One week made all the difference for Tory candidate hopeful T.J. Grewal.
The local businessman heard the final word Tuesday from the Conservative Party that it would not waive its rule requiring candidates to be six-month card carrying members.
Grewal was one week shy of that benchmark on Nov. 13, when the application for candidates was due. Tomorrow is the deadline for signing up members if they want to vote on the next representative for Cariboo-Prince George, in a race many consider tantamount to electing an MP in the historically strong Conservative riding.
He submitted an application requesting the party to waive that rule, and appealed a ruling last Thursday that rejected his submission.
"They have given waivers in other cases. Recent case was in Whitby Ontario, the ex-mayor, she only took out a membership in July," Grewal said. "I think the party should have let me run and that would have been fair and square and I don't think it's fair."
Grewal said he was a card carrying member in the past, when he served on the local Electoral District Association in 2011 to 2012.
"I'm obviously disappointed, I did a lot of work and signed up a lot of members so now I have to decide what I have to do."
That work translated to his rough estimate of 1,500 new members signed under his support. For those members to vote, Grewal must submit their one-year $15 memberships by Thursday.
"I am leaning toward submitting those members, so that at least I could help the right person win the nomination," he said.
But Grewal said he isn't yet ready to say who that candidate might be. His choices are economist Nick Fedorkiw, departing Prince George mayor Shari Green and local businessman Todd Doherty, who was backed by outgoing longtime MP Dick Harris.
Vanderhoof teacher Gerald Caron backed out of the race last week in favour of running in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley.
"I'm not going to make a decision just on my own. I need to make a collective decision with my supporters so I'm not pissing them off."
Grewal said it hurts knowing he was so close to making the six-month mark, especially when the dates for riding nomination vary from city to city. He said he sees the timing as suspicious.
"My group's speculation is the fact that somebody interfered who had the knowledge of when I took out a membership and when it was six months.
"My thing is to move on and I'm sure that... along the line that Iwill find out what exactly happened and whether this was Conservative party, or the political operations people who made the decision or whether this decision made locally."
