Wednesday 13 February 2019

Aspiring Liberal leader's lack of citizenship could lead to disqualification


https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to and 49 others
Methinks its strange that this non citizen talks of running for a liberal leadership of a "Have Not" province he get lots of attention N'esy Pas?


https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/02/aspiring-liberal-leaders-lack-of.html





https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/liberal-leadership-candidate-disqualified-lack-of-citizenship-1.5016307



Aspiring Liberal leader's lack of citizenship could lead to disqualification




61 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.



Matt Steele
Matt Steele
Ephestion should give Justin Trudeau a call , and get his citizenship fast tracked . Trudeau loves to play fast and loose with Canadian Laws ; and then BLAME someone else like he did with his former Justice Minister who has now resigned from Cabinet after being demoted , and thrown under the bus by Trudeau .


Marc Martin
Marc Martin
@Matt Steele

How Is Harper doing now that he has been hired to do work for former oil industries he used to fund trough Canada taxes ? any answers ?

Shawn McShane
Shawn McShane
@Marc Martin Can't see the forests through the trees can you Martin?


Mack Leigh
Mack Leigh
@Shawn McShane

Poor guy needs bifocals to go along with his false teeth .......

David Amos
David Amos
@Matt Steele Methinks its strange that this non citizen talks of running for a liberal leadership of a "Have Not" province he get lots of attention Yet when a Canadian actually runs or public office six times thus far he is ignored N'esy Pas?

Go figure

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276


David Amos
David Amos
@Marc Martin Methinks everybody knows Harper hangs his hat a Dentons the same law firm your beloved Chretien does N'esy Pas?

Colin Seeley
Colin Seeley
@Marc Martin

And did it honestly.








Colin Seeley 
Jeff LeBlanc
While I do agree you should have to be a citizen, he will be soon and he's 100% correct about the old boys paranoia. Thankfully the baby boomers will all be dead eventually and hopefully that generation of intolerance will die with them.


richard silliker
richard silliker
@Jeff LeBlanc
Not likely. However, they will be replaced by another generation of intolerance.

SarahRose Werner
SarahRose Werner
@Jeff LeBlanc - If you're hoping that intolerance will die out with the boomers without anything else being done to defeat it, you're in for a huge disappointment. I know tolerant people of all ages - and intolerant ones of all ages as well. This is not what I hoped for when I was younger, but it's the way things have turned out.

Linda Christie Hazlett
Linda Christie Hazlett
@Jeff LeBlanc
I'm a baby boomer and I agree with you so ... Maybe you shouldn't stereotype us

David Amos
David Amos
@Jeff LeBlanc "Thankfully the baby boomers will all be dead eventually and hopefully that generation of intolerance will die with them"

Oh My My I am Happy I am not your Father

Jason Goodwin
Jason Goodwin
@Jeff LeBlanc unfortunately we will be left with yours and your generations forms of intolerance which are far more toxic and hateful than anything expressed by baby boomers.

Dan Lee
Dan Lee
@Jeff LeBlanc
Hatefull ..........your pappy should have slap you harder...........

David Amos
David Amos
@Dan Lee Methinks our pappies would be happy to slap him happy happy happy N'esy Pas?










 Colin Seeley 
Lou Bell
20,000 dollars well wasted ! The mess left by the past SANB Party won't be cleaned up anytime soon!


David Amos
David Amos
@Lou Bell Methinks liberals have way too much money if they are willing to pay such a fee to try to replace Gallant N'esy Pas?










Colin Seeley 
Marc LeBlanc
Forget lack of citizenship.
Start working on the seven deadly sins
That should qualify you nicely


David Amos
David Amos
@Marc LeBlanc Methinks whereas he is already a member of the party executive he got that stuff well studied N'esy Pas?








Colin Seeley 
SarahRose Werner
The day 17 years ago when I became a Canadian citizen and gained the right to vote here is one I remember proudly. I would suggest that anyone seeking to gain a position of political leadership in Canada should first gain the right to vote here.


