Dona Cadman will seek Conservative Party nomination
ridenrain @ Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:45 am
$1:
Dona Cadman will seek the Conservative Party nomination in Surrey North this fall.
The Surrey grandmother aims not only to carry on with justice reform where her late husband Chuck left off, but also to develop new legislation to protect vulnerable children and improve the health-care system.
Dona made her decision last Thursday as the first-year anniversary of Chuck's death approached.
"Chuck and I had been talking and there was still some things that had to be done, so I'm carrying on his legacy," she said Tuesday.
Local Tory organizer Dane Minor will run her campaign for the party's nomination.
"I think it's exciting. There's a legacy he (Chuck) wanted to finish and what better person to finish them?" Minor said of Dona's decision to run for office.
"I think it's great. I think it's a natural next step. He got involved for all the right reasons and Dona's getting involved for all the right reasons."
Chuck and Dona were a typical Surrey couple before their 16-year-old son Jesse was stabbed to death by another teen in 1992.
The couple launched a nationwide campaign to see violent youths held more accountable for their crimes and, in 1997, that campaign led Chuck to run for MP in Surrey North, with the Reform Party and its successors the Canadian Alliance and Conservative parties.
After losing the Conservative nomination to Jasbir Cheema, who signed up a huge number of instant members to seal the candidacy, Chuck responded by running as an Independent and flattened Cheema and other opponents at the polls on election night in June 2004. Two months before he died of malignant melanoma, Chuck cast a historic vote in the House of Commons that spared Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.
This past Sunday marked the first year anniversary of Chuck's death which, sadly, occurred on Dona's birthday.
She visited Chuck and Jesse's grave, laid some flowers, lit a candle and had a chat about her decision to run. It was a hard decision to make, she said.
"There was a few sleepless nights," Dona told the Now. "Running for a party, especially the Conservatives, you know it was a thorn in Chuck's side, so it was sort of a hard thing to decide but you need the party to back you if you want to do something, and running as an independent I wouldn't get that backing.
"I need the party behind me to make any changes and they're going to be a majority government this time around, as far as I can see. Running as an independent is not going to give me the leverage that I need to make changes."
Dona Cadman wants to "toughen" up the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and advocates stiffer sentencing and doing away with conditional sentencing for violent crimes. She also wants Chuck's street racing bill and VIN bill - which would make tampering with vehicle ID numbers a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in jail - passed in their pristine form.
Arguably, some of Chuck's most important work in Ottawa was on the justice committee. Asked if she wants to be on that committee, she replied, "Not necessarily. I'm also interested in children and health care."
"I think there are holes in the system that need to be plugged up."
published on 07/12/2006
The Surrey grandmother aims not only to carry on with justice reform where her late husband Chuck left off, but also to develop new legislation to protect vulnerable children and improve the health-care system.
Dona made her decision last Thursday as the first-year anniversary of Chuck's death approached.
"Chuck and I had been talking and there was still some things that had to be done, so I'm carrying on his legacy," she said Tuesday.
Local Tory organizer Dane Minor will run her campaign for the party's nomination.
"I think it's exciting. There's a legacy he (Chuck) wanted to finish and what better person to finish them?" Minor said of Dona's decision to run for office.
"I think it's great. I think it's a natural next step. He got involved for all the right reasons and Dona's getting involved for all the right reasons."
Chuck and Dona were a typical Surrey couple before their 16-year-old son Jesse was stabbed to death by another teen in 1992.
The couple launched a nationwide campaign to see violent youths held more accountable for their crimes and, in 1997, that campaign led Chuck to run for MP in Surrey North, with the Reform Party and its successors the Canadian Alliance and Conservative parties.
After losing the Conservative nomination to Jasbir Cheema, who signed up a huge number of instant members to seal the candidacy, Chuck responded by running as an Independent and flattened Cheema and other opponents at the polls on election night in June 2004. Two months before he died of malignant melanoma, Chuck cast a historic vote in the House of Commons that spared Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.
This past Sunday marked the first year anniversary of Chuck's death which, sadly, occurred on Dona's birthday.
She visited Chuck and Jesse's grave, laid some flowers, lit a candle and had a chat about her decision to run. It was a hard decision to make, she said.
"There was a few sleepless nights," Dona told the Now. "Running for a party, especially the Conservatives, you know it was a thorn in Chuck's side, so it was sort of a hard thing to decide but you need the party to back you if you want to do something, and running as an independent I wouldn't get that backing.
"I need the party behind me to make any changes and they're going to be a majority government this time around, as far as I can see. Running as an independent is not going to give me the leverage that I need to make changes."
Dona Cadman wants to "toughen" up the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and advocates stiffer sentencing and doing away with conditional sentencing for violent crimes. She also wants Chuck's street racing bill and VIN bill - which would make tampering with vehicle ID numbers a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in jail - passed in their pristine form.
Arguably, some of Chuck's most important work in Ottawa was on the justice committee. Asked if she wants to be on that committee, she replied, "Not necessarily. I'm also interested in children and health care."
"I think there are holes in the system that need to be plugged up."
published on 07/12/2006
I recieved a letter asking for my support but I have some mixed feelings over this. Chuck built a reputation of honest politics and his stance on justice, etc. put him against the Liberals on almost all occasions. To have him then throw all that credability away by voting to support the Liberals was a huge slap in the face.
I send a number of letters and faxes to ensure that my oppinion was known but instead, they used some BCTV poll that, as a constituant, I never even heard about. I definately do not believe that the rank & file Surrey North voter wanted him to prop up the corrupt Paul Martin government.
Heads up for you conservatives in the Surrey North riding.
stratos @ Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:35 am
Just from the artical it kind of sounds like she is hopeing her departed husbands name will get her elected. I'm assumeing he was popular with the voters. Will be interesting to see if she wins and if she does what she will do once in office.