The Southern Ontario riding of Durham won’t have a pro-life Liberal candidate. Organizers are saying pro-lifers have only themselves to blame.
Rosemary Connell mounted an impressive campaign, had a broad range of policies, and uses her roots in the area to create an organized machine. But in the end she came up 40 votes short.
“Every single person counted,” Connell said as she summed up the loss. “It was a hard lesson to learn.”
Connell, an active pro-lifer in her community, was the victim of two forces. The first, a so-called Anyone But Connell (ABC) campaign by three other candidates, was out of her control. The second, a turnout of about 65 per cent of her own people, was in her control and proved her downfall.
In the end she got 47 per cent of the vote while Alex Shepard, the new Liberal candidate for the riding squeaked by with 53 per cent.
It’s been the same situation at a number of recent nomination meetings. Organizers expressed frustration and disappointment with the results.
Richard Marchak, president of Liberals for Life, said the lesson is that pro-life candidates need close to 100 per cent of their supporters to come out.
“Getting a 65 per cent turnout just isn’t enough,” he said. “It’s sad how some pro-life supporters do not appreciate the vital importance of participating in the nomination meetings,” he added.
Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition, said the setback was a disappointment.
“We thought the pro-lifers in that community were more committed,” he said.
