"Conservative Party executive director Dimitri Soudas resigns over nomination spat"

[applegrove]

Conservative Party executive director Dimitri Soudas resigns over nomination spat

By: Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/conservative-party-executive-director-resigns-over-nomination-spat-253130731.html

"SNIP......................


OTTAWA - The Conservative party lost top 2015 election organizer Dimitri Soudas Sunday, amid mounting concerns he was using his position to help his fiancee's nomination bid in a suburban Toronto riding.

Party brass have been trying to convince grassroots Conservatives that they can count on open and fair nominations across the country, with no favouritism shown toward incumbent MPs.

But Soudas, who is close to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, appeared not to have heeded a requirement in his contract as executive director that he steer clear of the riding of Oakville-North Burlington where his partner MP Eve Adams intends to run.

Party sources say that despite the high connections Soudas has in the party, the evidence of interference in the Oakville nomination battle had grown too large to ignore and he had become "a distraction."


......................SNIP"

[Spazito]

1. Another example of Harper's poor judgment in choosing him in the first place...

he is racking up an impressive list of bad choices showing poor judgment in choosing Duffy for the Senate, the Quebec judge debacle, etc.

[CHIMO]

2. Couldn't Have

Happened to a more deserving one.

Inside Dimitri Soudas's last days atop the Conservative Party

Dimitri Soudas's second coming with the Conservative Party of Canada began in the glow of Stephen Harper's approval last December with a show-of-hands vote by the party's national council at 24 Sussex Drive.

It ended a scant few months later, during a conference call that saw that same inner circle rubber-stamp his departure.

CBC News has spoken to multiple sources to piece together the events that led to a final confrontation between Soudas — the powerful confidante of the prime minister — and Senator Irving Gerstein, who runs the Conservative Party's muscular fundraising operation.

http://i.cbc.ca/1.2356005.1383596349!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/senator-irving-gerstein.jpg
http://i.cbc.ca/1.1329565.1378950987!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/hi-eve-adams-00766438.jpg
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2299266532/

Mar 31, 2014 6:26 PM ET| Last Updated: Mar 31, 2014 7:53 PM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-dimitri-soudas-s-last-days-atop-the-conservative-party-1.2593195