Jason Kenney tells Fed Conservatives to worry about party unity after debate ‘jitters’

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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called on those vying to become the federal Conservative leader to keep an eye on party unity after Thursday’s raucous debate, suggesting perhaps some will calm down now that they’ve freed themselves from their “nervousness”.

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“Look, this was the first debate. We are at the beginning of May; the vote is in September. It’s a long race to run here. And I think maybe some of the candidates were getting nervous in the first debate last night,” Kenney told the National Post.

Look, it’s not going to be a crush. There has to be some clash, it’s good. It should be based on politics and vision and not on personalities”, he argued.

Leadership contenders Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest, in particular, made headlines after clashing during Thursday’s unofficial debate organized by the Canada Strong and Free Network, an umbrella organization for conservative loyalists, in Ottawa.

During the debate, Poilievre accused Charest of being a “liberal” on many occasions and attacked his record as premier of Quebec. Charest went after Poilievre for having supported “illegal blockades” earlier this year, an attack that caused him to be booed by the crowd.

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Even candidate Leslyn Lewis criticized Poilievre, saying he hadn’t been supportive enough of truckers during their protests this winter and is hiding his views on abortion issues.

These attacks prompted candidate Scott Aitchison to send an email to his supporters on Friday with the word “Embarrassing” and a palm emoji in the subject line. He noted in his message that he was “frankly embarrassed” by the match after Thursday’s rally.

“We will never win another election if this is how we treat each other,” he wrote.

We’re never gonna win another election if that’s how we treat each other

Scott Aitchison

Aitchison also challenged his fellow contenders to do better during next week’s first official leadership debate, asking them to “bracket ideas” and “talk about the future we want to see for our country.”

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“And if they don’t, I will continue to lead by example,” he added.

The six Conservative leadership candidates will meet again for the official debate in English on May 11 in Edmonton and on May 25 in Laval, Que., for the official debate in French. The new leader will be announced on September 10.

Kenney, who is in the midst of a leadership vote in his own party with mail-in ballot results expected in less than two weeks, stressed that the Conservative Party of Canada must remain united after this is all over if it wants to. beat the Liberals in the next election.

“They have to be,” he said. “United they can win, divided they stand no chance. So my message to all my conservative friends, including the candidates on stage last night, is: keep that in mind. Whoever wins has to unite the group afterwards.”

“I would just encourage everyone to remember the day after the leadership election.”