OTTAWA –
There are just two weeks until the Conservative Party of Canada announces its new leader on September 10th.
Although almost half of the ballots have already been cast, the five candidates – Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest, Roman Baber, Scott Aitchison and Leslyn Lewis – are busy gathering support in the final push to get out the vote.
The race to become the party’s next leader began in early February when Erin O’Toole resigned from the top job. Candidates for the position then had to pay the necessary registration fees and submit signatures from 500 party members in April to get on the ballot.
Ballots were sent to a record number of party members in early July and must be returned by September 6. Approximately 326,000 ballots had been returned as of Thursday, according to party spokesman Jaroslav Baran.
With the countdown underway, CTVNews.ca has compiled a recap of the key moments from the race.
HISTORICAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS
In late July, the party announced that its finalized membership list had reached nearly 679,000 people, claiming that this number made the Conservative Party the largest party in Canadian history by membership.
At the time, Baran said membership had quadrupled since last year. Members in every province and territory have at least doubled, he said — while numbers have quadrupled in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and British Columbia.
The number of ballots returned so far has already exceeded the number of votes cast in the 2020 leadership election.
Party president Robert Batterson said in an announcement in July that the “huge surge in membership” demonstrated the excitement the race had generated and “the momentum to change the government in Ottawa.”
The party declined to disclose the number of memberships sold by individual leadership campaigns, so it is not known whether any candidate can claim responsibility for the surges in certain regions. But Pierre Poilievre said in June that his campaign had sold nearly 312,000 memberships.
CHAREST AND POILIEVRE ARE CONSIDERED FORWARD
The race appears to be down to two front-runners: longtime lawmaker Pierre Poilievre and former Quebec premier Jean Charest.
Poilievre, who has been an MP for 18 years, campaigned on a message of promising freedom for Canadians and getting rid of the “watchdogs.” The Ottawa-area MP drew the largest crowds of any of his rivals since announcing his candidacy in February and claimed he had the support of a majority of the federal Conservative caucus.
In July, former prime minister Stephen Harper backed Poilievre, saying in a video posted on Twitter that Poilievre had made the “strongest case” for winning new party members and winning the next general election.
But Poilievre has also been a major target of condemnation from many politicians and pundits critical of his populist policies and the delegitimization of certain institutions, such as the Bank of Canada.
Charest, for his part, had the support of 16 MPs as of July and was seen as a more moderate candidate, campaigning on his past experience as a former premier of Quebec.
The two front-runners focused many of their attacks on each other during the race, with Poilievre accusing Charest of being a liberal and Charest saying Poilievre should be disqualified from the race for supporting the truckers’ convoy in February.
According to a Leger poll released in August, Poilievre is the clear favorite among CPC members, while Charest has more support among Canadians overall.
The disparity could mean challenges in the next general election, Leger executive vice-president Christian Burke told The Canadian Press, depending on who becomes leader and whether he can rally the party to oust the Liberal government.
Charest has not said whether he will stand as a Conservative MP in the next general election if he loses the leadership.
DISQUALIFICATION OF PATRICK BROWN
In early July, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown was disqualified from the leadership race after “serious allegations of wrongdoing.”
Brown initially said he would hit back at what he called “phantom allegations” and insisted his campaign “has done nothing wrong.”
But Debra Jodoin, a longtime conservative organizer, later released a statement through her attorney alleging that Brown was involved in having a third company pay her for work she did on his campaign.
A panel looking into Brown’s suspension later concluded the party had enough evidence to disqualify him, The Canadian Press reported. Brown has since announced his candidacy for re-election as mayor of Brampton.
Conservative strategist and president of Texture Communications Melanie Paradis told CTV News Channel in July that it would be very difficult to predict how Brown’s disqualification might affect the race because voting is weighted by riding, as opposed to a first-past-the-post system. to one.
“It will be very interesting to see how this plays out,” she said. “Where are these voters going? Are the people he recruited going anywhere? Or will they drop out? In that case, it would completely change the math for points in each ride,” Paradis said.
However, Brown’s name is still on the ballot because the party “just [didn’t] have time to reprint” nearly 679,000 ballots while ensuring voters have time to return their completed ballots by the Sept. 6 deadline, party president Robert Batterson told CTV News Channel in July.
DEBATES DISPUTES
Since May, the candidates have participated in three official debates.
The first official English-language debate in mid-May promised to focus on policy but drew sharp criticism for its format. The debate featured a sad trombone sound effect when candidates broke any debate rules and questions about pop culture preferences, from favorite TV shows to music to books, while candidates had to hold oars when they wanted to speak.
During the French-language debate a few weeks later, the candidates took the opportunity of what they said could be the last official debate to launch scathing attacks on their opponents.
But after Charest pushed for a third official debate, arguing that new party members would be beneficial, the party held it on August 3, with only three candidates participating.
Both Poilievre and Lewis missed the event, receiving fines of $50,000. Meanwhile, Charest, former Ontario MP Roman Baber and MP Scott Aitchison debated in both official languages sitting around a large blue table — a setup Charest called “weird.”
BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE PARTY?
The race has often been called a battle for the soul of the Conservative Party, with many questioning how the winner hopes to bring all its members – and the race’s losers – under one big blue tent after such a divisive campaign.
Poilievre’s critics accused him of undermining Canadians’ trust in their institutions after he repeatedly promised to “get rid of the watchdogs.” Meanwhile, Baber and MP Leslyn Lewis were accused of spreading conspiracy theories.
Baber has been vocal during the race about his opposition to pandemic measures, which largely led to his ouster from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s caucus last year, while Lewis has expressed concern about the World Economic Forum, the WHO Pandemic Agreement, the effectiveness of on COVID -19 vaccines and abortion.
Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark — while endorsing Charest — gave a speech in Edmonton earlier this month in which she said the party was taking its “race to the extremes to play out to the very edges of the political divide.”
But some candidates emphasized their messages of cooperation and the need for party unity. Lewis published a letter in August declaring that he “hates politics” and refusing to attack his opponents. And Aitchison promised to “bring respect back to politics in Ottawa” during his “Hope and Respect Tour.”
And the final official debate of the campaign had a heavy focus on party unity, with the three participants making efforts to move away from the divisive rhetoric of the past six months and instead emphasizing the need to unite after the new leader is announced.
With files from Rachel Aiello and Sarah Turnbull of CTV and The Canadian Press
Add Comment