Conservative candidate Tim Durkin and his opponent for the nomination, Belleville city councillor Kelly McCaw on stage at Centennial Secondary School. To the far right is Durkin’s wife Jennifer and to the far left is Bay of Quinte riding Conservative Association President John Bonn.(Photo/John Spitters/Quinte News)
Broadcaster Tim Durkin will be the Conservative Party’s standard-bearer in next year’s federal election in Bay of Quinte riding.
Durkin, who works with Quinte News, and radio stations CJBQ, MIX97 and ROCK107, defeated the only other candidate up for
the nomination, Kelly McCaw, a business owner, retired realtor, and City of Belleville councillor.
A little over 300 people voted Friday night at Centennial Secondary School. There are about 700 members of the Bay of Quinte riding Conservative Party. The party does not release the exact results of the voting.
To open the nomination meeting, both candidates gave rousing 5 minute speeches, with neither taking swipes at the other. Both Durkin and McCaw hammered away at the governing Liberals.
The Trudeau government was criticized for reckless spending, divisive social engineering, its carbon tax, embarassing behaviour on foreign trips, and a lack of attention to the military and its veterans.
In his victory speech, an emotional Durkin thanked family and supporters and especially his wife Jennifer who is soon to give birth to their first child.
The 32 year old Durkin, who has never held public office before, says the campaign to unseat Liberal Neil Ellis in the Bay of Quinte riding begins almost immediately.
“We’ve got some 40,000 doors to knock on and we’ve got a steep hill to climb because the liberal candidate in the riding is well known, very well respected and someone who works very hard. He won by a lot in the last election. We have our work cut out for us.”
In fact, in the 2015 federal election, Liberal Neil Ellis defeated Conservative candidate Jodie Jenkins by almost 10,000 votes.
Bay of Quinte riding Conservative candidate Tim Durkin with his wife Jennifer and niece Aubree.(Photo/John Spitters/Quinte News)
