Erin O’Toole Calls Pandemic Elections “Non-Canadian” in Latest Push for Votes

OTTAWA – Erin O’Toole suggests it was “not Canadian” that liberal leader Justin Trudeau called elections amid a public health crisis.

O’Toole went personal on Saturday, as polls suggested the Conservative campaign is in trouble heading into Monday’s federal vote.

“This pandemic choice is vain, risky and selfish. In fact, he’s not Canadian, ”O’Toole said in prepared remarks at a campaign stop in southern Ontario on horseback from Flamborough-Glanbrook.

“Still, despite what it was called, there is a lot at stake in this election … In this environment, it is understandable that people are looking for alternatives, looking to change things, trying to show that they are tired of everything.”

“Make no mistake, voting for other parties that cannot win, no matter how aggrieved or angry you feel, will not get Trudeau out.”

That point, that voters are angry and looking for alternatives, was a more or less explicit appeal to voters who left the Conservative fold and supported their vote with Maxime Bernier’s insurgent People’s Party of Canada.

According to The Signal, the Vox Pop Labs poll tracker for Star, PPC is gaining 6.5 percent nationwide. High-level sources on O’Toole’s campaign insist that not only are conservative voters flocking to Bernier’s movement, but it is clear that several of them are.

PPC support may not be enough to win Bernier seats. But it may be enough to deny conservatives seats in tight contests.

Near the end of a sometimes scathing campaign, O’Toole acknowledged that a significant number of voters are angry, calling that anger “justified.”

“But there is one way, and only one, to send a message to Justin Trudeau. There is only one way to show him the door, and that is to vote for the Conservatives on Monday, ”O’Toole said.