Succession of Erin O’Toole: six suitors will race

The formation finally unveiled its official list of aspiring leaders Monday by the voice of Ian Brodie, chairman of the organizing committee for the election.

In all, six candidates will fight to succeed Erin O’Toole, namely Pierre Poilievre – considered the favorite –, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, Patrick Bown, Scott Aitchison and Roman Baber.

Five other contenders had qualified by virtue of the first stage of the race, on April 19, namely Leona Alleslev, Marc Dalton, Joseph Bourgault, Joel Etienne and Grant Abraham. However, they failed to have their applications certified.

In mid-March, Toronto businessman Bobby Singh also announced his intention to run for the party leadership, but his name was not among the candidates who passed the first stage – that of April 19 –, which required including the payment of $50,000 in registration fees.

The other 11 candidates had until last Friday to fulfill a series of conditions. In particular, they had to collect 500 signatures and $300,000, including $200,000 in registration fees and $100,000 in a compliance deposit (refundable).

Rejected candidates demand explanations

Former MP Leona Alleslev, who once served as deputy head of the CCPConservative Party of Canada under Andrew Scheer, and Marc Dalton, who currently represents the British Columbia riding of Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge in the Commons, had announced in the last few days that they had failed to have their candidacy certified by the party.

The two politicians had admitted that they had failed to raise the necessary $300,000 by April 29. This is not the case for three other rejected contenders.

On Twitter, Saskatchewan businessman Joseph Bourgault and British Columbia lawyer Grant Abraham said on Monday that they had asked the party for an explanation, arguing that they had met all the conditions to be able to take part in the race.

According to our information, Toronto lawyer Joel Etienne also made a similar request, in private.

MP Leslyn Lewis, who is in her second leadership race in two years, tweeted Monday that the party should let them compete.

” We want a fair race, she said, in English. I’m not afraid of tough fights, and the Conservative Party shouldn’t rule out legitimate candidates. »

It is important to note that, in the leadership contest rules that were unveiled in March, the Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) reserved the right to disqualify certain candidates, even if they managed to collect 500 signatures and $300,000 before April 29.

According to these rules, the Leadership Contestant Nomination Committee (CICC) can rely on any other information it deems useful to verify the suitability of a candidate and recommend to CEOCLeader Election Organizing Committee that a particular candidate be barred from standing.

We also know that Joseph Bourgault and Grant Abraham – like Leslyn Lewis and Marc Dalton – had received the support of the Campaign Life Coalitiona pro-life group that has long sought to pull the party to the right on social issues.

An admirer of former US President Donald Trump, Mr. Bourgault also took part in the truckers’ demonstration on Parliament Hill last winter.

As for Grant Abraham, he had notably criticized the Conservative MPs after the unanimous adoption by the Commons of Bill C-4 banning conversion therapy in December.

Four debates this month

Candidate leaders whose candidacy has been certified must participate in the official debates of the party, which will take place on May 11 in Edmonton (in English) and on May 25 in Montreal (in French). A third game could also be added later.

Meanwhile, a first debate, unofficial this time, will take place on Thursday in the presence of all the candidates, except Patrick Brown, who is leading a campaign away from the cameras with cultural communities. This debate is organized by the network Canada Strong & Free (the former Manning Center). It will be held in English, in Ottawa.

A fourth debate, also in English, is organized by the Independent Press Gallery of Canada on May 30 in Toronto, but for the moment, only Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis and Roman Baber have promised to participate.

Even if several observers seem to believe that Pierre Poilievre could be easily elected on September 10, each candidate can have an impact on the outcome of the race, since the rules of these provide for a preferential voting system, which often leads to a multi-round election.

However, such a system tends to favor “consensus” candidates. It has also led to the defeat of the “leaders” in the last two races for the leadership of the CCPConservative Party of Canadanamely Maxime Bernier, in 2017, and Peter MacKay, in 2020.

With information from Christian Noël and John Paul Tasker (CBC)