Off and Running
Nancy Branscombe's re-birth as London, Ontario candidate

Re-printed with permission from
The Peterborough Examiner
Nov. 1, 2000

Opinion

Political vagabond? ... carpetbagger? ... chameleon? ... mercenary? Nancy Branscombe's latest rebirth - as the Canadian Alliance candidate in London, Ont., five days after losing the party's nomination here - leaves us scrambling to define her.

Nothing on her resume so far suggests ``grassroots politician'' is any part of the answer, although she often used that Reform-Alliance buzzword during three local campaigns.

Experience suggests that asking Branscombe to define herself wouldn't necessarily be the best way to get the information.

A week ago Monday, following her final meeting as an Otonabee Ward councillor, she told a reporter she had no concrete plans for the future other than working on the Alliance's national campaign. No mention that she had filed her nomination papers for the London riding candidacy earlier that day.

Maybe something about London short-circuits her thinking process. In 1998, while an executive member of the local provincial Progressive Conservative association and a paid Reform employee, Branscombe introduced herself as ``Betty from London'' on a CBC radio call-in show, then scolded former federal Tory cabinet Minister John Crosbie for his criticism of Preston Manning.

Several listeners who recognized her voice weren't fooled. To her credit, Branscombe admitted the lie when caught.

At that time, Branscombe was Reform's national campaign manager for the ``unified alternative'' attempt to bring together the federal Reform and PC parties. She was also six months into her first term as a city councillor.

She came to Peterborough from Kingston early in 1997, invited by the local Reform executive to run here. She won the nomination two months later, defeating the only other candidate. She had been working as the party's regional organizer for 23 Eastern Ontario ridings.

During the campaign that followed she faced criticism as a ``parachute candidate'' and finished a distant second to incumbent MP Peter Adams. It was her first run for office and she candidly stated ``I won't promise to stay if I don't win,'' but said she might if she was offered a job.

It turned out no one had to offer her employment. She became Reform's key paid organizer in Ontario, and three months later announced she would run for one of two Otonabee councillor positions.

Her timing was perfect. With only one incumbent running, she squeaked into second place and a council seat that would raise her profile for a future federal campaign. Timing seemed to be on her side again this year, when the rumoured early election call coincided with the end of her three-year council term. In August she announced she was running for the Alliance nomination and wouldn't try to return to council regardless of the outcome.

Coming off three years as a councillor and a high-profile national role in the Alliance campaign, she had to be confident. Local Alliance members instead chose a true grassroots candidate, former school board trustee Eric Mann, by a margin of nearly 2-1.

Two days later she was a candidate in London, where her new husband, Alliance national co-president Ken Kalopsis, has a home. Kalopsis, she said, ``had a conversation'' with the nominating committee there and she was in the race. After Thursday's vote, her rivals were out; one party member criticized the process as ``sleazy, backroom double dealing.''

Branscombe has every right to jump from riding to riding, from federal to municipal politics and back, from the back rooms to the campaign spotlight. But we suspect that claiming not to be a parachute candidate because ``my future's here'' won't fool London voters. And we have to wonder if ``Nancy from London'' and her invisible parachute won't soon be back on the road, looking for an election she can win.

The Examiner