As the federal conservative leadership race starts to gather some interest, the question of where the party is headed becomes critical. Regrettably, it will be the role of the contenders to define Canadian conservatism and where it should be going. And that is a very broad subject.
Obviously, Jean Charest, the retread liberal from Quebec, will preach winning by sticking to the middle of the political road. He offers nothing to the extremists. He offers little to the West and little more than hard times to his own province of Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Charest is out of touch and a conservative from the party’s past before it merged with the Reform-Alliance.
But if the range of contenders does not grow, Charest is in a position to win.
Despite his early entry, Pierre Poilievre, the MP from Carleton, is in a box. As the advocate for fiscal responsibility, he wants to take the party on an austerity trip. He is currently fighting rising gasoline prices, Justin Trudeau and deficits. He will get the hard-line conservatives and is probably close to a first ballot win but is unlikely to get the second votes needed to be a winner.
It appears that there is an attempt to block MP Leslyn Lewis from running in this race. It might be because she looks like the king-maker, if it stays just a four or five-person race. She is the darling of the social conservatives. There is a chance that Roman Baber, the Ontario MPP, could replace Lewis in the affections of the extremists but there is no movement yet.
Brampton mayor Patrick Brown is also studying the current political situation. Much depends on how he intends to handle the extremists. There will be a lot of second votes available to the contender who can pacify the social conservatives and the libertarians. The libertarians are the extremists who do not like Maxime Bernier’s Peoples’ Party and are still paid-up conservatives.
But it is far too early to place any bets. This race needs more breadth and more talent. If the conservative party cannot attract more than these four or five to the race, there is little hope for the party’s future.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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