SO WHAT HAS ERIN O’TOOLE PROMISED TO DO? WELL, AMONG THE VOWS IS A CONTROVERSIAL PLAN TO DEFUND PARTS OF THE CBC. A LOOK AT SOME OF THE NEW CONSERVATIVE LEADER’S OTHER CAMPAIGN PROMISES.
VOWS MADE TO TRUE-BLUE CONSERVATIVES COULD BE BARRIER WITH MAINSTREAM VOTERS
Erin O'Toole's successful campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party was full of ideas designed to appeal to the party's base.
Chief among them was a plan to defund the CBC's digital operations and halve funding to CBC English television operations by the end of his first mandate. It's a promise that polls solidly with Conservatives, but less so with the general public.
The issue is just one example of the tricky pivot O'Toole will have to complete as he transitions from winning over his party's membership to voters in a general election.
Earlier in the year, O'Toole released a 50-page policy document with a wide range of ideas, some designed to appeal to the party's true believers and others designed to appeal to the suburban parents the party hopes to win over in the next election.
Here are four big promises O'Toole made in his successful campaign for the Conservative Party leadership.
1. Defund the CBC
On Valentine's Day this year, O'Toole posted a video on Twitter accusing the CBC of being “out of control” and promising to slash its funding.
O'Toole says he wants to maintain funding for Radio-Canada in Quebec and CBC Radio which “maintains the original public interest mandate” of the public broadcaster.
“Taxpayer dollars should not pay for things like a Canadian version of Family Feud. Nor should they fund CBC News Network, a channel no different from its private sector competitors,” O'Toole's platform reads.
The issue could be a tricky one for O'Toole.
In 2011, Stephen Harper's Conservative government promised to keep the CBC's funding stable, even during a government-wide cost-cutting program. At the time, a poll conducted by the Canadian Press found that 46 per cent of Canadians want the public broadcaster's funding to remain the same, while 23 per cent wanted a funding boost. Twenty-two per cent said funding should be cut, while 12 per cent said it should be eliminated altogether.
2. Make it rain for parents
During the campaign, O'Toole spoke about the need for the Conservative party to win back suburban voters, especially in the highly populated areas surrounding Toronto, that had drifted to the Liberals in 2015.
That's why O'Toole has tried to present softer edges to the country on highly charged social issues like abortion and LGBTQ rights. O'Toole says he is personally prochoice and has expressed a willingness to march in Pride parades, although he declined to march in Toronto because the parade excludes uniformed police officers.
The other side of the coin for winning back the suburbs is actual coins. A lot of them.
O'Toole's “family action plan” calls for a $12-billion proposal to double-down on the Liberal government's boost to the Canada Child Benefit.
While most of the country was locked down in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government sent out an extra $300 payment to help Canadian families with lockdown-related expenses. O'Toole wants to offer the same extra payments on a quarterly basis until the end of 2021.
The plan also promises to turn the existing child-care deduction into a refundable tax credit that will cover up to 75 per cent of expenses during the recovery period of the pandemic. The plan will also boost the limits of the tax credit, up to $16,000 for kids six and under and $10,000 for kids seven years old and up.
These proposals likely won't be controversial themselves, but they may make it hard to get government spending under control, another key O'Toole promise.
3. Reduce taxes and balance the budget
With untold billions being spent on a weekly basis, the COVID-19 pandemic has rendered the idea of a balanced budget almost quaint.
Without putting a timeframe on it, O'Toole offers some small steps toward getting the books back in shape once the health crisis is behind us. He promises to wind down the spending “in a responsible way,” in a similar fashion to the Harper government's program after the 2009 financial crisis.
O'Toole wants a full review of government spending, a “pay as you go” program where each new dollar of spending must be accompanied by a dollar in savings, and a communications blitz that explains the importance of belt-tightening as Canada's population ages.
O'Toole also promises to “reduce and simplify taxes,” arguing that a complicated tax system benefits the wealthy, who can afford loophole-finding accountants. He also plans to task a minister with tackling red tape in the government.
4. Fix equalization
The O'Toole campaign made winning votes from Conservatives in Alberta a priority and a timely endorsement from Jason Kenney, the province's premier, was a big moment in his successful campaign. So it's no surprise to see a full page of the O'Toole platform dedicated entirely to Alberta, including a promise to “fix equalization,” an issue that is dear to Kenney's heart.
“A province with an economy in recession and skyrocketing unemployment rate should not be forced to send money to other provinces,” the platform reads.
Albertans will vote in a referendum next year on whether to remove equalization from the Constitution, which Kenney hopes will give the province leverage in negotiations with the federal government.