CAMBRIDGE - Just days after electing a leader who promised to end the scandals around nomination meetings, Ontario's PC Party has abruptly cancelled local plans to pick a candidate in Cambridge - again.

Candidates were informed Thursday morning in a terse email from the party's regional co-ordinator that the March 24 meeting is off, without explanation. The decision caught the riding association off guard, and left local organizers scrambling for answers.

"It's frustrating," said Sunny Atwall, who is seeking the nomination. "We haven't been told anything. We've been going out, knocking on doors, telling all the members the nomination is on the 24th, now this ... We have no idea what's happening."

Bert Laranjo, the other local candidate in the PC race, said he was canvassing Thursday morning, telling his supporters to go vote next weekend when he got the news.

"It caught everybody off-guard. I'm still trying to find out what's going on," said Laranjo, a manager in the ER department at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. "If this is a joke, it's a pretty bad joke."

The sudden interference from party headquarters is significant, since former leadership contenders Christine Elliott and Tanya Granic Allen are believed to be looking for potential seats in the legislature in the June election - and have been eyeing the local riding.

Granic Allen, whose support in the leadership contest ultimately gave PC leader Doug Ford the victory, was officially listed to seek the nomination in Cambridge. Without her in the race, Ford wouldn't have had enough votes to squeeze out his narrow win over Elliott.

But until the Cambridge nomination meeting was cancelled, the Grey County resident was at a disadvantage because she had little time to sign up local supporters. Granic Allen's spokesperson said he couldn't confirm where, or even if, she intends to run, however.

It's highly unlikely she and Elliott, who's from Whitby, would run in the same riding, but they're both considering their options in a handful of undecided ridings around the province. Elliott, meanwhile, has said she feels at home in Cambridge and thinks she could make "a contribution" there.

Party officials declined to comment on the decision to reopen the nomination in Cambridge. The party's press secretary referred all questions to Ford's spokesperson Lyndsey Vanstone, who said the leader would not talk about the issue - but added Ford has said in the past he wants to take a closer look at all nominations across the province.

"We don't comment on internal party matters," she said. "Mr. Ford has always been clear that there would be a review of nominations."

Riding association president Rob Leone said he was only informed of the decision Thursday morning.

It's the second time the PC party has interfered with the riding association's plans to pick a candidate, after a similar decision last fall caused an uproar over the candidacy of an out-of-province dentist from Alberta.

In that case, Calgary's Tanya Khattra campaigned for months, but ultimately wasn't approved as a candidate to seek the nomination. During the leadership campaign, Granic Allen tried unsuccessfully to get the party to toss out more than 2,000 memberships Khattra's campaign had signed up in Cambridge, suggesting some were not legitimate.

Atwall, who was born in Cambridge, raised in Preston and owns a pita business on Hespeler Road, said if the party is in fact trying to drop in a parachute candidate, he doesn't think it will fly with voters - regardless of whether they have a high profile.

"For the greater good of the community, we need a local candidate," he said. "We definitely need a local representative, who understands the local issues."

The irony is the Tories appear to be meddling in the home riding of conservative activist Jim Karahalios, who ended his own candidacy last spring because he was concerned the PC leadership was ignoring its grassroots and hand-picking star candidates. That became a central theme in the leadership campaign, with Ford and Granic Allen calling for nominations to be open, transparent and democratic.

All that talk seems to have been quickly forgotten in favour of more "backroom deals," Karahalios said.

"I'm confused and surprised by this move. I don't get it," Karahalios said. "Cambridge deserves a winning candidate, not a candidate looking for a winning riding."

Cambridge, which has a history of voting Tory, is held by Liberal MPP Kathryn McGarry. She said she's not concerned about whoever the PCs pick to run against her.

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"It doesn't matter whether the Conservatives parachute in Tanya Granic Allen, Christine Elliott or another candidate from outside of Cambridge," McGarry said. "For me, it isn't about who I am running against. It's about the families in Cambridge that I am fighting for."