Category: Conservative Party of Canada

Pierre Poilievre Chosen as the New Leader of Conservatives

Pierre Poilievre has been elected as the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Poilievre was first elected as an MP in 2004, and served as minister of state for democratic reform and minister of jobs and industry under the Harper government. In an email to supporters ahead of the announcement on Sept. 10,…


Pierre Poilievre Chosen as New Leader of the Conservatives on the First Ballot

Pierre Poilievre has been elected as the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada with 68.2 percent of the votes on the first ballot. Former Quebec premier Jean Charest took 16 percent of the votes, followed by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis with 9.7 percent, former Ontario Independent MPP Roman Baber with 5 percent, and…


Interim Tory Leader Bergen Says She Won’t Seek Re-Election

Conservative Party interim leader Candice Bergen said on Sept. 6 she won’t defend her seat in the next federal election, a few days before her party is set to choose its new leader. In a statement announcing the decision, Bergen did not explicitly state her reason for declining to run in the next general election, which may…


Conservative Party Sees Explosive Growth in Membership Ahead of Leadership Vote

The Conservative Party of Canada is reporting 678,708 members ahead of the Sept. 10 party leadership vote, a 300 percent increase compared to the 169,705 figure at year-end last year. The party has the highest representation in Ontario, with 295,815 members, marking a 283 percent increase compared to last year. But the biggest rate of…


Leslyn Lewis Says Questions Not Already Addressed Should be Asked at Upcoming Tory Leadership Debate

Leslyn Lewis says the upcoming Conservative leadership debate should explore topics such as the candidates’ plans for fighting the Liberals’ climate change policies and inquiring into the pandemic response, rather than addressing questions already answered. The Tory leadership candidate suggests that she would not attend the debate next week if those and other questions that…


Chinese Interference Cost Conservative Seats in 2021 Federal Election: Erin O’Toole

Former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said foreign interference from Beijing’s communist regime cost his party seats in Canada’s 2021 federal election. Speaking to CBC host Chris Hall on June 18, O’Toole was asked about an interview with Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith earlier this month in which O’Toole said the Conservative Party had lost about eight or…


The First Official Tory Leadership Debate Was Both Strange and Unproductive

If I had to describe the second debate among the leadership contenders for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) in one word, it would be “weird”. The first leadership debate was held by the Canada Strong and Free Network at their annual conference in Ottawa. Five out of six of the candidates participated with Patrick…


Liberal-NDP Alliance: A Marriage of Convenience, But at What Cost?

Commentary The alliance announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is a bold one. Strategically, one can see the merit in the plan. Canadians are exhausted after years of a pandemic and constant political instability. After a general election that barely moved the needle in the balance of power in Ottawa,…


‘It’s Time for a Reckoning’: O’Toole Welcomes Tory Leadership Vote on Feb. 2

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says he welcomes a leadership review after learning some members within his party are requesting the caucus to trigger a vote on his leadership on Feb. 2. “I’m not going anywhere and I’m not turning back,” said O’Toole in a series of posts on Twitter on Jan. 31. “It’s time for…


Party Infighting: Why It’s Worse Among Tories Than Liberals

As is often seen after a Tory election loss, it didn’t take long after the 2021 election for calls demanding a leadership review to begin, with the latest high-profile request coming from Sen. Denise Batters. Tensions among the Conservatives over the party’s leadership and direction are nothing new. Mutinies and defections have plagued federal conservative…