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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. • Rejecting Ches Crosbie as a federal Conservative candidate in Newfoundland and Labrador is a headline-making blow to a party that needs all the help it can get in the province, says a former adviser.

Tim Powers said Crosbie, a successful lawyer and son of former Tory cabinet minister John Crosbie, is the sort of prospect the Conservatives should embrace.

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“The rationale that has been brought forward to deny Ches his candidacy seems awful flimsy to me,” Powers said Thursday from Ottawa.

“It’s unfortunate for the Conservative party not to have a candidate like Ches Crosbie because those are the sorts of people we need to attract.”

Powers, a lobbyist and vice-chairman of Summa Strategies, is a cousin of Crosbie’s. He said it makes no sense to stonewall qualified people in a province where the Conservatives don’t hold even one of seven seats.

The party’s sole victory in the province in 2011, Peter Penashue in Labrador, was a major upset that ended with his resignation over illegitimate campaign expenses. He lost a subsequent byelection, and his former official agent now faces charges under the Canada Elections Act.