Can Tories exert damage control?

Sense of purpose emerges after week of turmoil

‘How’s that for bigfooting your own announcement?” interim Progressive Conservative leader Vic Fedeli chuckled folksily after pitching yet another surprise into his party’s omni- shambles. Reporters had been summoned — a bit too urgently, in hindsight — to hear of a shuffle in Fedeli’s shadow cabinet. (Stop the presses! Lisa MacLeod is finance critic!)

That done, however, Fedeli confirmed widespread reports that Patrick Brown left the party in a mess.

Over just five days in the opposition leader’s office, he said he had learned the “party structure is in much worse shape than we knew. … Fixing this — and it needs fixing — will be a massive undertaking.”

Fedeli said he had already ordered a thorough vetting of the much- disputed list of 200,000 members; ( some suggest it’s as low as 70,000 once you eliminate duplicates and fakes); and a review of the IT system, which he confirmed suffered a ransomware attack in November, though not one that compromised member information.

None of this would preclude holding a leadership contest to replace Brown, Fedeli assured reporters, with a vote to be held in seven weeks at the latest. “I would fully expect that we’ll have a (permanent) party leader elected on the 24th of March,” he said.

But Fedeli himself won’t contest the leadership, he said, just days after throwing his hat in the ring. The party should be putting all its energy into beating the Liberals, he argued. As interim leader, he would focus exclusively on fixing the various messes Brown left behind so the party can be best placed to win under Brown’s replacement.

If you squint, you can see something like sanity. Interim leader positions often come with the proviso that they cannot become permanent. Partisans sometimes regret that: many federal Conservatives wished Rona Ambrose could stick around, for example. But especially in a crisis situation like this, even if the party’s membership lists and IT aren’t compromised, the transitional tasks and obligations of an interim leader do not mesh well with long- term ambitions. God knows there are already more than enough personal ambitions being pursued right now in the Tory circles.

Asked whether we should interpret Fedeli’s remarks as categorically ruling out him being the leader on June 7, a spokesperson answered simply: “Yes.”

It’s still theoretically possible the party executive could overturn its original decision to hold a leadership race, citing the afore- mentioned chaos as justification. But most informed sources believe the original decision — the least bad option — has the votes to survive. It might be official as early as Wednesday, after a Tuesday meeting of the Leadership Election Organization Committee (which recommends rules for the campaign, including eligibility criteria and entry fees), and a midday Wednesday meeting of the PC Ontario Fund (which cuts the cheques to run the campaign). Everyone could then afford to take a breath.

When you stop squinting, however, you see an interim party leader promising to fix a broken party just a few weeks away from an election. “I plan to root out the rot, and you will know about it, plain and simple,” said Fedeli. “It’s going to expose things, I’m sure.” The opposition would have “fun,” he predicted.

“Rot can come just over time. … It can come holistically,” he ventured, not wanting to accuse anyone of anything in particular and not doing it very convincingly. Not everyone in the party agrees that Brown left chaos in his wake but, if he did, it’s tough not to notice how many of his staff have returned to important positions with caucus and the leader’s office since their mass resignation Wednesday night. When a reporter asked how all this “rot” was supposed to project a compelling image of a government in waiting, Fedeli conceded it was a fair question.

“It’s a message that says we don’t have anything to hide,” said Fedeli — unlike the Liberals, partisans might credibly argue.

Kevin Gaudet, who cochaired the party’s November convention, said he anticipated the Liberals would try to make hay from the dysfunction, and wished them good luck.

“It will be pretty rich coming from a government of corruption and liars, cheats and thieves, who’ve been … pillaging the treasury for 15 years,” said Gaudet. “I think the voting electorate have probably already made their decision about (the Liberals’) integrity and their ability to understand it.”

Indeed, how much all of this matters depends on how much people care. The Tories were well placed in the polls despite Brown’s famous anonymity, and polling data released by Greg Lyle of Innovative Research on Tuesday suggest the mess hasn’t made much of a difference to Tory voting intentions. So again, if you squint, you can see a likable MPP setting aside personal ambition for the greater good of his party and, he insisted, the province. Assuming nothing insane happens Wednesday, the Tories might finally be downshifting from damage creation to damage control.

But good grief, what a week.

(OURS) IS A MESSAGE THAT SAYS WE DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO HIDE.