Conservatives face criticism over candidate nomination process

Prospective candidates hoping to compete in a nomination contest to become a candidate for the federal Conservatives in two Calgary ridings are speaking out after they say the party decided to appoint their own candidates.

Ranbir Singh Parmar says he spent over a year selling memberships and door knocking for the Conservative Party. He says he submitted his nomination papers back in June 2024 to run as a candidate in the riding of Calgary-McKnight, only to find out later that he was denied.

He says he got an email on March 9 saying that his application was incomplete.

“No explanation was given,” he says, “Myself, my family and my supports were disappointed and shocked.”

Tanveer Taj was seeking the nomination for Calgary-Skyview, but says the party was silent about a nomination race, only notifying him just days before the election was called that a candidate had been chosen.

“It was a shocker when we learned about three days prior to the announcement that somebody else is coming and he has not even been in the nomination race,” says Taj.

CityNews reached out to the Conservative party but did not hear back in time for broadcast.

Some political observers say the alleged move by the Conservatives can backfire on them, especially if other parties have candidates that are well connected within the community.

“This has raised the kind of questions we are hearing across the country of a little bit too much top down decision making within the Conservative Party,” says Mount Royal University associate professor Lori Williams. “In a close race, which these two ridings are likely to be, it could really hurt the Conservative Party.”

For Parmar and Taj, they say that effect is already happening.

“They don’t like this process, they are asking for the process to be fair,” says Singh Parmer.

Taj says it is a disappointment that hopeful nominees are going to carry with them.

“They worked really hard, but at the end of the day they have to switch their loyalty,” he says.

Nominations for the upcoming election closed today. Canadians head to the polls on Apr. 28.