OTTAWA –
Conservative leadership candidates met with each other over the mandates of COVID-19 and the convoy of trucks in downtown Ottawa in the first informal debate of Thursday’s race.
Leslin Lewis, a third-ranked lawmaker in the 2020 race, has challenged longtime Ottawa lawmaker Pierre Poaliever over his record in defending Canadian freedoms during the pandemic. Many conservatives opposed health measures such as vaccines and masks.
As Poilievre tried to prove that he was one of the strongest voices, Luis intervened: “You were not one of the strongest voices.”
“You didn’t speak until you were comfortable talking. You didn’t even go to the truckers’ protest. In fact, you went and took a picture in your neighborhood at a local bus stop.
Poilievre works with the promise of giving more freedom to Canadians.
Lewis, who opposes abortion and promises to ban so-called sex-selective abortions, also challenged Poaliev over his stance on socio-conservative issues, claiming he had spent the past few days avoiding media questions.
“As a leader, he will have to declare that,” she said. “He can’t just be finance minister if he wants to be prime minister. He will have to deal with the socio-conservative issues he has been leading throughout this campaign. “
Poliever said earlier in the week that his government would not introduce or pass laws restricting abortion.
Former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest has won the booing of hundreds of conservative believers gathered in a conference hall in central Ottawa, saying Poilievre supports the illegal blockade.
Poilievre attacked Charest for his experience in Quebec and accused him of being a liberal because he led the Liberal Party of Quebec. He also repeatedly pressured Charest for how much money he made working for the telecommunications giant Huawei.
As the three candidates took turns focusing on each other, Ontario MP Scott Aichison said on stage that as conservatives, “all we do is shout and shout at each other” and said it was a problem if the party wanted to compete with more Canadians in the next election.
“Here we call each other. Which Canadian will trust this party? We need to do better,” Aichison said.
He added: “Every time I hear a conservative talk about a conspiracy theory, there’s another group of swinging GTA voters who just won’t come to us.”
This comment was repulsed by Lewis, as well as by Roman Baber, the Ontario MP who was expelled from Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in 2021 for openly opposing the COVID-19 blockade in force at the time. .
Baber says many Canadians are still unable to board a plane in the country due to a federal mandate for a vaccine against COVID-19.
“Canadians are witnessing the constant erosion of our democracy, and we need to keep this conversation in mind, instead of making fun of them, as the prime minister is doing,” Baber said.
The debate, organized by the Canadian Strong and Free Network, began with a question from five of the six candidates who appeared at the event, why they think the Conservative Party has lost the last few elections.
Aichison said consistency in the message was important, while Charest pointed to the lack of seats in the Greater Toronto area, as well as in Lower Continental British Columbia.
Charest says one of the problems the party faces in trying to break into the GTA is the reaction to the 2015 conservative campaign, when the Tories promised to create a line of advice on so-called barbaric cultural practices.
Poilievre said in the room that he has never lost an election, has big followers on social media and is attracting many new party members with his rallies.
This Canadian Press report was first published on May 5, 2022.
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