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ONTARIO, January 22, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) claims that the booting of pro-life M.P. and former CPC leadership candidate Derek Sloan from the party had nothing to do with the fact that he is a staunch social conservative, but rather because of a “destructive behaviour involving multiple incidents.”

“I did not vote to remove Derek Sloan from our caucus because he is a social conservative,” said CPC party leader Erin O’Toole in a statement sent out yesterday announcing the removal of Sloan.

“The Conservative Caucus voted to remove Derek Sloan not because of one specific event, but because of a pattern of destructive behaviour involving multiple incidents and disrespect towards the Conservative team for over a year. These actions have been a consistent distraction from our efforts to grow the Party and focus on the work we need to do. Events of the past week were simply the last straw and led to our caucus making the decision it did today.”

Sloan said there those in the CPC who indeed “despise” social conservative views, such as being pro-life and pro-family, and want these beliefs gone.

“This is about the grassroots: When they eject me they are saying, ‘We despise YOU the grassroots, we despise your values, we despise the things that are important to you’ They are thumbing their noses at YOU. Conservatives are furious and will make their voice heard,” tweeted Sloan

Sloan also blasted O’Toole for “doing Trudeau favours by cannibalizing members of his own caucus instead of holding the government to account.”

The booted M.P. also tweeted that his removal from the caucus shows an “absolute cowardice and failure to address real issues that animate much of our base” and that “[t]his party does not belong to Erin O’Toole it belongs to the members.”

He also called O’Toole a liberal in disguise who is trying to make the party in his “own red image.”

“@erinotoole won this leadership by claiming to be a blue Tory and he is as Red as they come, it’s clear that he lied to conservatives and he’s now trying to remake the party in his own red image,” tweeted Sloan.

When announcing his intentions to remove Sloan from the party, O’Toole cited as justification the acceptance of a donation from a white supremacist using an alias. He made no mention of “a pattern of destructive behaviour.”

The co-founder and managing director of LifeSiteNews, Steve Jalsevac, said to the writer of this report that O’Toole’s move to oust Sloan outdoes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “stupidity.”

“This is the stupidest, most infantile thing that the Conservative Party has ever done, to get rid of a strong social conservative,” commented Jalsevac.

“It makes Leader Erin O’Toole look like a clown. And he wants to be prime minister? He has actually outdone Justin Trudeau for stupidity.”

Yesterday, the majority of CPC M.P.s voted to toss pro-life Sloan from the caucus. This came after O’Toole earlier called for his ousting via the Reform Act, due to what he said was an acceptance of a $131 donation from a “well-known white supremacist” named Paul Fromm to the CPC in August 2020.

The Reform Act was passed in 2015 and states that to expel an M.P. from the caucus, at least 20 percent of the party members must first agree to trigger a review. A majority M.P. vote is then required for expulsion.

A recent Press Progress report had previously noted that Fromm had donated to the party, which said the CPC “confirmed” that the donation was directed to Sloan’s leadership campaign. O’Toole said he was “outraged” at the news of Fromm’s donation and promised an investigation into the matter.

Elections Canada stipulates that the disclosure of a donor name is required only for contributions over $200, meaning that the only entities likely to have known about Fromm’s donation would be Sloan and the CPC.

Sloan fought back with a detailed statement sent out late Monday. He noted that Fromm used an alias, Frederick P. Fromm, when he donated; was a member of the CPC; and voted in the leadership race. Sloan also said he learned “for the first time” about Fromm’s donation late afternoon on Monday.

In a Facebook video, posted after his statement was posted, Sloan said the CPC’s top brass “picked a fight with the wrong person.”

During the CPC leadership campaign, Sloan was unafraid to assert his pro-life and pro-family views. As a result, he was branded by the mainstream media as having “extreme” views.

In June, during the English leaders’ debate, he stated that his fellow candidates would “agree with him” that “it’s not right” that Canada has no laws governing abortion.

The CPC elected pro-abortion M.P. O’Toole, who professes to be Catholic, as the new leader of the party in August last year. Sloan came in fourth place behind Leslyn Lewis and Peter MacKay. 

In an email sent to his followers this afternoon, Sloan confirmed reports that the party had indeed, in a majority secret vote, decided to oust him. On Tuesday, Canada’s Liberal Party prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said he is “pleased” that O’Toole has “finally decided to take leadership” and moved to boot Sloan from the party.

Sloan speaks about his ousting

In an interview with Ezra Levant from Rebel News, Sloan said that during Wednesday’s caucus meeting, there were some M.P.s who voiced support for him, but many comments were negative. He also said he did not see the final vote tally.

Sloan did not release the names of those who supported him because, as he said to Ezra, “I actually don’t want to do them any disservice in terms of having them targeted.”

He did promise, however, that he will be “dropping names” of the “turncoats” in the party and that he had “a group of people, the same types that defended me before,” speak in in his favor.

“I don’t want to make their current life miserable by pointing them out,” said Sloan in the Rebel News interview. “But I will certainly as time goes on be dropping more names of those turncoats who are using, you know, fancy words and ‘caucus solidarity,’ and no, you’re not playing as a team as cover for basically trying to sideline a large part of hardcore Conservatives that support them.”

Sloan also vowed in a tweet to continue to fight as an independent M.P. against “Big Tech censorship, against liberal gender ideology, freedom from government overreach with the lockdowns, opposition to C-12 the net zero bill which Erin O’Toole supports. Net zero means zero jobs in Alberta.”

“I remain the same real conservative and I will be here to stand against the crazy government overreach we’re seeing now, and the absolute vapid response we’ve seen from the opposition in Ottawa. This is OUR party and we will take it back.”

Sloan also urged his supporters not to “quit” the CPC and to make sure their voice is heard in the upcoming policy convention.

“If you are signed up as a delegate MAINTAIN YOUR DELEGATE SPOT. There’s people that want you to quit. Erin O’Toole and his cronies want you to quit. Stay on & make your voice heard at convention,” tweeted Sloan yesterday.

Contact Information

M.P. Erin O’Toole
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Leader of the Opposition

House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada
K1A 0A6

Email: [email protected]
Tel: 613-992-2792
Fax: 613-992-2794

Conservative Head Office
Tel: 1-866-808-8407
Email via submission form

M.P. contact page: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/addresses