KENNEY THROWS CURVEBALL
Endorses O’toole for Tory leader
Erin O’toole has secured one of the biggest endorsements available in the Conservative leadership race, as Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called him the “strong leader” the party needs as it looks to win the next election.
“We need a leader who is competent and principled,” Kenney wrote in a message to Conservative Party members. “A leader who won’t run away from conservative principles under pressure from the media or the Left. A leader who will unite our party, who speaks French, who can win in suburban Ontario, and who will fight for a fair deal for Western Canada.”
Kenney’s message also takes a shot at his former cabinet colleague Peter Mackay, who’s widely considered to be the frontrunner in the race.
“Every conservative would be welcome in a party led by Erin,” Kenney wrote. “No one will have their deeply-held beliefs dismissed as ‘stinking albatrosses’ under Erin O’toole’s leadership.”
That’s a reference to public comments Mackay made after the 2019 election about Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s inability to clearly answer questions about same-sex marriage and abortion. “That was thrust onto the agenda and hung around Andrew Scheer’s neck like a stinking albatross, and he wasn’t able to deftly deal with those issues when the opportunities arose,” Mackay told a Washington, D.C., audience.
In a statement Thursday evening, Mackay’s campaign spokesperson Julie Vaux said Mackay would still work respectfully with Kenney. She noted Mackay has been doing his own campaigning in Alberta this week.
“Politics is about making choices — and Peter respects the premier’s choice,” Vaux said. “As the next prime minister, he will work with Premier Kenney and every other premier across this country, regardless of who they endorse. He made it very clear this week in Alberta that he would fight for the interests of Albertans and got over 500 endorsements at an event on Tuesday night in Calgary — that is what really matters in this campaign.”
Kenney and Mackay were among the highest-profile ministers during Stephen Harper’s Conservative government from 2006 to 2015. Kenney has often himself been talked about as a potential federal leader, but instead he united the right-wing parties in Alberta and went on to a dominant victory in the 2019 provincial election.
During the Harper years, Kenney was also crucial to the party’s electoral success in the Greater Toronto Area, building up strong relationships with ethnic communities in the region. During the 2019 campaign Kenney toured the Toronto suburbs to help draw the vote out for Scheer, making speeches in packed banquet halls and religious centres. (Regardless, the Liberals still swept most of the area.)
Kenney did not publicly endorse a candidate in the 2017 leadership race, though he is longtime friends with Scheer and was said to be
I SAW HIS PASSION FOR SERVING OUR VETERANS... THAT’S THE LEADERSHIP WE NEED.
lending Scheer his support. In 2020, he has already been vocal in encouraging potential challengers to Mackay; he publicly called for both Rona Ambrose and John Baird to run for leader, though both ultimately decided to stay out.
O’toole, meanwhile, has been trying to position himself as the race’s “true blue” candidate who’s more closely aligned with the party’s grassroots than Mackay. Kenney’s endorsement lends significant credibility to that strategy.
“I have thought long and hard about my decision to endorse a candidate,” Kenney wrote. “When I served as the Minister of National Defence in Stephen Harper’s Cabinet, I worked closely with Erin O’toole as the Minister of Veterans Affairs. I saw his passion for serving our veterans, his relentless work ethic, and his common sense in solving difficult political challenges. That’s the leadership we need.”
He also praised O’toole’s ability to speak French and said he understands “the challenges faced by the West and our energy industry.”
At this point, Mackay and O’toole are the only two candidates in the race to have qualified to be on the final ballot — meaning they’ve paid $300,000 in fees and collected 3,000 party member signatures.
Six other candidates are aiming to meet the March 25 deadline to get onto the final ballot: Marilyn Gladu, Leslyn Lewis, Derek Sloan, Rick Peterson, Jim Karahalios and Rudy Husny.