Long-time politician Mike de Jong said he has still not received any answers from the federal Conservative Party on why he was ousted from seeking the nomination in Abbotsford-South Langley, despite having strong support at the local level.
De Jong told The Abbotsford News on Wednesday (March 5) that he received an email on Monday night from the Conservatives in Ottawa.
鈥�(It was) a three-line email that said, 鈥楧ear Mr. de Jong, your application to be a candidate in this nomination contest has been declined. Thanks for your interest.鈥� 鈥� I was so shocked,鈥� he said.
De Jong said he phoned the Ottawa office where the decision was made and had difficulty finding anyone to talk.
鈥淔inally, some guy mutters something about, 鈥榃ell, we didn鈥檛 think you were qualified鈥� 鈥� I鈥檓 a little perplexed but that is the only information that I鈥檝e been provided.鈥�
De Jong announced the decision Tuesday in a social media post.
The vote to select the Conservative candidate for the riding takes place this Saturday (March 8).
De Jong, 60, served as the Abbotsford West MLA under BC United (formerly the Liberals) for 30 years.
He announced in February 2024 that he was retiring from provincial politics. In mid-April, he confirmed he would seek the federal Conservative nomination for the Abbotsford-South Langley riding being vacated by retiring long-time MP Ed Fast.
Since that time, de Jong said thousands of dollars have been invested in his campaign (the spending limit is $25,000), and he has had many volunteers working with him, who are disappointed in the decision to remove him from the nomination race.
He said he also signed up more than 2,000 new Conservative Party members.
De Jong said the local riding association鈥檚 candidate approval committee conducted interviews with him and the five other candidates over the weekend.
鈥淚 am advised that their unanimous recommendation to the folks in Ottawa was that I鈥檇 be approved as a candidate, and apparently the folks in Ottawa disagreed,鈥� de Jong said.
He questions why he would be considered 鈥渦nqualified,鈥� given his past experience holding eight cabinet portfolios such as health and attorney-general, but particularly as finance minister.
De Jong said his background in that area would be especially useful at a time when Canada is 鈥渦nder attack by a crazy megalomaniac bully in the White House.鈥�
鈥淚 governed five consecutive balanced budgets. When I left office, the province was in the strongest fiscal condition, financial condition, economic condition of any province in Canada, which was a good thing because when COVID hit two years later, we had to draw on that strength,鈥� he said.
De Jong said he opted to join the Conservatives because of federal leader Pierre Poilievre鈥檚 talk 鈥渁bout a return to fiscal prudence.鈥�
鈥淲e need leadership in the country and a government that is going to respect the taxpayer and recognize that we cannot continue to concur multi-billion-dollar deficits and a rising debt level.鈥�
De Jong said he is still reeling from the decision and is not sure whether he will consider remaining in politics 鈥� such as running as an independent 鈥� or leaving them behind for good.
鈥淭he day after the day after a breakup is not usually the best day to talk about your ex,鈥� he said, laughing.
Still in the running for the riding鈥檚 nomination are Shanjeelin Dwivedi, Mike Murray, Steve Schafer, Sukhman Singh Gill and Gurnoor Sidhu.
The Abbotsford News has reached out for comment from the national council of the Conservative Party of Canada and will update the story if they respond.
