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A2 - The Canadian Champion, Friday, August 18, 2006 5 CoMing Soon! F14 Ai eoru' VeiisAe 04 * -IlI hi rIU V e ) 5; ..h .fgýrUif Se4.i 4tiel Turner says rel igious right wants him out By Melanie Hennessey CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF Halton MP Garth Turner claims members of local and national religious groups opposed to same-sex maniage are organizing in an attempt to defeat him in the u p c o m i n g Conservative rid- ing nomination contest. The feisty politician alleges some of his sup- Garth Turner porters and a member of the Halton Conservative riding association were contacted by phone about a meeting prior to it being held Tuesday night in Milton to review his candidacy According to Turner, the callers - who identified thernselves as being with the Conservative Party of Canada - also expressed concern with his position on same-sex marriage. "I can't say I am surprised by this, since I have been critical for months of those in the righteous right who I believe are intolerant and want to impose their moral code," be said. "I am quite convinced the majority of people in Halton do not want to debate gay marriage, but that doesn't mean this group - if it is well organ- ized - can't scoop off the Conservative nomination." Turner alleges that the group is affil- iated with local churches and the Defend Marriage Coalition and is look- ing for a candidate to oppose him who would vote to re-open the same-sex marriage issue. He also said he believes one person the group is working with as a potential candidate is D'Arcy Keene, whom Turner defeated during the last nomina- tion contest. Defend Marriage Coalition head Charles McVety, who's also the presi- dent of Canada Christian College and the Canada Family Action Coalition, told The Champion yesterday that the group bas been encouraging Keene to run against Turner. He also acknowledged that the coali- tion bas promised to try to overthrow MPs who favour same-sex marriage. "That is our focus, but in this situa- tion, it's almost impossible," be said, pointing to the short time frame - about one week - that candidates have been given to come forward for the nomination contest. He called Turners allegations "a global conspiracy theory" that's been blown out of proportion. "He appears to have some entitle- ment focus, and anyone who dares to challenge him is breaching his entitle- ment," McVety said. . He also said be thinks Turner is dis- torting the coalitions general campaign to encourage grassroots people to get involved in the candidate selection process. Meanwhile, Keene told The