Tory leadership hopefuls make their final pitches
New leader of federal Conservatives will be announced tonight
TORONTO — The last time Conservative party faithful gathered en masse in Toronto it was to hear from former leader and prime minister Stephen Harper.
On Friday, they met in the same location, this time to hear from the 13 people vying to replace him.
Though voting has been underway for weeks and most ballots had already been cast — the winner will be announced tonight — some candidates still used their speeches Friday to make last-minute plays for votes.
“The key question for this leadership campaign has been which of us can take the very best of those conservative policies that we all believe in and articulate them in a way that resonates with broader Canadians,” said Andrew Scheer, a Saskatchewan MP who is among the front-runners. “I reject the idea that in order to beat the Liberals we need to be more like them.”
Another front-runner, Maxime Bernier, said not much at all, letting a video of his supporters do most of the talking as they spoke about why they back his campaign and its central focus on removing government involvement in business.
Others fine-tuned their messages; Michael Chong dropped all references to his plan for a price on carbon from his final speech, focusing instead on his economic promises.
Lisa Raitt said what she wanted to ask for wasn’t votes, but party unity.
“When we focus on providing an effective alternative to the Liberals, we govern,” she said. “When we focus on providing effective alternatives to each other, the Liberals get a free ride.”
Attacks on the Liberals were a clear theme to all the speeches, starting with none other than the event’s master of ceremonies, Caroline Mulroney.
The daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney was once rumoured to be seeking leadership herself.
“Who would want to run for the dad’s old job?” she quipped, a dig at Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose father Pierre was also prime minister.
Whomever wins the leadership is expected to sit down with caucus as soon as Monday morning to rally the troops and begin the long road to the 2019 election. The Conservatives saw themselves reduced to 99 seats in 2015 (the Liberals won 184 seats) and all but shut out of urban Canada.
Erin O’Toole said what Conservatives need now isn’t a fixer, but a champion.
“We need a strong and forward-thinking leader who respects our grassroots and builds a strong team that includes all voices in all parts of the country,” he said.