Federal Conservative Party Member Wins Pyrrhic Court Victory: Loses In Party Election

Published date30 March 2021
Subject MatterCorporate/Commercial Law, Government, Public Sector, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Contracts and Commercial Law, Constitutional & Administrative Law, Government Contracts, Procurement & PPP, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution
Law FirmGardiner Roberts LLP
AuthorMr Stephen Thiele

I preface this political law blog with the full disclosure that although I am involved in party politics, I am not a member of any federal political party in Canada.

The world of party politics is filled with intrigue, controversy and the airing of dirty laundry in public. In almost 40 years of involvement in party politics, I have borne witness to the good and the bad that political parties have to offer. Unfortunately, the bad sometimes involves party members engaging in battles among themselves rather than setting aside differences to work together as a team to defeat the real enemy in politics - the other side.

When internal battles cannot be resolved through reason, tolerance and diplomacy, they sometimes, like in the recent case of Melek v. Conservative Party of Canada, 2021 ONSC 1959, end up on the front pages of newspapers, the headlines of social media or in court. In this case, the internal dispute involved the issue of whether the applicant party member, who had immigrated to Canada as a teenager from Egypt in 1990, could run for a position on the party's National Council.

While the applicant won her court fight, her desire to be elected to the party's National Council ended in defeat.

The applicant had joined the federal Conservative Party in 2015. In 2019, she ran for the party in the federal election and received approximately 20,000 votes in a losing effort. In 2021, she sought to be elected to the party's National Council as a representative for Ontario. The vote was held at the party's recent National Convention that was held virtually.

Under the federal party's governing Constitution and its Rules and Procedures for the Election of National Council (the "Rules"), to run for Council a candidate had to be certified as such by the party's appointed returning officer. Section 5.3 of the Rules provided the returning officer "shall certify all eligible individuals who meet the criteria in section 4." There was no discretion given to the returning officer to reject a candidate who met the eligibility criteria.

The eligibility criteria under section 4 of the Rules required that the candidate (i) reside in Ontario; (ii) is a delegate to the National Convention; (iii) has paid a $500 deposit; and has submitted (iv) 50 supporting signatures from Ontario federal Conservative Party members in good standing; and (v) a signed affirmation that states "I have read, understand, and do hereby affirm my personal commitment to the principles and policies of...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT