Valley Conservatives quiet on votes
No balloons, campaign buttons, signs waving, or candidates crossing the floor to pledge their support to a challenger.
Although Sunday’s Conservative leadership announcement will lack the made-for-TV excitement of a convention, much is at stake as members are electing whom they hope could be the next prime minister of Canada.
In a strange contest where two-thirds of the time was spent in the virtual world and voting took place by mail, only one will emerge from a pack of four — Leslyn Lewis, Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole or Derek Sloan.
While most major polls have MacKay as the favourite, valley Conservatives seem more divided or — in the case of those contacted by The Okanagan Weekend — keeping their choices to themselves.
Of the three Conservative MPs in the valley, only Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray has publicly endorsed one of the four.
“I got to know Erin (O’Toole) when he was here last summer door knocking with me in Rutland, meeting with veterans at the Army, Navy, and Air Force Veterans Unit 376, and speaking at a Conservative fundraiser,” Gray said in an email.
“Erin is the only leadership candidate who came to Kelowna-Lake Country twice over the past year to meet with constituents and hear what is important to them. I appreciate his common-sense approach and head-down, hardworking attitude.
“His military and private-sector experience are assets. I believe we have important decisions ahead as a country and Erin is an accomplished parliamentarian who will stand up for every day Canadians and hold the government to account.”
It may be a bold move for a rookie MP to not support the perceived front-runner. Whatever the outcome is on Sunday, Gray promises to stand united.
“Ultimately, it is up to the membership to decide and I respect their voice. I will get behind our new leader, whoever it will be, and encourage all Conservatives to as well,” she said.
North Okanagan Swuswap MP Mel Arnold said he “respects the value of private ballots” and declined to state who he voted for. While about half of the Conservative MPs in Ottawa made public endorsements, he and Central Okanagan-Similkameen Nicola MP Dan Albas did not. “I will allow the grassroots membership to determine the leadership decision,” Arnold said.
Albas, who was active in the Maxime Bernier campaign in 2017 (who finished second, but ultimately quit and formed his own People’s Party), remained non-commital this time.
“When the pandemic first broke out, my shadow cabinet critic portfolio of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion became a very busy one as so many pandemic response programs have been delivered through this department,” Albas said by email.
“As I continue to prioritize my time on my critic responsibilities and assisting constituents, I will not be getting involved in the leadership race nor endorsing a candidate.”
(South Okanagan-West Kootenay, the other riding in the Okanagan Weekend’s readership area is represented by NDPer Richard Cannings.)
South Okanagan West Kootenay riding president Chris Struthers said he originally intended on voting for O’Toole — impressed that he twice visited Penticton — but later switched his allegiance to MacKay.
“Mr. MacKay has consistently demonstrated his ability to broaden the appeal of our party to swing voters and political centrists, without whom we will never win another election. Mr O’Toole, unfortunately, shifted his focus to getting the second-place votes from the supporters of Derek Sloan,” Struthers said by email. “My personal opinion is that Mr. Sloan represents a rapidly shrinking demographic whose views are significantly out of step with the majority of the voting public and those of most Conservatives.
“While I firmly respect the need for Conservatives to be a ‘big-tent’ party, I feel that Mr. MacKay’s approach is the best path forward.”
Provincially, MacKay also picked up an endorsement from Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart and retired MP and former cabinet minister Tom Siddon, who resides in Kelowna.
Former Kelowna-Lake Country MP Ron Cannan and Helena Konanz, the Conservative candidate in SOWK in 2019, said they are not endorsing any of the four candidates.