Jean Charest compared opponents who didn’t show up for the final debate over the leadership of the Federal Conservatives to fish that won’t swim.
But with six weeks to go before a winner is named, Wednesday’s event was very much an opportunity for the former Quebec premier to canvass for votes.
“It’s the only strategy left,” said veteran conservative strategist Melanie Paradis.
Charest had pushed the party to hold a third and final debate in the race and applauded its decision to make it bilingual.
He appeared alongside Rural Ontario MP Scott Aitchison and former Ontario MP Roman Baber, while fellow candidates Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre chose to omit.
Tim Powers, whose work on Conservative campaigns includes former Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Joe Clark, wonders if some members disappointed with the absences might react negatively, particularly Poilievre, the perceived leader.
“While he is now popular and sucking money, he can never take members of the Conservative Party for granted.”
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Charest’s path to victory is believed to be narrow at best, traversing his home province of Quebec, along with Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
His campaign took a more moderate tone, offering a set of policies around spousal violence and health care, security and climate change.
Throughout the race, as in Wednesday’s debate, Charest insisted the party needs his experience as a political leader. He once served as leader of the former federal Progressive Conservatives and spent time as a minister in Brian Mulroney’s cabinet.
@JeanCharest_ got the audience for his final debate, but will he follow the support he seeks? #CDNPoli #ConservativeLeadership #CPC
Charest’s bid to lead the Federal Conservatives has been something of a political comeback, having spent 20 years off Parliament Hill and the last decade out of elected politics.
His main rival, Poilievre, has been a member of parliament since 2004 and boasts that he sold almost 312,000 party members during his career, a figure that has not been publicly verified by party headquarters.
In all, the party says it has a voting list of nearly 679,000 names, 400,000 of whom are believed to be new members.
With just 150,000 ballots returned to party headquarters as of Wednesday, Charest is addressing the thousands who have yet to fill out theirs.
At this stage, Paradis says Charest’s only play is to try to attract as many supporters of other candidates as he can, hoping they’ll get his name on the party’s qualifying ballot.
“The real question is, if you’re a Scott Aitchison supporter and you haven’t filled out your ballot yet, are you now thinking, ‘Well, maybe it’s too close and I need to put Charest first’?”
During the debate, Charest praised both Aitchison and Baber. He agreed with Aitchison’s calls for party unity and said Baber acted admirably when he defended his belief against the COVID-19 lockdowns, which got him kicked out of the Prime Minister’s Progressive Conservative caucus. Ontario, Doug Ford.
At one point in the debate, Charest spoke directly to members, saying, “You all have a seat at the table, I want you to know that.”
Rudy Husny, a political analyst and former Conservative leadership candidate, says Quebec is crucial for Charest to win, pointing to fundraising figures that show Poilievre should not be underestimated alongside the province’s former leader.
Files with Elections Canada show that Poilievre raised more than $4 million compared to Charest’s $1.3 million.
Husny says that the fact that Poilievre raised money from more Quebec donors than Charest is a strong indicator of how many people are involved in the process and might be willing to show up and vote.
Figures released by the party show the number of Conservative members in the province also rose during the race to more than 58,000, up from 7,648 it reported at the end of 2021.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 4, 2022.