By John-Henry Westen

SURREY, BC, February 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Conservative Party of Canada has reconsidered its rejection of a prominent social conservative in British Columbia after a LifeSiteNews.com story expose Friday. Heather Stilwell, a mother of eight and long-time elected member of the local school board, was told by Conservative Party headquarters last week that she would not be able to enter the race to represent the Conservative Party in the next federal election.

That decision was reversed after LifeSiteNews.com ran a story which detailed that Stilwell was rejected on a minute technicality. Party insiders locally warned Stilwell she would not be accepted as a candidate due to her past public advocacy on the right to life and traditional marriage.

After the by-election loss of London Ontario Conservative candidate and social conservative Diane Haskett, left wingers inside the Party were determined to forbid prominent social conservatives from running for the Party. Social conservative leaders, however, insist the party was to a large degree itself responsible for the popular former London mayor’s shockingly poor showing. Haskett was told by Conservative Party organizers to not respond to any questionnaires and to avoid making specific public comments on certain controversial issues. She was consequently easily portrayed by opponents as deliberately hiding her views on important local issues. Haskett also lost the full benefit of a well organized social conservative political network in the London riding that was hamstung by their candidate’s refusal to make any specific public statements or commitments on the life and family issues.

Stilwell is now back in the race, and credits LifeSiteNews.com with the development. “I just wanted to thank you for that fabulous story and I think that it moved something forward here because I’ve had a call and they are going to let me run,” Stilwell told LifeSiteNews.com Saturday. “I’ve had a lot of response from people who were reading LifeSiteNews, so good on you guys.”

See the original story: Conservative Party of Canada Rejects Nomination Bid of Well Known BC Social Conservative https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020906.html