The Conservative Party’s decision to clamp down on one of its riding associations was in the “best interest of the party’s membership,” says Conservative MP Rob Anders.

Earlier this week, the party’s national council informed Anders’ riding association president that it had assumed control of the ridings’ upcoming AGM, revoked the board's access to the riding's membership list and froze its finances.

Anders, fully supportive of the decision, says malcontents, rogues and liberal sympathizers on the 30-person board are to blame for the situation. They were focused on “petty issues,” “messing around with money,” and made “disparaging remarks” about the leader, he says.

“You have a group of people who didn’t like the party process and made some disparaging comments about the leader and the council,” says Anders. “So I think they are generally malcontents. We’ve tried to work with them over the better part of a year and it seems that they are not kind of giving up on their being malcontent so we have to move on.”

There is a “preponderance of evidence” to support the national council’s decision, says Anders. “You have to remember that one of the members of the national council sits on the board and has attended all of the meetings,” he says. “So they’re fully apprised of what’s going on.”

The letter, signed by national council president John Walsh, says the board “should have ensured the continued organizational and financial support for our candidate Mr. Rob Anders.”

The board did little to raise funds and was critical of party policy, says Anders. His supporters want to see a board that is supportive of the Conservative Party, national council and the Member of Parliament,” he says. Not one that is “fighting national council and, you know, messing around with money and various things,” he adds.

According to the party’s electoral district association (EDA) constitution, riding associations are guided by the following objectives:

·       3.1.1 Supporting and promoting the principles, objectives and policies of the Party and maintaining an effective Association for that purpose.

·       3.1.2 Providing organizational and financial support to the Party’s candidate in (insert name of federal electoral district), in accordance with Article 14.3 of the Party Constitution.

·       3.1.3 Raising money and maintaining a fund to support the Association and assist candidates.

·       3.1.4 Actively identifying potential supporters and recruiting new members.

·       3.1.5 Encouraging the participation and recruitment of youth.

·       3.1.6 Complying with the obligations, and benefiting from the rights and privileges of being recognized by National Council.

The allegations in the letter are “completely untrue,” says Dan Morrison, board president for Calgary West. “As a board, we’ve done nothing but support the national council and our member and everything else,” he says. “(The letter) doesn’t specify any reason for them to do it. There’s not one reason for it.”

Meeting records show that the board has passed every motion and approved every cheque put forward or requested by the national council or Anders, says Morrison. “Our minutes are very clear in what we’ve done at all our meetings and they’ve been nothing but supportive and responsive to the desires of the membership,” he says.

“The question that needs to be asked will be, ‘Is this a party that is going to be inclusive and respective of the EDAs and member requests or will it be a top down party where the king rules?’” says Morrison. The situation “probably” started because the board had considered asking its members if they would like to see a nomination race happen, he adds.  

“The people on this board of directors, which was democratically elected, is possibly one of the most technically and professionally qualified boards in the whole country running an EDA,” says Donna Kennedy-Glans, a corporate lawyer who plans to challenge Anders if a nomination race occurs. “You have people who are governance experts, legal experts, financial experts, they understand their job and their accountabilities and I have never seen a whiff of anything that’s consistent with that allegation."