A Progressive Conservative MLA is appealing a decision by a Conservative Party of Canada committee to disqualify him as a nomination candidate in the newly created Edmonton-West federal riding, according to reliable sources.
(see updates below)
It remains unclear why the committee chose to disqualify Edmonton-McClung MLA David Xiao, who announced his entry into the contest in March 2014.
If Mr. Xiao’s disqualification is upheld by the Conservative Party National Council, it is expected that Edmonton hotel manager Kelly McCauley will be acclaimed as the party’s candidate for the next federal election.
Mr. Xiao’s candidacy has been endorsed by provincial Health Minister and Edmonton-Whitemud by-election candidate Stephen Mandel, former premier Ed Stelmach and provincial cabinet ministers Jonathan Denis and Manmeet Bhullar.
Since his election in 2008, Mr. Xiao has served as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy, Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Employment and Immigration. ‘Edmonton-McClung MLA David Xiao’s claimed travel expenses of nearly $35,000 last year, more than any of his Edmonton colleagues,’ the CBC reported on Jan. 22, 2013.
The Conservative Party is expected to respond to Mr. Xiao’s appeal this week.
Contributing to more potential controversy, a lawyer representing Mr. Xiao recently informed Wildrose Official Opposition leader Danielle Smith and Innisfail-Sylvan Lake Wildrose MLA Kerry Towle that he planned to issue notices under Alberta’s Defamation Act.
Potentially connected to the legal threats, Mr. Xiao publicly denied statements made by the Wildrose opposition about his relationship with the McClung Family Association.
UPDATE (October 15, 2014): Mr. Xiao has released a statement confirming he is appealing his disqualification as a nomination candidate by the Conservative Party in Edmonton-West.
UPDATE (October 16, 2014): According to reliable sources, Mr. Xiao’s appeal has been rejected by the Conservative Party of Canada National Council. Mr. McCauley is expected to be acclaimed as the candidate in Edmonton-West.
7 replies on “Sources: MLA David Xiao disqualified from federal Conservative nomination”
What is the McClung Family Association? I could find no footprint for it on the web.
The federal Conservative party is notorious for disqualifying legitimate candidates just so they can get who they “want”. Nothing wrong with Xiao at all, they’re just mad at him for running against Laurie Hawn in 2006.
Hey Dave – Did you see this? Wildrose alleges that Stephen Mandel accepted tax dollars for Mayoral campaign and donated tax dollars to PC Party while he was mayor of Edmonton.
Gordon- so agree! Unfortunately we have seen this happening a lot lately. They break their own rules to qualify or disqualify because one of the rules is that they can waive all rules ( seriously!). This is politicos taking away the voice of the people- let the electorate decide! It is not happening. I am a great Harper fan, but the Conservative Party is not serving him well. Who would want to be the person who gets acclaimed because the CPC figures out how to disqualify the other guy. Shame on them
Hmm. Xiao ran against Hawn for a nomination??
That can’t be because the place where Elections Canada would have that disclosure only mentions Paul Yewchuk running against Hawn in May of 2005. http://www.elections.ca/WPAPPS/WPF/EN/NC/SelectContestants?act=C24&option=1&queryid=453acba79c2749c58aac2b9d4138e849
I’m sure it’s nothing. ..
Cause I can’t imagine a political party wanting a candidate who broke elections law. After all the CPC has a great relationship with Elections Canada.
Hey! You! A knowledgable observer! The nominations don’t actually have any relation to elections Canada-The nominees aren’t actually entered to be running in the next election. Xiao has actually ran in nomination races against Mr. Hawn before, and he has been DQ’d from those as well for ‘ethics’ issues (like shipping in people from out of riding to vote for him). Elections Canada wouldn’t have any info on the nominations because they don’t control them. It’s the party that would have the info for the nominations.
As far as I know, the Edmonton McClung Family Association is properly registered and operated organization to serve the local community. Its activities have been properly reported to the government under the Societies Act of Alberta. It’s hard to apprehend that the fact that the association does not have an official web site becomes an issue. If a person wants to know more about the association, that person can file a request under the Albertan FOIP regulations.
David Xiao has helped the association. No doubt about it. But this is his job as an MLA. He has helped many local organizations, and the names of all them are published in his newsletters to the McClung district.
Then why only the EMFA was mentioned? There is only explanation: EMFA is dominantly composed of Canadians who share Chinese heritage. This community has been immensely offended by the recent media reports rumors.