontario byelection nomination candidate“The party gave no reason for Gerrit's disqualification,” said RightNow co-founder Scott Hayward. “The real issue is that Gerrit is pro-life and more than likely to win the nomination.” Aheer and the Conservatives could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
