Ontario MP Derek Sloan has been booted out of the Conservative caucus..Sloan was punted in a secret ballot of his colleagues on Wednesday after leader Erin O’Toole slammed him for accepting a leadership donation from a “well-known” neo-Nazi, Paul Fromm..Sloan will now sit as an independent..The political drama started Saturday when party leader Erin O’Toole issued a statement emphasizing he is pro-choice and that there was no place for the “far-right” in his party..The very next day, O’Toole said he would attempt to remove Sloan because he accepted $131 donation from Fromm..Sloan countered he had no idea who Fromm was and pointed out the Tory party took a 10 per cent cut of the money because they processed it..Wednesday saw a majority of Tory MPs vote in favour of booting Sloan..“No matter how ugly – how undemocratic – the events of the last two days have been, always remember, the Party is not the personal property of Erin O’Toole; the CPC belongs to you – the grassroots of the Party,” Sloan said in an email to his supporters..Sloan vowed to “still vote, debate, and represent true conservative values.”.He urged his supporters not to cancel their membership or drop out of the March Tory convention..In statement after the vote, O’Toole said: “The Conservative caucus voted to remove Derek Sloan not because of one specific event, but because of a pattern of destructive behaviour involving multiple incidents and disrespect towards the Conservative team for over a year..“These actions have been a consistent distraction from our efforts to grow the party and focus on the work we need to do. Events of the past week were simply the last straw and led to our caucus making the decision it did today..“I did not vote to remove Derek Sloan from our caucus because he is a social conservative. We have members of Parliament of deep compassion and unmatched character, who like many Canadians, draw strength from their faith..“The Conservative party is a big tent that is reflective of all Canadians.”.The move saw a split in caucus with many members angry at O’Toole’s manoeuvre. One source said there were dozens of MPs set to vote against the ouster..Western Standard sources said the real reason for Sloan’s removal was because he was working with people from the Campaign Life Coalition to try and stack socially conservative delegates on slates for the party’s March virtual convention..The sources said the party was worried the convention would be hijacked by the socially conservative group who could then control party policy and the National Council..The president of Campaign Life Coalition said O’Toole kicking pro-life Sloan out of the Conservative Caucus shows he can’t be trusted by socially conservative voters and should resign..Jeff Gunnarson made the comment in a Tuesday interview with The Western Standard..“When I heard what O’Toole had done, I just rolled my eyes and said ‘here we go,’” said Gunnarson..“But when the aftershocks have gone, you can see this has been in the works for months, years. It’s any excuse to get rid of him [Sloan].”.Gunnarson admitted his group was, in fact, trying to hijack the convention at some level..“We don’t want to take over the party, we just want to be a part of it,” Gunnarson told the Western Standard, adding recruitment has been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .“But I don’t want people to have the impression we have hundreds of people doing this – it’s one phone call at a time. Our mission is not to take over the Conservative party.”.“We are seeing some people decide not to be delegates because of what O’Toole has done so far to drive socially conservatives out of the party.”.And he warned the March virtual convention could “be manipulated” by Tory power brokers..Asked whether he considered the O’Toole move a “purge” against prolifers, Gunnarson responded: “It appears that is the case. I hope I’m wrong, we have some strong pro-life MPs as it is now.”.O’Toole asked his MPs to expel Sloan out of the Tory caucus after he accepted a $131 leadership donation from what he says is a “well-known” Canadian neo-Nazi..Paul Fromm made the donation to Sloan’s leadership campaign in August under the name ‘Frederick P Fromm’. The donation constituted approximately 0.01 per cent of the total raised by Sloan during the campaign..Sloan, the MP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, came in fourth place in the Tory leadership campaign..He was eliminated after the first round of voting in the four-person race getting 27,278 votes, almost 16 per cent of the total..There have been calls in the past to remove him from caucus over his comments on gay rights..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
Ontario MP Derek Sloan has been booted out of the Conservative caucus..Sloan was punted in a secret ballot of his colleagues on Wednesday after leader Erin O’Toole slammed him for accepting a leadership donation from a “well-known” neo-Nazi, Paul Fromm..Sloan will now sit as an independent..The political drama started Saturday when party leader Erin O’Toole issued a statement emphasizing he is pro-choice and that there was no place for the “far-right” in his party..The very next day, O’Toole said he would attempt to remove Sloan because he accepted $131 donation from Fromm..Sloan countered he had no idea who Fromm was and pointed out the Tory party took a 10 per cent cut of the money because they processed it..Wednesday saw a majority of Tory MPs vote in favour of booting Sloan..“No matter how ugly – how undemocratic – the events of the last two days have been, always remember, the Party is not the personal property of Erin O’Toole; the CPC belongs to you – the grassroots of the Party,” Sloan said in an email to his supporters..Sloan vowed to “still vote, debate, and represent true conservative values.”.He urged his supporters not to cancel their membership or drop out of the March Tory convention..In statement after the vote, O’Toole said: “The Conservative caucus voted to remove Derek Sloan not because of one specific event, but because of a pattern of destructive behaviour involving multiple incidents and disrespect towards the Conservative team for over a year..“These actions have been a consistent distraction from our efforts to grow the party and focus on the work we need to do. Events of the past week were simply the last straw and led to our caucus making the decision it did today..“I did not vote to remove Derek Sloan from our caucus because he is a social conservative. We have members of Parliament of deep compassion and unmatched character, who like many Canadians, draw strength from their faith..“The Conservative party is a big tent that is reflective of all Canadians.”.The move saw a split in caucus with many members angry at O’Toole’s manoeuvre. One source said there were dozens of MPs set to vote against the ouster..Western Standard sources said the real reason for Sloan’s removal was because he was working with people from the Campaign Life Coalition to try and stack socially conservative delegates on slates for the party’s March virtual convention..The sources said the party was worried the convention would be hijacked by the socially conservative group who could then control party policy and the National Council..The president of Campaign Life Coalition said O’Toole kicking pro-life Sloan out of the Conservative Caucus shows he can’t be trusted by socially conservative voters and should resign..Jeff Gunnarson made the comment in a Tuesday interview with The Western Standard..“When I heard what O’Toole had done, I just rolled my eyes and said ‘here we go,’” said Gunnarson..“But when the aftershocks have gone, you can see this has been in the works for months, years. It’s any excuse to get rid of him [Sloan].”.Gunnarson admitted his group was, in fact, trying to hijack the convention at some level..“We don’t want to take over the party, we just want to be a part of it,” Gunnarson told the Western Standard, adding recruitment has been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .“But I don’t want people to have the impression we have hundreds of people doing this – it’s one phone call at a time. Our mission is not to take over the Conservative party.”.“We are seeing some people decide not to be delegates because of what O’Toole has done so far to drive socially conservatives out of the party.”.And he warned the March virtual convention could “be manipulated” by Tory power brokers..Asked whether he considered the O’Toole move a “purge” against prolifers, Gunnarson responded: “It appears that is the case. I hope I’m wrong, we have some strong pro-life MPs as it is now.”.O’Toole asked his MPs to expel Sloan out of the Tory caucus after he accepted a $131 leadership donation from what he says is a “well-known” Canadian neo-Nazi..Paul Fromm made the donation to Sloan’s leadership campaign in August under the name ‘Frederick P Fromm’. The donation constituted approximately 0.01 per cent of the total raised by Sloan during the campaign..Sloan, the MP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, came in fourth place in the Tory leadership campaign..He was eliminated after the first round of voting in the four-person race getting 27,278 votes, almost 16 per cent of the total..There have been calls in the past to remove him from caucus over his comments on gay rights..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694