Pressure grows on Conservative party

Candidates call for delay of leadership race

OTTAWA — There is growing pressure on the Conservative party to delay its leadership race as two of the four candidates on the final ballot have now said it’s not right to be campaigning while Canada is seized by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Erin O’Toole, considered to be one of two frontrunners in the race, released a video on Sunday calling for the race to be delayed.

“I’m asking the leadership committee of the Conservative Party of Canada to delay the Conservative leadership contest to ensure that all time and resources of our Conservative caucus and our grassroots members can be focused on helping our constituents and the needs of our communities in the fight against COVID-19,” O’Toole said in the video.

However, as of Sunday afternoon the party says its position hasn’t changed and that the race can proceed as scheduled.

The party says it is closely monitoring the situation and will keep assessing whether the race can continue.

Conservatives are to choose a successor to Andrew Scheer at a convention in Toronto on June 27.

O’Toole said he wanted his campaign team and supporters to devote their time to helping their communities, and said Parliament should create an all-party committee to show a united front in dealing with the pandemic.

Derek Sloan, who qualified for the final ballot last week, also called over the weekend for the party to delay the race.

Sloan said he spoke with the co-chairs of the leadership committee, Dan Nowlan and Lisa Raitt, and told them that continuing the race is damaging the party’s brand, that campaigning is practically impossible right now, and that it’s wrong to be soliciting donations during the pandemic.

Peter MacKay, the race’s other front-runner, is not calling for the race to be suspended, saying he’ll leave it up to the party.

His campaign said it was the first to suspend inperson events due to the pandemic.