The twists and turns that shaped the leadership campaign
Highlights of a dramatic race involving new and old faces, and a rap by a rookie MP
Surprise twists, populist movements, 14 candidates dividing the establishment and the curious case of a front-runner who decided he couldn’t win — the Conservative leadership race has had it all. The Star looks back at some of the events that helped shape the race to replace Stephen Harper.
November 2015: After his party lost power in October, Stephen Harper’s nine-year run as prime minister officially ends. Harper would keep his Calgary seat for almost another full year, as the Conservative party begins preparations for the leadership convention. February 2016: Television personality Kevin O’Leary begins test- ing the water for a leadership bid. It would take almost a full year before he entered the race, and slightly more than a full year before he dropped out.
April 2016: Former cabinet minister Kellie Leitch and Maxime Bernier officially enter the race. They would go on to run very different campaigns: Leitch courted controversy and headlines over a “values test” for immigrants, generating early momentum, while Bernier started slow before taking control of the race in 2017.
May 2016: Conservative party interim leader Rona Ambrose rules out a leadership bid, despite an effort from MPs to rewrite the party’s rules to allow her to run.
May 2016: Michael Chong enters the race. Chong and his ideas became popular with commentators and observers, but were met with hostility by the party’s grassroots — especially his plan to impose a carbon tax.
May 2016: Rookie MP Arnold Viersen releases a “rap” about the leadership contest. It’s unlikely that this had any material effect on the race, but still must be recorded.
September 2016: Peter MacKay, who merged the Progressive Conservatives with the modern party, rules out a leadership run. With Jason Kenney running provincially in Alberta, the two most obvious heirs to Harper decide they don’t want the leadership.
September-October 2016: Andrew Scheer, Lisa Raitt and Erin O’Toole join the race. Tony Clement becomes the first serious candidate to drop out.
November 2016: Defeated MP Pierre Lemieux enters the race and, along with Brad Trost, becomes one of the standard bearers of the social conservative movement.
December 2016: Chris Alexander is criticized for participating in an Alberta rally where protesters chanted “Lock her up,” suggesting Premier Rachel Notley should be jailed (and referencing Trump’s U.S. presidential campaign).
The episode highlighted some of the darker elements of the campaign, embraced by some candidates and denounced by almost none, brought to the fore by so-called “alt-right” populist commentators.
February 2017: After a year fanning the flames of media speculation, O’Leary enters the race. The speculation lasted significantly longer than his candidacy, however.
April 2017: Despite leading in pretty much every poll since entering the race, O’Leary drops out to throw his support behind rival Bernier, much to the surprise of the 35,000 people who donated more than $1 million to his campaign. Bernier is immediately considered the favourite.
May 2017: Conservatives gather in Toronto to select their next leader.