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The Progressive Conservatives didn’t respond to questions about the challenge Wednesday afternoon.

“Please provide me with the proof that an official notice of this nomination meeting was sent out to the entire OWN membership, in accordance with the rules,” his email to the party brass said.

The Tory rules say riding association members have to be told of nomination meetings in writing at least three weeks in advance, “or at the discretion of the provincial nominations committee.”

Henderson also said Macgregor has been targeted by anonymous threats and harassment and has reported them to the police.

Macgregor, a Senate staffer, was picked as the Progressive Conservative challenger to Liberal minister Bob Chiarelli in a contentious meeting last May. She beat Roberts, another Parliament Hill Conservative, by 15 votes, but local party officials complained there were 28 more ballots counted than there were registered voters. Emma McLennan, the riding association president, complained that dozens of memberships in the riding appeared to be bogus.

When then-leader Patrick Brown used his authority to confirm Macgregor as the candidate, the local party people quit en masse.

Macgregor’s daughter is Tamara Macgregor, an early supporter of Brown’s when he left federal politics to run for provincial Tory leader, one of his deputy chiefs of staff and a former girlfriend.

After Brown quit as Tory leader amid allegations of sexual misconduct, the party’s provincial-level nominations committee announced it was overturning Macgregor’s nomination and a similarly messy one in Scarborough. She appealed the decision to the party executive, another level up, but that group denied her. Roberts was the only candidate to join the new nomination race; his acclamation Wednesday was supposed to be a chance for Eastern Ontario Tories to celebrate and bury some hatchets.

dreevely@postmedia.com

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