Liberal candidate David MacLeod resigns after Trudeau’s support for Bill C-51

Looks like Bill C-51 was a major factor in some Liberal candidates quiting. Speak out now to put a stop to this reckless, dangerous and ineffective legislation at KillC51.ca Article by Jane Taber for The Globe and Mail The Canadian Forces veteran who was poised to run for the federal Liberals in the northern Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova has resigned as the candidate over his opposition to Justin Trudeau’s support for Bill C-51.

David MacLeod’s decision underlines the damage that Mr. Trudeau and his caucus’s support for the controversial security bill is doing to the Liberal Party and its brand as defender of human rights.

“It was an integrity-based decision,” he said in an interview Monday with The Globe and Mail.

National opinion polls are showing many Liberal supporters are opposed to the legislation, which Mr. Trudeau and his team helped pass last month. NDP leader Tom Mulcair and his party have been surging in the polls – and some credit that to the NDP’s opposition to the bill. Liberal support, according to a recent poll by EKOS’s Frank Graves, may be drifting over to the NDP as a result.

Mr. MacLeod served for 27 years in dangerous spots, including Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo. He had planned to take on Justice Minister Peter MacKay, who had previously held the defence portfolio.

But two days after Mr. MacLeod quietly told the Liberal team he was withdrawing, Mr. MacKay surprised everyone with his announcement that he would not seek re-election in the fall campaign.

Mr. MacLeod, who was nominated as the Liberal candidate last fall and has been campaigning hard since, made his decision after watching Liberal MPs support Stephen Harper and his Conservatives in the House of Commons on the final vote.

- Read more at The Globe and Mail