Earle McCurdy defends parachute candidates after knocking 'fly-in, fly-out' Liberal

Just days after describing Liberal Graham Letto as a "fly-in, fly-out" candidate in Labrador West, NDP Leader Earle McCurdy is now defending his own party's slate.

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The NDP is running candidates in two coastal Labrador districts who have no connection to the region.

They are Jenn Deon in Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, and Mark Sharkey in Torgnat Mountains.

Both told CBC News Thursday they have no plans to campaign in the districts, with Deon saying she is "just happy to put my name forth."

The party's candidate for the Northern Peninsula district of St. Barbe-L'Anse aux Meadows, Genevieve Brouillette, is also a resident of St. John's with no plans to visit district.

• Grit candidate Graham Letto criticized for not being rooted in Labrador West

McCurdy made the reference to Letto during an NDP fundraising dinner in Labrador City on Monday night.

Former mayor moved to St. John's 

Letto is a former mayor of the town and lived there for 37 years before taking up residence in the St. John's area five years ago.

He told CBC News he has an apartment in Labrador City and plans to take up "full residence" if he wins the election.

When asked to explain his criticism of Letto's candidacy, while allowing so-called parachute candidates on his own slate, here's how McCurdy responded:

"We have a couple of districts where we were unable to get a local candidate to run, so rather than leave a blank line on the page — perhaps that's what you'd prefer — what we had in there was a candidate so people have the option of voting NDP because they want to have that option. There's people in every district that want to have that option," he said.

McCurdy said he made the "fly in-fly out" remark because he was hearing it from voters in Lab West.

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"So I don't have to square anything. That is what people said to me about this candidate," he said.

As of Thursday, the NDP had fielded a slate of 35 candidates, with party officials saying a full slate will be in place in the coming days.

The deadline for nominations to be filed is Nov. 20. 

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