MP Derek Sloan ousted from CPC

After the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) voted by secret ballot on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, Derek Sloan, MPP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington, has been expelled from the Conservative caucus.

The vote came after it was determined that Sloan had accepted a donation from Paul Fromm, a well-known Canadian white supremacist. Immediately after the discovery, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole voiced his opposition and announced that he had initiated the process to remove Sloan from the Conservative caucus.

“Derek Sloan’s acceptance of a donation from a well-known white supremacist is far worse than a gross error of judgement or a lack of due diligence,” O’Toole said in a statement.

For his part, Sloan has held that he was unaware of Fromm’s donation, nor his connections to white supremacy, which have been well documented for a number of years. After the CPC voted in favour of his expulsion, Sloan released a letter on social media, which states that O’Toole “went on a warpath” to have him expelled.

“Today, spurred by O’Toole, a vote was held by my CPC caucus colleagues and have just decided to expel me,” Sloan wrote.

“What does this mean? I will now sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons. I will still vote, debate, and represent true conservative values and policies.”

Sloan went on to say he has been contacted by many of his supporters, who are wondering if they should cancel their Conservative Party memberships or drop out as a delegate.

“NO! Do not do either of those things,” Sloan wrote in bold text. “No matter how callous and misguided today’s actions by Erin and my colleagues were, we have much work to do in the next two months as we prepare for the policy convention in March.”

After discussing how that process would work, the letter goes on to speak again about the vote and expulsion.

“Of course, the undemocratic forces within our Party want to see good, democratic conservatives purged from this convention process. Do not let them. That is exactly what Erin O’Toole wants,” he asserted.

“No matter how ugly – how undemocratic – the events of the last two days have been, always remember the Party is not the personal property of Erin O’Toole; the CPC belongs to you – the grassroots of the party,” he continued.

“I encourage you to use your voice, to stand up, and represent the true conservative values with this convention.”

He concluded the letter by saying he will have more to say in the coming days.

Sloan has drawn attention for his views and actions since his 2020 leadership campaign, when he stated that, if elected, he would not block a debate on the topic of abortion rights in the House of Commons, as well as questioning the allegiance of Dr. Theresa Tam, and taking a stance against banning conversion therapy.