Wednesday February 12, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The applicant with the longest time campaigning (since 2023), Charles Borg has been asked to step out of the race to become the Conservative candidate for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford (CML).
Borg issued his bombshell by email today to party members and others who had been following his campaign.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share my decision to withdraw my candidate application for the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. This is not the outcome I had envisioned, and it is truly unfortunate that my campaign has ended in this manner,” said Borg in his email today.
This now leaves three applicants heading to the Conservative CML nomination meeting: Martin Barker, Jeff Kibble and Mike Harris.
Pressured to withdraw:
“I was fully committed to making it to our nomination meeting to offer Conservative Party members a strong choice on the ballot,” says Borg, the youngest of the four applicants.
“However, I was informed that if I did not withdraw, I would likely be disqualified due to private comments I made regarding the handling of this nomination process by the administrative branch of our party over the past 16 months as an applicant. While I am not at all impressed with how the party handled the nomination process, I have chosen to remain respectful of it,” he said today.
“Rather than face disqualification, I have made the decision to withdraw on my own terms,” said Borg.
Comments from supporters:
On Facebook today, Borg’s supporters offered these comments:
- “You would have made a great member of parliament. This is an injustice and brings to the forefront the lack of freedom of speech.” – James Petrie
- “Thank you for your commitment. We appreciate what you have sacrificed and what you have brought to the table.” – Dennis Maher
- “You did an amazing run and this is truly unfortunate.” – Jeremiah Reno
- “Thank you for your service.” – Shawn Blair
- “I hope Martin can live up to the big shoes you are leaving behind!” – Josh Cole
- “Stay in the game Charles. You can still make a difference.” – Tracy Foran
Backing Martin Barker:
Borg has now decided to support Martin Barker as the CPC candidate for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. Barker was a City of Duncan councillor and continues his working career as a chiropractor.
Election dynamics:
whoever becomes the Conservative candidate for CML will be running against three-term NDP MP Alistair MacGregor who is seeking fourth term re-election in the 2025 federal election. MacGregor was first elected in 2015, then re-elected in 2019 and 2021.
Of the three Conservative candidate applicants, Mike Harris has a high profile in the Langford area of the large federal riding, having been the BC Conservative candidate twice now. He only recently announced his intention to run in the last few weeks and has been keeping a low profile from the media.
The NDP currently hold six of seven federal seats on Vancouver Island; the seventh seat is currently held by Green MP Elizabeth May.
===== RELATED:
NEWS SECTIONS: CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2025 | CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA