Conservative leader Erin O’Toole warns her MPs that they face the same fate as a senator ousted from the party bench if they challenge her leadership.
O’Toole imposed the law Wednesday while heading to a two-day conservative caucus retreat, the day after showing the door to Sen. Denise Batters.
“You don’t want to make that decision, but actually, she did it herself,” he told reporters when he arrived at the meeting, flanked by members of his leadership circle.
“People who now allow their frustrations and their own personal agendas or issues about the pandemic to interfere with our progress are not part of the team.”
He argued that the Conservative caucus must stay focused on defeating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and holding his liberal minority government accountable. He added that whoever “does not put the team and the country first will not be part of this team.”
Driving off hitters is the most serious consequence O’Toole has imposed on any member since his defeat in the Sept. 20 election, prompting complaints about his performance and infighting over the Conservatives’ stance on the mandates. of vaccines.
The Saskatchewan senator and a longtime party stalwart launched a petition Monday aiming to force a referendum on O’Toole’s leadership within the next six months, rather than waiting for a scheduled leadership confidence vote. at the party’s national convention in 2023.
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As of Wednesday night, his office said the petition had garnered about 3,700 signatures. However, the party has rejected Batters’ request as an invalid way to trigger a leadership review, something she and her supporters reject.
In launching the petition, Batters, who was appointed to the Senate on the advice of former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2013, argued that O’Toole lost the election because Canadians did not trust him. Having reversed his positions on banning firearms, carbon taxes, and conscience rights, he predicted that he might not be able to regain the trust of voters in the future.
Batters had no regrets Wednesday.
O’Toole warns that more expulsions are coming for any MP who challenges his leadership. #CPC #CDNPoli
“I am and always will be a conservative,” she said in a statement.
“It is ironic that Erin O’Toole is kicking me out of our national conservative caucus for asking her to adhere to the principles and policies that our conservative party members have endorsed.”
He also questioned why they singled it out when Senator Michael MacDonald urged Tory MPs last month to give themselves the power to conduct an early leadership review.
“If Mr. O’Toole is confident that our party members support the new direction our party is taking, he should have nothing to fear in confronting our members democratically in an accelerated vote of confidence,” said Batters .
In an earlier interview with The Canadian Press after his petition was launched, Batters said other MPs and senators support his efforts.
However, O’Toole insisted Wednesday that his group is “united on our way forward.” His team also believes he has the support of the majority of MPs to oust any MP who publicly supports Batters’ effort to overthrow O’Toole.
O’Toole can unilaterally expel a senator from the caucus, but removal of an elected member would require a majority vote of MPs.
Last week, the leader left several deputies out of his shadow cabinet who opposed mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 or questioned the effectiveness of vaccines.
Among them was Leslyn Lewis, a recently elected representative from Ontario, who was strongly endorsed during last year’s leadership race by the party’s western and social conservative base. O’Toole had courted that bloc of supporters during the race, presenting himself as the “true blue” candidate to the party’s faithful.
Lewis had previously voiced his support for O’Toole after the electoral defeat, but a spokesman for his office on Wednesday declined to comment on Batters’ request.
Many MPs who were elected to critical roles were quick to publicly denounce the senator on Monday and echoed that sentiment as they made their way to Wednesday’s caucus meeting.
Newly elected Ontario MP Michelle Ferreri said Batters should have kept her concerns behind closed caucus doors.
“I think Denise made her decisions and I think we have to focus on what Canadians need and get back to work,” said Scott Aitchison, MP for Parry Sound – Muskoka.
Winnipeg MP Marty Morantz said he supports O’Toole’s decision to eliminate hitters and that the bases will have a say when the scheduled convention comes in two years.
“Mr. O’Toole has only been a leader for a little over 14 months. Members simply voiced their opinion and I don’t think it is productive at all to remove leaders after 14 months of being a leader without giving Canadians a chance. to get to know them and trust them. “
While the caucus appeared to support O’Toole’s decision to oust Batters, his petition remains active. It is being promoted by groups representing fringes of the conservative rank and file dissatisfied with O’Toole’s leadership and his attempts to put a more moderate stamp on the party.
Elect Conservatives, which endorsed Lewis during the 2020 leadership race, issued a statement linked to the petition. The statement said it was “hypocritical” for O’Toole to kick Batters, given that the party professes to promote “freedom of expression and open dialogue.”
The anti-abortion groups Campaign Life Coalition and RightNow also backed the petition, after weeks of separately saying O’Toole failed to deliver on promises he made to social conservatives during the leadership race.
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 17, 2021.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com