Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown admits some would-be candidates for the 2018 Ontario election are not getting past the PC vetting process, but he insists it's good for the Tories to have so many people wanting to run.
There have been complaints from rejected candidates and some long-time party members about interference in the nomination process from PC headquarters, especially from some eastern Ontario ridings.
Brown disputes a claim by Derek Duval, who says he was rejected as a candidate in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell after PC officials complained about a locker room video he posted showing a young man eating poutine off of a hockey stick.
He insists the video wasn't the reason Duval was disqualified, and says it's the party's right to vet candidates to make sure there's nothing that would embarrass the Progressive Conservative brand.
Duval, who claimed he signed up 1,200 new PC members, says Brown tired to catch him by surprise by moving up the date for the nomination meeting because the party wanted lawyer and local councillor Amanda Simard as its candidate.
The Tories had said nominations for 2018 would start in Jan. 2017, but Brown says that was moved up because he wants all candidates in place by the end of 2017, and that means doing ten nominations a month for the next year.