{"id":140490,"date":"2017-12-19T05:41:38","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T10:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=140490"},"modified":"2017-12-19T05:41:38","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T10:41:38","slug":"leitch-trost-among-tory-mps-facing-challenge-for-right-to-run-in-2019-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/12\/19\/leitch-trost-among-tory-mps-facing-challenge-for-right-to-run-in-2019-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Leitch, Trost among Tory MPs facing challenge for right to run in 2019 election"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kellie<\/a>
Kellie Leitch finished sixth in the leadership race, running on a platform that included, among other things, a controversial call for a values test for new Canadians. (Photo<\/a>: Kellie Leitch\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA\u2014Three Conservative MPs who sought the party’s leadership earlier this year are bracing for a fight to represent the party at all come the 2019 election.<\/p>\n

Kellie Leitch, Brad Trost and Deepak Obhrai are among several sitting MPs facing nomination challenges for the next federal vote.<\/p>\n

Trost and Leitch say they don’t see the challenges as connected to their failed leadership bids and they are both running again as well for the party’s nod.<\/p>\n

The deadline for filing to challenge incumbent MPs for Conservative nominations was Friday.<\/p>\n

The next step is for the riding associations to approve the candidates and after that, for elections to be held at some point next year.<\/p>\n

In addition to the three leadership contenders, at least three other current MPs face challengers.<\/p>\n

Leitch finished sixth in the leadership race, running on a platform that included, among other things, a controversial call for a values test for new Canadians.<\/p>\n

She’s kept a relatively low profile in the House of Commons since, but said she continues to enjoy the support of people in her riding.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur party has an open nomination process and I agree with it,\u201d she said in a brief interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s part of a healthy process and evidence of a strong party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillian Yeates, a Harvard-educated physician seeking to challenge Leitch, declined to comment until after her candidacy is formally approved.<\/p>\n

But in an interview with a local news outlet last month, she said the riding needed a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel strongly there needs to be changes and changes on how we are addressing our public and presenting ourselves as a country,\u201d she told Simcoe.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there is something that says this is a need and this needs to change and that’s why I am doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trost says he has met with Brad Redekopp, the local businessman challenging him, and is ready for a fight if the application is accepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will know for sure in the first week of January if he got everything together and his Is dotted and his Ts crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m preparing as if he has, but he may not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redekopp declined to comment, saying his campaign will issue a statement in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Obhrai was the first to drop off the ballot in last May’s vote.<\/p>\n

He’s currently the longest-serving Conservative MP and had said at the party’s summer caucus meeting he intended to run again.<\/p>\n

In a post to his social media pages over the weekend, Obhrai called news of a challenger for his Calgary-area seat a \u201cconspiracy\u201d and he’ll fight it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA\u2014Three Conservative MPs who sought the party’s leadership earlier this year are bracing for a fight to represent the party …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":140499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16,483],"tags":[14567,39735,1683,39736,12125],"class_list":["post-140490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","category-politics","tag-2019-election","tag-brad-trost","tag-conservatives","tag-deepak-obhrai","tag-kellie-leitch","mauthors-stephanie-levitz","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}