Jakes Ootes is upset because he was told not to stand as a nominee for the Liberal Party candidacy in Okanagan-Shuswap because he is a man:
Gender may play a role in who represents the Liberals in the next federal election.
Jake Ootes, a Celista resident, claims he was told by a senior Liberal organizer not to seek the Okanagan-Shuswap candidacy because he is a man.
“The implication was that I couldn’t run because they want a woman candidate,” said Ootes, who had pursued the nomination in 2007.
OK, that's unfortunate, but how is it that this riding still doesn't have a candidate:
No date has been set for a nomination meeting in Okanagan-Shuswap.
The party began looking for a candidate after Buffy Baumbrough resigned from the position earlier this year. Baumbrough was elected as a candidate in 2007, but she has decided instead to seek re-election as a City of Vernon councillor this fall.
Whoah! When did that happen?
I just finished writing about how Parissa Aujla has quit and left the Liberals scrambling to nominate a new candidate in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission.
Buffy Baumbrough resigned on June 17:
Baumbrough says resigning the Liberal candidacy was a difficult decision to make. “I still strongly support Stephane Dion and Liberal values and that hasn’t changed,” she said. “This was a personal thing and nothing to do with the Liberals.” The decision was made now because there will be a civic election in November, and a federal election could be called at any time. “It was important to make a clear decision now on whether I stay in local politics or go federal,” said Baumbrough, who is leaning towards seeking another council term. Baumbrough began to question her role in federal politics after attending a sustainable communities conference in Victoria. “If change is going to happen, it will be at the local level, and because sustainability is near and dear to me, if I stay local, I can be involved in effecting change,” she said.
So she's saying that a federal Liberal wouldn't be effective in creating sustainable communities?
But what about Stephane Dion's carbon tax? Won't that help create a sustainable Canada, affecting change for all Canadians in all communities?
Funny how she isn't quoted on that.
Technicality: OK, Buffy Baumbrough quit at the end of June, and Stephane Dion didn't come out with his "appetite for an election" soundbite until the last week of July. But it is true that even as Stephane Dion was saying this, he must of know that the riding of Okanagan-Shuswap had lost its female Liberal candidate, and that the process of replacing her hadn't even gotten off the ground yet.
Of course, since making that announcement, Stephane Dion has lost three more candidates.
