Now that the Conservative Party has unveiled the terms of its leadership race, potential candidates are gearing up to confirm their decision whether or not to run. But activists will have to wait a while longer, since neither Jean Charest, nor Tasha Kheiriddin or Patrick Brown seem in a hurry. Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre made his first political announcement: abandon all carbon pricing in Canada.
The rules of the leadership race announced Wednesday evening by the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) pleased Camp Charest, with a member of his entourage saying he was “satisfied”. Another source spoke of a “super nice surprise”.
The next leader of the Conservative Party will be chosen on September 10. Campaigns will have until June 3 to recruit new members to support them. Candidates have until April 19 to submit their application, the required $200,000 and the $100,000 deposit which will be refunded once the race is over.
Pierre Poilievre’s camp – the only one to have officially announced that he was running – was pushing internally for the race to end earlier this summer.
Although the candidacy of Jean Charest is no longer in doubt, the former premier of Quebec may not confirm that he will jump into the arena until next week at the earliest, confided a source within his team. . By then, players in his campaign could “get the go” this weekend to get to work selling membership cards across the country.
Columnist Tasha Kheiriddin is also considering running. The rules of the game are not a problem for those around him, but they still want to assess a few details and see which other candidates will jump into the arena. The decision should be made “probably next week”.
Patrick Brown, the former MP now mayor of Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, also said he was “satisfied with the rules”. “He hasn’t decided yet if he will be a candidate, but he hopes to make a decision soon”, informed the Homework Gary Collins, his mayoral spokesperson.
Suburban Ottawa MP Pierre Poilievre announced on Twitter on February 4 that he would run for the leadership of his party. His team is therefore not planning a launch event.
The carbon tax to attack Charest
Mr. Poilievre announced on Twitter on Thursday that he would cancel the carbon tax of the government of Justin Trudeau if he is elected leader, then prime minister. He also used this file to put in the same basket Mr. Trudeau and his main opponent.
“Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Liberal Provincial Premier Jean Charest support [sic] consumer taxes. I don’t agree,” Poilievre quipped in a video released in both official languages, filmed outside a gas station in Saskatchewan with three provincial MPs.
Both Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Charest “raised consumer taxes to make life less affordable for workers and raise more money for politicians who like to spend it,” added Mr. Poilievre in the English version.
The would-be Conservative leader would replace the carbon tax with incentives to develop technologies that reduce carbon, such as carbon capture — a greenhouse gas reduction technology criticized by environmental groups that is still in the experimental stage and which has not yet proven itself.
The environment is likely to animate the debates of the leadership over the coming months. Former leader Erin O’Toole cringed in caucus campaigning in the general election by promising his own carbon pricing plan. The idea was dropped by caucus as soon as the leader was fired.
Several Western Conservatives, including MPs who support Mr. Poilievre, blame Jean Charest for having created the carbon market between Quebec, California and Ontario (which has since left) when he was premier of the province. These same Conservatives are not happy that he is from Quebec, the province that rejected the energy east pipeline project.