Bergen, Chong out, Williamson a maybe
OTTAWA • Manitoba MP Candice Bergen has decided not to launch a bid for the Conservative leadership after considering the matter and consulting with colleagues.
It means yet another high-profile potential candidate has dropped out of contention, following announcements last week from Jean Charest, Rona Ambrose and Pierre Poilievre.
Earlier this month, Bergen had decided against a bid, but she had a change of heart last week after Ambrose and Poilievre left the race. That potentially opened up space in the field for Bergen, particularly as a woman from Western Canada. She would have likely drawn strong support from grassroots prairie conservatives.
“Following recent developments in the leadership race, I was urged by many Conservatives to reconsider my initial decision,” Bergen said in a statement to National Post on Wednesday evening.
“After taking time to assess what I could bring to the leadership race, I recognize that I have many strengths to bring to the table, but overall, I can best serve my caucus and my party by continuing in my role as Conservative House Leader. I look forward to an exciting leadership race and to working with the next leader of the Conservative Party in forming the next government.”
Bergen, a former financial planner, has a long history in the party. She was Stephen Harper’s Manitoba campaign manager when he ran for Conservative leader in 2004, and was first elected as an MP in 2008, representing the largely rural Manitoba riding of Portage-lisgar. She served in Harper’s cabinet as social development minister from 2013 to 2015.
However, Bergen isn’t bilingual, which would have been a major obstacle to a successful run. Peter Mackay has recently come under heavy criticism in the Quebec media over his French skills, and Erin O’toole is likely to face the same scrutiny over his ability. Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu — who is the only woman so far to have officially filed to run for leader — says she is bilingual and has already answered some questions in French.
New Brunswick MP John Williamson says he is considering a bid for the Conservative leadership, hoping to stake out a place in the field as a true “movement conservative.”
Williamson said there’s room to the right of the two front-runners Mackay and O’toole.
“I think it’s clear that Peter Mackay has sewn up the Red Tory bloc and there is a huge element of blue conservatives on the right which are looking for a candidate,” Williamson told The Canadian Press. “Erin O’toole is moving in that direction, trying to occupy that space, but that’s not his natural home.”
Williamson was the director of communications for Harper before being elected as the member of Parliament in New Brunswick. Before joining Harper’s prime minister’s office, Williamson was a spokesman for the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation and an editorial writer for National Post.
Alberta businessman Rick Peterson officially announced his candidacy in Edmonton on Wednesday, promising to institute a 15-per-cent federal flat tax and abolish corporate taxes, among other proposals.
Ontario MP Michael Chong announced on Wednesday that he will not be running for the leadership of the party. Chong finished fifth in the 2017 Conservative leadership race and had been considering another bid.
Richard Décarie, a social conservative from Quebec, and Derek Sloan, a rookie MP from eastern Ontario, have also announced their intention to run.