Rising star quits Tory race

Former journalist Maddeaux calls nomination process highly unethical’

- STEPHANIE LEVITZ DEPUTY

Then-newspaper columnist Sabrina Maddeaux interviews Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in a video posted to YouTube on Nov. 8, 2022. On Thursday, Maddeaux suspended her campaign for the Tory nomination in AuroraOak RidgesRichmond Hill, alleging there are potentially illegal efforts to sway the vote that the Conservative party is ignoring.

OTTAWA would-be Conservative candidate celebrated as an example of the party’s refresh under Leader Pierre Poilievre suspended her campaign Thursday, saying she’s lost faith in the integrity of the party’s nomination process.

Sabrina Maddeaux, a former newspaper columnist and conservative pundit, alleged there are “highly unethical, and potentially illegal, efforts to sway the vote” underway in her riding’s nomination race that the Conservative party is ignoring — an allegation it flat out denies.

Maddeaux was seeking the party’s nod in the highly-competitive riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, a seat that has flipped between the Liberals and Conservatives in recent elections and is squarely in the “must-win” column for the Conservatives.

She announced her nomination to much fanfare last year, saying she was part of a new generation of Canadians drawn into Conservative politics under Poilievre over fears about their economic future. She recently appeared alongside Conservative MPs at a panel about the party’s future and was showcased as an up-and-coming leader in her own right.