Kelowna lawyer and farmer Alexandra Wright has filed a lawsuit against the B.C. Conservatives a little over a month after she was ousted as the party’s candidate for Kelowna-Mission and replaced by entrepreneur Gavin Dew.
“I think anybody who’s been watching the Conservatives over the past few months have gotten a little concerned about what they’re doing to the democratic process, and what they’re doing to people who entered into the election race in good faith,” Wright said.
In August, Wright said she had been offered $20,000 for her campaign if she switched to Vernon-Lumby to make room for Dew in her Kelowna riding.
Conservative spokesman Anthony Koch disputed her claims that she had been dropped due to the party’s courting of Dew and for comments critical of Sandher Fruit Packers, which had hosted an event for Conservative Leader John Rustad with fruit growers and packers several days before Wright’s dismissal.
He said “she was not performing as a candidate” and accused her of not being “out in the community building relationships, fundraising for her campaign, or door-knocking to meet voters face to face to hear about the issues that matter to them.”
In the lawsuit, Wright alleges those comments represent defamation and could hurt her business or future job prospects.
She is also accusing the party of breach of contract, discrimination and fraudulent statements, citing the way her dismissal as a candidate was handled by executive director Angelo Isidorou, who she alleges told her the dismissal was a result of her criticism of Sandher.
Sandher has been fined over $180,000 for non-compliance in the areas of wastewater management, worker safety and for failing to report a refrigerant spill.
Wright is seeking over $800,000 in damages and for the Conservatives to remove all negative posts about her performance as a candidate as well as any claims that she had breached the party’s code of conduct.
Isidorou declined to provide a statement, but described the lawsuit as “frivolous and vexatious.”
It is expected the statement of claim will be couriered to the Conservatives today, meaning the party will have until Oct. 4 to file a response.
“This was an opportunity for me to enter into a completely different aspect of business. This was something that I took very seriously, and I really thought that I was aligned with the party. And, I mean, I had big plans to become a minister, but unfortunately, I never got that opportunity,” Wright said.
Wright said she considered running as an Independent, but is exhausted from what she has gone through.
She said she will support former BC United candidate Ashley Ramsay in Kelowna-Mission, who recently announced she will run as an Independent.
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