Two of the most prominent contenders for the Conservative leadership will not take part in the party’s final official debate.
Conservative Party officials have confirmed that Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis have told party officials they will not attend the Aug. 3 debate in Ottawa.
That leaves Jean Charest, Roman Baber and Scott Aitchison to battle it out for 90 minutes on Wednesday at 6pm ET.
Under party rules, both Poilievre and Lewis must now pay an automatic $50,000 penalty for missing a formal debate. Both had already made it clear that they were not happy with the decision to hold a third debate.
Poilievre senior adviser Jenny Byrne released a statement last week saying the party’s first official debate in Edmonton was “widely recognized as an embarrassment” and blamed the party for the choice of moderator and format.
Byrne wrote that since the time to sign up new members has now ended, Poilievre should be on the road “non-stop” to get members to fill out their ballots. She mocked Charest, saying she needed Poillievre’s participation in the debate to attract an audience.
Lewis, meanwhile, has publicly shared a letter she sent to the Conservative leadership committee. In it, Lewis claims she was not informed about the format of the debate and that she told the party she would not be available on the date set for the event.
She asked the committee if the debate would tackle the “usual questions” about pipelines and budgets or instead take up issues she said she hears from the Conservatives every day — such as calls for an investigation into Canada’s response to the pandemic and concerns about the World economic forum.
An open letter to LEOC. pic.twitter.com/sbeBMJjRhM
—@LeslynLewis
The Conservative Party held an online vote asking members to weigh in on whether a third debate was warranted. It said there was “overwhelming consensus” in favor of the debate, which it described as a “key opportunity” to help members decide who should lead the party.
The party began sending classified ballots to members earlier this month and approximately 80,000 have already been returned, a party spokesman said.
Patrick Brown’s name appears on that ballot despite his disqualification by officials on July 5 over what party leadership called “serious allegations of wrongdoing” related to campaign finance.
Charest suggests Poilievre deserves some ‘freedom’
Charest’s campaign is using the upcoming debate as an opportunity to poke fun at Poilievre.
Let Pierre discuss. it’s time to pic.twitter.com/U5WzVeemTN
—@JeanCharest_
In the hours before the party confirmed the Carleton lawmaker would not be participating in the debate, Charest’s campaign released an online video with the caption “It’s time to #FreePierre” — an apparent riff on Poilievre’s campaign theme of freedom.
Conservatives have until September 6th at 5pm ET to mail in the envelope containing their ballots. The winner will be announced on September 10th.
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