BC Conservatives Concerned by CPC President's Anti-Proportional Representation Email

VERNON-The British Columbia Conservative Party is concerned about a recent email written by Scott Lamb, President of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), and sent to members of the federal party across British Columbia. The content was a general attack on proportional representation (PR).

The Conservative Party of Canada’s stance on Trudeau's federal electoral reform initiative was to adopt a neutral stance on PR and demand a referendum. The BC Conservative Party has done the same in the case of provincial politics, taking a neutral position on PR while demanding that citizens exercise their right to decide through a referendum. Scott Lamb's email appears to deviate significantly from the position taken by both parties.

"Not only is this a direct intervention in provincial politics by a senior member of a federal party, but it is a deviation from the federal party’s neutral position on PR," said Scott Anderson, interim leader of the BC Conservatives. "Further, Mr. Lamb's letter is a regurgitation of BC Liberal talking points, several of them verifiably and transparently false."

"Since the CPC is not a registered advertiser on the referendum, I can only assume that Mr. Lamb is using the party's BC mailing list and his position as head of the federal Conservative Party's administrative arm to delve into provincial politics on behalf of the "no" side without authorization," said Anderson. " If Mr. Lamb did indeed use his position with the federal party to intrude into provincial politics without party authorization, I'm frankly shocked. I hope there is another explanation."