A spokesperson for the federal Conservative Party says Gerrit Van Dorland failed to provide a list of social media accounts and comments he made online or in media interviews.
OXFORD COUNTY - The Conservative Party of Canada has decided to drop one of the candidates in the Oxford County nomination race.
According to party spokeswoman Sarah Fischer, Gerrit Van Dorland has been disqualified from the nomination race for failing to provide a list of social media accounts and comments he made online or to the media. A spokesperson for Van Dorland's campaign says an appeal process will be taking place.
Once the news of Van Dorland's disqualification broke, the anti-abortion organization RightNow released a statement claiming that it happened because he's pro-life and had a good chance of winning the nomination.
Fischer says the federal Conservative Party commented publicly on the matter afterward in order to provide "clarification and context."
Dave MacKenzie officially stepped down as Oxford County's Conservative MP on January 28th, after serving the community for almost two decades. The list of candidates running for the Conservative nomination includes his daughter and Woodstock City-County Councillor Deb Tait, National Outreach Chair Arpan Khanna, and Vice President Strategic Communications for Global Public Affairs Rick Roth.
Khanna and Roth have both released statements regarding Van Dorland's disqualification and you can find them below:

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