Take time to choose Tory leader: Mulroney

OTTAWA— Conservative MPs said goodbye to the Stephen Harper era by voting for a woman — Rona Ambrose — to replace him until a permanent leader is chosen.

Hours later, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said the party should take time to pick a leader who has vision or it would languish in opposition.

In an address to the Albany Club in Toronto, Mulroney said the party would be invited to form government “only when Canadians feel that we are worthy of their trust, that we reflect their values and that we offer them a vision of Canada that is grand, generous and true.

“We must approach the leadership change with prudence and care. Time will be required to get it right,” Mulroney said in remarks prepared for Sir John A. Macdonald bicentennial celebrations.

He did not directly criticize Harper, saying he “rendered important service to Canada” and is “needed in our rebuilding.”

But Mulroney said the “challenge is great” for the party to develop policies that accentuate hope and “in a tone and with a voice that eschews harshness.”

Mulroney’s comments echoed defeated and newly elected Conservative MPs who met in Ottawa Thursday for the first time since the Oct. 19 loss. All underscored the need for the party to change its tone and communicate its message better. But most insisted the party’s policies were sound and “compassionate.”

“We got the big things right. We got the tone wrong,” said Jason Kenney, believed to be the leadership frontrunner if he decides to run. With files from Joanna Smith