A Conservative candidate for Toronto Centre has stepped down and has been replaced by a PMO staffer.

David Gentili is replacing Chris Reid, who says he resigned because he can’t commit to four years.
He was running against Liberal Bob Rae.

Remnants of Reid’s blog surfaced this weekend, and his Reform rants may have been too hot for The Conservative Party to handle. BigCityLib found a cached Reid blog cached page and posted it.
Reid wrote BigCityLib regarding his views and his former blog. Details here.

The cached page from Chris Reid’s former blog: political thoughts from a gay conservative.

Bouquets of Gray has some good questions.

What is more striking is the sneery way he describes Canadians. The “Canadian thing”, he mocks, is to “flee in terror” and to no “courage or sacrifice”. And the way that he describes Canada’s population as “a “castrated” and “effeminate”.

Now, it is hardly surprising that this is the kind of view that a candidate would want to hide from scrutiny. Before he became a candidate, apparently, his blog disappeared.

But this raises another series of questions. Who decided to make the blog disappear? Reid? or his Conservative vetters? Did his Conservative vetters know about his views? Do they know about them now? Do they think that Reid is a fitting representative of their party?

The NDP lost two candidates in British Columbia last week; Dana Larson and Kirk Tousaw, after video surfaced of their use of pot. (they used to be members of the BC Marijuana Party)

The Liberals dumped former radio announcer Simon Bédard (Quebec City) for former remarks about First Nations.
Former Conservative(Châteauguay) Richard Lopez running for The Liberal Party in Beauharnois-Salaberry also stepped down for remarks regarding First Nations that are incompatible with Liberal Party policy.

Former Green Party member John Shavluk was dumped by the Green Party after a blogger uncovered anti-Semitic remarks.
Current Saanich-Gulf Islands NDP candidate Julian West has re-apologized for nudity at a youth camp 12 years ago. The NDP won’t be asking him to resign, and blame The Liberal Party for digging up the 1996 story and sending it to a reporter.

The nude photos of Skeena-Bulkley Valley candidate Sharon Smith have re-surfaced. The Conservative Party says she won’t be stepping down.

And people think Canadian politics is boring.;^)

The deadline for declared candidates is Monday 2 pm - 21 days before polling day.