David Amos
David Amos
@SarahRose Werner Common sense is a foreign way of thinking to liberals and their Green Party pals









 Colin Seeley 
Mary MacKenzie
He thinks the Elections Act was written years ago just to disqualify him?


SarahRose Werner
SarahRose Werner
@Mary MacKenzie - Read the story. The Elections Act requires *candidates for political office* to be Canadian citizens. However, the leader of a political party who doesn't currently hold a seat in the provincial legislature doesn't become a candidate until a provincial election is called, so the Elections Act doesn't (yet) apply to them. Up until February 7 of this year, the NB Liberals did not require candidates for *party leadership* to be citizens. Presumably if a non-citizen was elected leader, they had until the next provincial election was called to become one. One does have to wonder why the NB Liberals made that particular change at this time.

David Amos
David Amos
@Mary MacKenzie YUP










Harold Benson 
Harold Benson
That is definitely this generations problem. The easy living old boys. The definition of power hungry greedy old men.


David Amos
David Amos
@Harold Benson Nope

Methinks greed knows no boundaries I bet Sam agrees N'esy Pas?







 

 Colin Seeley 
Shawn McShane
I think people who run for politics in Canada should be born in Canada otherwise you get people like our Minister of Immigration who changes words and puts newcomers over people who have been here for a very long time while being newcomers themselves.


David Amos
David Amos
@Shawn McShane You have a point but I do not agree

Colin Seeley
Colin Seeley
@Shawn McShane

Word changers exist at the highest levels. Our PM wins that category hands down.







 


Colin Seeley
I wanted to bring complementary information to this article, I will be a citizen in the coming months and I will make sure to bring my ideas to the Liberal Party.


David Amos
David Amos
@ Methinks somebody should ask the obvious question N'esy Pas?

WHO ARE YOU?

René Ephestion
René Ephestion
@David Amos Good question, who am I?

I am a man from France who fell in love with NB because I see the opportunity for my family and me to live in French and English, what a great asset.

I am a man who decided to give up everything to start a company in NB and be part of the New Brunswick family.

I am a man who has seen the rise of populism in Europe and who do not want the same for his province.

I am a man who is tired of seeing a small group of people making decisions for a small number of citizens.

I am a man who believes fundamentally in liberal values: equality of people, cultural equality and equal opportunity for all.

I am a man who has decided to put into play his credibility and his passion to really change things in his province's politics

David Amos
David Amos
@René Ephestion When your comment first appeared it had no name. Now that I know it I must ask the obvious question Why didn't you return my call or answer my email on January 28th?

Seamus O'hern
Seamus O'hern
@David Amos ...He's a MAN who is learning the lib/sanb way....that why David.








Colin Seeley 
Mack Leigh
Rene Ephestion : Makes a run at the new leader for the contentious, self-serving SANB and now wants to run for leader of the Liberals..... Wow, those actions alone speak volumes......volumes....


David Amos
David Amos
@Mack Leigh Oh So True

Seamus O'hern
Seamus O'hern
@Mack Leigh ....VOLUMES!!!!...hahaha...the arrogance speaks volumes....dudes not even a Canadian citizen....but that's no problem in "Dat Place"








Linda Christie Hazlett 
Linda Christie Hazlett
Linda Hazlett @linda_hazlett
I don't see why he should be excluded. He will be a citizen by May ad the leadership will be in June


David Amos
David Amos
@Linda Christie Hazlett "I don't see why he should be excluded."

Nor I

Methinks its the liberals call and his money at stake that he wants to put on the table in order to play the wicked game. If I were the liberals I would call his bluff and see what happens next its a freat sideshow for the circus if nothing else N'esy Pas?








Seamus O'hern 
Lou Bell
Being a French citizen he has all the qualifcations needed to belong to the SANB/Liberals .


Dan Lee
Dan Lee
@Lou Bell
And you.....PANB ?

