Tuesday, February 4, 2003
Calgary businessman to seek Tory leadership

By ROMA LUCIW
Globe and Mail Update

A relatively unknown Calgary businessman has become the sixth man to throw his hat into the ring for the federal Progressive Conservative leadership.

Craig Chandler announced Tuesday at a Burlington, Ont., restaurant that he will seek to replace Joe Clark as party leader.

The 32-year-old, a former Reform Party candidate and the head of a Christian lobby group, will run on a platform of unifying the Tories with the Canadian Alliance. His Web site encourages people to become members of both parties.

"It is time that we end the family feud between the Canadian Alliance and the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and elect a leader that has unity between the parties as their No. 1 focus," Mr. Chandler said on the site.

He joins MPs Peter MacKay and Scott Brison, Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, Saskatchewan farmer David Orchard and former Conservative cabinet minister Heward Grafftey in a leadership race. A new party leader will be chosen at a June convention in Toronto.

Mr. Chandler is the chief executive officer of the Concerned Christian Coalition. Until recently, he was president of the Progressive Group for Independent Business, a right-wing lobby group.

Mr. Chandler has said he has enough support to register as a candidate and has campaign teams set up in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

A spokesman for the federal Tories said Mr. Chandler has five business days to submit the required registration fee, deposit and signatures in order to officially register as a candidate.

An outspoken Christian, Mr. Chandler once characterized homosexual relationships as "unnatural," joking that "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."

This time round, Mr. Chandler said he is focusing on uniting the right, increasing funding for the military and making Canada a better international ally.

With a report from Canadian Press

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