Split could cost election

By Scott NeufeldThursday, January 18, 2007 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_888.php

If local Conservatives can’t resolve their differences they could be doomed to repeat history and suffer an election defeat, according to a member of their board of directors.Local conservatives haven’t been this divided since 1988, the last time a non-conservative was elected here, said Wayne McGrath, who served as a local riding president for about four years and spent a brief stint as Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes’ executive assistant.“It was a similar situation where divisions within the board resulted in the election of the NDP,” he said. “I like to use history as an example; that’s why I am concerned about this division.”

Since March, eight board directors have resigned while a ninth could be forced off the board at a special meeting on Monday. McGrath said that eight resignations is unprecedented in party history.“For many years I served on the board with Darrel (Stinson) as the MP,” he said. “There were differences of opinion but never the split there is now.”Conservative riding president Lori DeJong said she had no comment on the special meeting or on how board disunity may affect the party’s election future.Mayes did not return numerous phone calls.

Director Miles Lehn, who is the subject of the special meeting, said he expects to be fired. He said that anyone who speaks out against the actions of Mayes or his supporters is marked for dismissal.“I’m the next one in line; I’m the most vocal,” Lehn said. “I’m not going to compromise my sense of justice, my morality to support the Conservative candidate.”In November, the unofficial minutes of a Conservative board meeting recorded periods of “pandemonium and shouting.” However, those minutes were deemed inaccurate and were later changed.

Lehn said that some board members still think Mayes needs to apologize for allegedly misleading people about his involvement in a libel suit filed in response to a letter to the editor written by Mayes. He was cleared of any wrongdoing by his party and has since settled the suit out of court.The issue is one source of the division within the party, said Lehn.Another source of discontent is the resignation of membership chairwoman Ria Carpay in November. Carpay resigned after receiving what she called a “highly offensive” e-mail from another board director.

She said that the director accused her of bias against Mayes by submitting his new memberships by regular mail and the forms from Conservative candidate Dean Skoreyko by courier.“It was absolutely not true,” said the 14-year member of the party. “I never sent anything by courier.”What hurt, Carpay said, was that most of the members on the board stood by and didn’t speak up for her. When she asked where her accuser had received his information he did not respond. Carpay said that Mayes approached her in the parking lot after the meeting and admitted to ordering the board member to question her. She said she has never received an apology.“I think some of these people should learn their lesson,” Carpay said. “They shouldn’t be able to step on people in this way.”