A member of the NWT Conservatives has resigned from the party's executive committee, citing concerns about alleged violations of the party's code of conduct, as well as intimidating language used in email correspondence.
The individual, who asked to remain anonymous, announced their resignation in a letter to the party's other executive committee and board members on July 28. The correspondence, which was obtained by SA国际影视传媒, concluded with a call for the "voluntary resignation of all remaining members of the executive committee and re-election of the executive committee."
The resigning member later issued a cease and desist notice to the party's "volunteers, campaign staff and EDA (electoral district association) staff." The cease and desist notice, also obtained by SA国际影视传媒, alleged that other party members contacted the resigning member's employer with "false allegations" of misconduct. The document referred to the party members' behaviour as an "unacceptable and unprofessional attempt to bully" the resigning member.
The committee member's resignation and subsequent cease and desist notice represent the latest bumps in a turbulent few months for the NWT Conservatives.
In July, Kimberly Fairman was selected as the party's new candidate. However, her nomination was promptly challenged by her opponent, Jackie Jacobson.
Jacobson, who received 67 votes to Fairman's 73, announced his appeal of the nomination in a 16-page letter to the executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
"The reason for this appeal is that throughout the nomination selection process, I experienced unfair and biased treatment from local representatives, national representatives, and CPC staff," Jacobson's letter read. "It is my belief that this treatment clearly broke party rules and calls into question the fairness of the entire process."
Jacobson ultimately chose to withdraw his appeal rather than push ahead..
When contacted for comment about the apparent issues behind the scenes of the NWT Conservative party, president Matt Lakusta asserted that he "would not characterize any disagreements within the board as being infighting."
"Due to the runoff and the accelerated growth of the board there have been various concerns and conversations at the board level on various facets," he said. "A healthy board allows for questions, concerns and disagreements SA国际影视传媒� even encouraging directors and members to bring those to the floor. Disagreements and concerns which have been brought throughout the election process, and post-election, have been provided a platform to be heard and responded to officially SA国际影视传媒� as well, directors have been provided the opportunity for those concerns to be escalated above the board level if they believe that to be appropriate."
Lakusta also noted that all members of the NWT Conservatives board are volunteers who "come to the board from different angles but in the end they are here to work within our democratic system and to demonstrate to Northerners that the Conservative Party of Canada is not just a viable option, but one that will work for them and with them."
Lakusta concluded by throwing his support behind Fairman.
"The membership has voted," he said. "[The] national [party] has validated the election. The board is focused on supporting our candidate, Kimberly Fairman, in every capacity we can. We are all excited to move into the future of working with this campaign to give Northerners the opportunity to engage with Kimberly and to understand what she, and the party, can do for them."