David Amos
David Amos
@Dan Lee Methinks the record shows that Ephestion who is not Acadian did run or the public office of the president of the SANB which is supported by taxpayer funds. Hence I believe that is everybody's business. Now that he wishes to be the liberal leader before he becomes a Canadian citizen is a liberal party problem not mine but possibly yours if you are member of the aforesaid party.

On the other hand as to whom Mr Bell voted for as a private citizen is nobody's business N'esy Pas?










 Al Stevenson 
Al Stevenson
As much as all the mouth breathers here who hate anyone with Acadian pride might hate him, Rene, as an immigrant, has shown a devotion to New Brunswick far beyond many people who actually were born here. His work with the Nazareth house is certainly laudable and I for one am happy he's here. Will he be a good premier? No idea. But he's getting into politics for the right reasons--and at this stage that's the most important thing.


David Amos
David Amos
@Al Stevenson However he is not an Acadian N'esy Pas?

René Ephestion
René Ephestion
@Al Stevenson thank you!










 Seamus O'hern 
Mark Murphy
The first rule , of running for any political position , should be actually being allowed to vote . to vote you need to be a citizen.


David Amos
David Amos
@Mark Murphy That is the law










 Matt Steele 
Matt Steele
None of the Liberal leader candidates mentioned in this article seem very credible ; but that should make the Green Party very happy . No doubt the Green Party is counting on a lot of liberal party supporters to be moving over to the Green Party as the SANB led Liberal Party self destructs .


David Amos
David Amos
@Matt Steele Methinks everybody would like to know your beef with Gaétan Pelletier other than the fact that he is René Arseneault's buddy N'esy Pas?

Dan Lee
Dan Lee
@David Amos
Matt Steele...the true honest face of the south........











George Smith 
George Smith
Of course he shouldn't be eligible to run until he is in fact a Citizen. And I'm going to be a citizen at a future date should exclude him until after he is in fact a citizen. Pretty simple.


David Amos
David Amos
@George Smith Not really He ain't asking to vote yet He just wants Gallant's old job for some strange reason. Methinks he is bluffing but at least he succeeded in getting himself in the news which is more than corporate media does for most Independent politicians N'esy Pas?




 



 Colin Seeley 
Lou Bell
SANB's choice whether they want him to be a part of their party. One way or the other , not gonna dig 'em outta the mess they're in ! Ta Da !


David Amos
David Amos
@Lou Bell True

Matt Steele
Matt Steele
@Lou Bell .......Very true . The SANB led N.B.Liberal Party is in FULL SELF DESTRUCT MODE right now ; and Justin Trudeau's Liberal Govt. is not far behind . Oct. 2019 cannot come fast enough !




https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/liberal-leadership-candidate-citizenship-1.5019204



Liberal leadership candidate presses on, despite citizenship woes

René Ephestion confident he's eligible, says he'll have citizenship before vote

René Ephestion, the executive director of Moncton’s Nazareth House, said he still intends to run for the Liberal leadership even though he is not yet a Canadian citizen. (Radio-Canada)
 
A potential candidate for the leadership of the New Brunswick Liberals is vowing to quit the race if he has not become a Canadian citizen before party members vote.

René Ephestion says he's confident he'll be ruled eligible to run. The race will culminate in the election of a new leader on June 22.

Ephestion is the executive director of Moncton's Nazareth House and is a citizen of France who moved to Canada in 2015. He has permanent resident status here and applied for citizenship last September. He said he expects to have it in mid-May.
The party's rules say to be eligible to run for the leadership, a candidate must be "eligible for election to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in accordance with the Elections Act."

That act says only Canadian citizens can run for the legislature.

But in a news release, Ephestion interprets the rules and the act to mean the party leader must be a citizen, so he'll be meeting the requirement before the June 22 vote.

"Both documents do not explicitly prohibit permanent residents from running for the leadership," he said. 

"René has stated that should he fail to achieve his citizenship prior to the leadership convention, he will withdraw from the race."

Candidate hints at conspiracy


Ephestion suggested earlier this week that members of the party establishment had inserted the rule to block him from running. 

