Federal Conservative nominee hopeful loses court bid to delay selection in B.C. riding

A Vancouver Island man has lost his bid to postpone Saturday's Conservative Party of Canada nomination meeting for the riding of Courtenay-Alberni after his application for an urgent interim injunction was rejected in B.C. Supreme Court Friday afternoon. 

Mark Donnelly brought the injunction application as part of a civil suit against the federal Conservatives that claims he was unfairly denied entry into the race.

Donnelly has no relation to the opera and anthem singing Mark Donnelly, who sought the federal Conservative nomination for South Surrey-White Rock in 2019.

The application was dismissed by Justice K. Michael Stephens in Vancouver, only 18 hours before the start of speeches in the federal Conservatives' nomination contest for Courtenay-Alberni, scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Kwalikum Secondary School in Qualicum Beach.

In his reasons, Stephens said Donnelly's claim did not meet the legal bar for granting an interim injunction. He also cited Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) rules that state being chosen as a nominee contestant is a privilege, not a right. 

Donnelly's claim hinged on arguments that the CPC was in breach of contract because its National Candidate Selection Committee (NCSC) declined to grant him a waiver that was necessary to enter the Courtenay-Alberni riding's race. 

The waiver became a requirement for all would-be contestants after the Courtenay-Alberni boundaries were redrawn in a national redistricting that saw the number of ridings in the country increase from 338 to 342 for next year's federal election. 

Counsel for Donnelly, David Garner, told the court that the waiver was nothing more than a "box checking exercise." He said the NCSC's refusal to grant it to Donnelly was an "arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious decision" and a "breach of duty of good faith." 

Three other contestants in the riding were granted the waiver.

But counsel for the CPC, Michael Wilson, submitted that party rules clearly state that the NCSC has the power to select who does, and who doesn't, get into nominee races. 

"The NCSC was fully aware of Mark Donnelly," said Wilson. "And they decided not to grant him the waiver."

The court heard that Donnelly had previously applied to enter the federal Conservatives' candidate race in the riding of North Island-Powell River, but was unsuccessful because of an incomplete application package. 

In December of last year, Aaron Gunn, the filmmaker behind Vancouver is Dying and Canada is Dying, was acclaimed as CPC candidate in that riding. 

Wilson said one of the intentions of the waiver is to stop candidates from riding shopping.

According to the CPC, voting will open to 1,600 constituency members at 10 a.m. in Qualicum Beach Saturday morning.

Donnelly's civil claim could still proceed but would face what his lawyer described as an Everest-like uphill battle if it involves having to undo the selection of a candidate, which now seems almost certain to be the case.