Calgary dentist seeking Cambridge PC candidacy won't discuss plans

Calgary dentist Tanya Khattra says she will not comment on the current race to become the Progressive Conservative candidate for Cambridge in the upcoming provincial election.

Khattra has come under fire since she announced she would be running for the nomination; many in the riding say she has tenuous if any ties to the community.

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CBC News asked Khattra if she lived in the area or if she has plans to move here even if she does not win the nomination.

Despite having a campaign-style website and Facebook page, Khattra responded: "I'm not a declared candidate for the nomination in Cambridge. Unless and until I become one, I'm a private citizen and I'd prefer not to comment."

Resignations from Khattra campaign

This week, a statement was released by two people who worked with Khattrabut have since left her campaign. Margaret Barr was Khattra's communications consultant and Prakash Venkataraman was her campaign manager.

In the joint statement, they said Khattra does not live in the home she has rented in Cambridge. They also said Khattra and her husband "informed us they would not be moving here until after she won the nomination."

"This was obviously a shock to us," they wrote.

"After repeated attempts, over the last few days, to allow her to resign, she refused to do so."

They have both now resigned from her campaign.

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In a Facebook post in October, which has sincebeen deleted from her page, Khattra said she was actively seeking a place to live in Cambridge and said she is not a "parachute" candidate.

"I am a candidate who has simply returned home after a five-year absence," she wrote. "My heart belongs to this riding."

Can't stop candidates from running

When asked whether the riding association could barr Khattra from running, president of the Cambridge PC riding association Rob Leone said simply: No.

"The local association does not have the power to ask her to step aside and not run. We are not privy to her residency information other than the speculation that has been circulated in the media and social media," he said.

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Instead, he noted, the party's provincial nomination committee centrally screens all candidates, and approves or denies their application.

"The matter of Dr. Khattra's candidacy will be decided by that body or by Dr. Khattra herself," Leone said.

Although there have been reports the local nomination meeting to choose a candidate would be held March 24, Leone said that "given the leadership election for the party, the Cambridge nomination date is yet to be determined."

The provincial election is June 7.