Liberal Party executive director Keiller Zed refused to comment on Ephestion's case because the leadership race steering committee has not yet received any official filings from any potential candidates.

But Zed noted earlier this week the same eligibility requirement was in place during the Liberals' 2012 leadership race.

The Progressive Conservatives, NDP and People's Alliance all have leadership or membership eligibility rules linked to citizenship. 

Besides Ephestion, Restigouche businessman Gaétan Pelletier also says he's running for Liberal leader. Former House of Commons sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers and former Liberal candidate Stephanie Tomilson are also considering running.

About the Author

Jacques Poitras
Provincial Affairs reporter
Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. Raised in Moncton, he also produces the CBC political podcast Spin Reduxit. 


CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices




Aspiring Liberal leader's lack of citizenship could lead to disqualification

René Ephestion has permanent residency and applied for citizenship last September


René Ephestion is a citizen of France who immigrated to Canada in 2015. (Radio-Canada)

The race for the leadership of the New Brunswick Liberal Party gained one candidate Tuesday but may soon lose another.

Businessman Gaétan Pelletier announced he will join the race to replace Brian Gallant, who officially resigned as party leader this week.

At the same time, René Ephestion of Moncton confirmed that he could be disqualified because he is not a Canadian citizen.




Ephestion, the executive director of Moncton's Nazareth House and a member of the party executive, said he has permanent residency and applied for Canadian citizenship last September.
"I will be a citizen before summer," he said, adding he expected to have his citizenship in mid-May.
Liberal members elect their new leader June 22.

The leadership race rules published by the party Feb. 7 require that candidates "be eligible for election to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in accordance with the Elections Act."

And that act in turn requires candidates in provincial elections to be citizens.

"It makes me wonder if that rule was put in place for me," Ephestion said in an interview.
Last month, he told CBC News that some "old boys" in the party have tried to discourage him from running because he was "an atypical candidate."

"They've never seen that before," he said at the time. "I am young, I am black, I am francophone, I am an immigrant, and I bring new ideas and new vision. Maybe it's too much for them. But these kinds of comments energize me."

Ephestion is a citizen of France who immigrated to Canada in 2015. He said when he first spoke to party officials last fall about running for the leadership, they said there was technically no restriction on a non-citizen.

He said he plans to forge ahead with submitting the required signatures and entry fee to join the race and will see whether the steering committee overseeing the race approves his candidacy.

Ephestion said he spoke Tuesday with one member of the steering committee who agreed with what he was told last fall and who said he should not be disqualified.

Liberal party executive director Keiller Zed wouldn't comment on Ephestion's case but said the same eligibility requirements were in place for the party's last leadership race in 2012.


Gaétan Pelletier is businessman and a former Balmoral village councillor. (Submitted by Gaétan Pelletier)
Meanwhile, Pelletier, a former Balmoral village councillor who helped run Madawaska-Restigouche MP René Arseneault's 2015 federal campaign, said he intends to pay the $20,000 entry fee within days.
Pelletier said he plans to focus on health care and environmental issues, particularly the shortages of doctors, nurses and other professionals plaguing the health system.

Asked for what he would propose to address the problem, he said, "I don't have an answer yet, but I'd definitely look at how to make it better."

Pelletier said the Liberals fell short in the last election because they didn't fix problems with ambulance services and in health care and didn't address controversies about bilingualism head-on.
But he refused to say whether he thought Gallant had been a good leader.

"I think he criticized himself on TV already and I'm not going to criticize him any more than that," Pelletier said.

Two other potential leadership candidates could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Former House of Commons sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers, who is retiring soon as Canada's ambassador to Ireland, is reportedly looking at running.

And Stephanie Tomilson, the principal of Rothesay High School and a Liberal candidate in the 2014 and 2018 provincial elections, is also considering a bid.

About the Author

 


Jacques Poitras
Provincial Affairs reporter
Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. Raised in Moncton, he also produces the CBC political podcast Spin Reduxit. 


CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices



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