Ontario PC leader Doug Ford has decided to bypass the nomination process and hand pick candidates in 11 ridings, including London West.
The Ontario PC party, which made the announcement on Saturday, says Andrew Lawton will be the party's candidate in London West, one of 11 ridings where nomination meetings had not yet been scheduled. The others are Algoma-Manitoulin, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, Kitchener-Conestoga, Guelph, Ottawa Centre, Scarborough Centre, Scarborough Guildwood, Scarborough Southwest, Toronto Centre, and Toronto-St. Paul’s.
Lawton, the former London radio host, who joined the race less than two weeks ago after being laid off from his radio job, was selected over Thames Valley District School Board trustee Jake Skinner and Liz Snelgrove, executive director of Advance Medical Group.
In a statement issued Saturday, Lawton pointed to the apparent time crunch cited by the party in appointing him as its candidate in London West.
"While I was eager for a good old-fashioned contested nomination, I respect and understand the time crunch the party is in with the shortened calendar, as well as the prerogative of the leader and the Party Nominations Committee to make these tough calls,” Lawton said.
But Skinner, who had announced his intention to seek the nomination roughly two years ago, is not happy about how things went down.
"Frankly, I'm in a state of shock. I'm deeply disappointed for our members," he said in a statement issued Saturday. "What kept me going these many months was the support of our community and the promise that our members would have their say at the nomination," he says.
Skinner says the party never gave him any indication that there was a problem with his candidacy.
The trustee calls Ford's move a "brazen abuse of power."
Lawton will be up against NDP incumbent Peggy Sattler, Jonathan Hughes of the Liberal Party, and Pamela Reid of the Green Party.