Colin Mayes:local riding an utter joke!

Tories too ‘immature’ for teen?
Scott Neufeld / Daily Courier Vernon February 14, 2007

One of the youngest board directors in the history of the Conservative Party of Canada is stepping down because her colleagues are “immature.”

Ashlee Chartrand, 15, joined the board of the local Conservative association last year. But after less than a year as a director she said she is no longer interested in witnessing the squabbling among her fellow members.

“For the most part the people left on the board are ineffective, they set a bad example and that’s not something I want to be a part of,” she said. “I think they’re being immature, I don’t think they’re being open with constituents.” Chartrand said the final straw was when MP Colin Mayes questioned her commitment to the board.

“He actually at that meeting brought up the idea of removing me because he said I’d missed, like, four meetings or something but I’d actually only missed two,” she said. “That was not how I expected an MP to act.”

However, Mayes said he did not ask for Chartrand’s dismissal. He said that he asked if Chartrand wanted to remain on the board since she had missed a couple of meetings.
“I said that if we don’t have regular attendance by several of the board members then we need to phone them to ask whether they’re still interested,” Mayes said.

Although she had hoped to increase youth involvement in the party, Chartrand said she was accused of wrongdoing when she tried to sign up her friends.

Terri Jones, Mayes’ executive assistant, said she does not know of anyone accusing Chartrand of misconduct.

“No one said she couldn’t sign up other youth,” Jones said. “There is a process anybody has to follow when they sign up people, part of which is they’re not allowed to pay for people’s memberships.”

Despite her decision to leave, Chartrand said she is still excited about what the Conservatives are doing at a national level. She said she still hopes to work in Ottawa.

“I guess it has just given me more inspiration to get up there and change the kind of people working in government,” she said.

The departure of the youngest board member comes on the heels of two more departures from the Conservative board.

Financial agent Ray Ivey and vice-president Arnold Walter have left citing business and personal commitments.

Since March, 13 of the board’s 30 directors have resigned or been fired.