Ambler’s effort to overturn appointment quashed

The Toronto Star is reporting that a judge has dismissed an application by Simcoe-Grey nominee Stella Ambler to overturn the Ontario PC Party’s appointment of Brian Saunderson.
On June 3, in the midst of a campaign to determine which name would be on the ballot during the upcoming provincial election, the party halted the race and appointed Saunderson.
The riding, considered to be a Conservative stronghold, is up for grabs after long-time MPP Jim Wilson was ejected from the party and announced he would not seek re-election.
Ambler filed the application on August 5 posting on her website, “I am going to court because certain PC party officials are blocking the democratic vote the PC members here in Simcoe-Grey want and deserve, and because these officials have left me no other option. I’m not giving up because the cause of democracy is simply too important. The PC Party members here in Simcoe-Grey deserve the right to vote for the candidate of their choice, not for one to be appointed for them.”
In her court application, Ambler argues that the PC Party officials exceeded their authority in making the appointment and that they did not follow the rules of the PC Party constitution. The PC Party Constitution states, “every candidate nomination convention shall be open, public and democratic.”
The Star reports the judge said the party is within its right to appoint up to 10 candidates for the upcoming election, although this is the first time it has been done, and that Ambler did not exhaust options for resolution within the party.
Ambler, a former federal Conservative Member of Parliament, was one of four party-approved candidates running for the PC nomination in the riding of Simcoe-Grey.
“Four of us were approved by the party as candidates many months ago. Each of us campaigned for a long time to become the PC candidate in Simcoe-Grey. The party defied its own constitution when they cancelled the nomination process that had been underway for many months,” said Ambler in a news release.
“I wish it didn’t have to come to this but I’ve exhausted all of the usual channels. PC party officials are not listening to me or any of the local conservatives in Simcoe-Grey who are calling for a democratic vote. This application to the Ontario Superior Court remains the only way we have left to reverse this PC Party decision to suspend democracy in Simcoe-Grey.”
The Echo attempted to speak to Ambler but was unable to reach her for comment.