Christine Elliott gets PC show of support after 'pink tent' attack

Many Ontario Progressive Conservatives rallied behind leadership candidate Christine Elliott in the Ontario legislature Monday after one of their own suggested she would create a "little pink tent" and was more of a Trudeau-Liberal than a real conservative.

Meanwhile, the man who made the comment, London-area MPP Monte McNaughton himself a former leadership candidate denied his comments had anything to do with homophobia.

McNaughton, who is now backing Elliott's rival Barrie MP Patrick Brown, sparked the controversy in an email over the weekend saying Elliott "should rename her tent the 'little red tent' or 'little pink tent.'

The remarks by McNaughton, entitled 'Christine Elliott Trudeau???,' were sent to 12,000 PC members hours before this past Sunday's first round of voting.

The email also accused Elliott of "waffling" in her opposition to the Liberal's new sex education curriculum.

Elliott was asked about the comments as she cast her ballot in the leadership race in Oshawa on Sunday

'Can't really comment'

"I can't really comment on what other parties have done in this campaign," Elliott told CBC News.

"All I can really say is that our campaign has done everythingaccordingto all the rules," she said.

Elliott, the deputy PC leader and widow of former finance minister Jim Flaherty, has said she wants to create a "big blue tent" of Tory supporters if she defeats Brown to win the leadership.

Ottawa-area MPP Lisa MacLeod, who threw her support behind Elliott when she withdrew from the leadership race, said most of the PC caucus wore pink Monday to show solidarity with Elliott and to demonstrate that the party is not homophobic.

"We're wearing pink today because we don't want to send a message to any children out there who may believe in fiscal conservative values but at the same time think that our party is intolerant, which we are not," said MacLeod.

"I was personally very sad because I think a lot of Monte McNaughton and I thought he had a great career ahead of him."

'Too pink'

McNaughton insisted his pink tent comments referred only to his opinion that Elliott is a "Liberal-lite" conservative, and to a TV commentator's remark that she was "too pink" for some in the PC party.

"Leadership contests are a bit uncomfortable at times, and I think that's what we're seeing here," he said.

But MacLeod wasn't buying McNaughton's explanation.

"Either the words were ill chosen, or they were meant to paint members of our caucus in an unflattering light," she said.

Many Tories took to Twitter to condemn McNaughton's attack on Elliott, with former PC party president Ken Zeise saying it hurt both candidates.