Former Tories throw support behind McLellan

EDMONTON - Twelve prominent former Progressive Conservatives have thrown their support behind Liberal MP Anne McLellan.

The group, who praised McLellan's work on justice and social issues, is composed of party organizers and four former Alberta cabinet ministers including Dennis Anderson, Dave King, Horst Schmid and John Oldring.

"We have taken this unprecedented step because it is clear that Anne McLellan has been an especially strong and effective voice for Alberta," Anderson said in a release.

"We are suggesting that voters consider supporting this candidate regardless of historic voting inclinations," said Anderson, a former national Tory party vice-president.

"Sometimes we simply must ask who are the best leaders for Canada. This is one of those times," Anderson said.

Later in a news conference, Anderson said the group is not cohesive in who they will be supporting as a national party.

"There are a couple I know who are actively working for the new Conservative party. But we are all solid in support for Anne and plan to get into the campaign," he said.

Harper reacted to the Tory news saying, "I think some of these people have been out of politics for some time. And if Anne McLellan can only get 12 former Conservatives, she's not going to have enough votes to win that election."

McLellan is considered to be in a tight race in the Edmonton-Centre riding against former fighter pilot Laurie Hawn, a candidate for the Conservatives. In the 2000 election, McLellan beat out the Canadian Alliance candidate by 770 votes.

Hawn said people shouldn't be impressed by the Conservatives who are backing McLellan.

"If you look at the names on the list, how many names do people actually recognize? One person on that list actually lives in the riding," he said.

"We've got much higher profile Tories working on our campaign. This is not going to throw us off anything. It's a silly distraction. We should be talking about issues."

The defections come on the heels of the decision of Liberal Senator Anne Cools to join the Tories.