(OTTAWA) An independent Ontario MLA, who has become known for his opposition to lockdowns, announced Wednesday that he will run for the leadership of the federal Conservatives.
Posted at 3:48 p.m.
Roman Baber, who was due to launch his campaign on Wednesday evening, is aware that he does not have the notoriety of candidates like well-known MPs Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis. Former Quebec Liberal Premier Jean Charest, who once served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, is also expected to enter the race Thursday night in Calgary.
Baber is an independent MPP for the Toronto riding of York Center after Doug Ford kicked him out of the Progressive Conservative caucus in January 2021 for publicly calling for an end to the lockdown. He was also barred from running as a Conservative in the June Ontario election.
Mr. Poilievre and Mr.me Lewis opposed the vaccination obligation and the health measures which provided for the closure of businesses and forced citizens to stay at home. But Mr. Baber argues that what sets him apart is that he was the first to do so.
“I don’t believe there was anyone in the race who was willing to speak out, until recently, about lockdowns or vaccine passports,” he told The Canadian Press. I did not hesitate to denounce confinements, vaccination obligations and vaccination passports when it was politically incorrect and when it was politically difficult to do so. »
Mr. Baber assures that he supports “voluntary vaccination” and that he is fully immunized, but has not received his third booster dose.
“Failure of public policies”
Mandatory vaccination policies have been a source of tension between former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and some members of his caucus, as well as party activists. Mr. O’Toole tried to strike a balance between promoting vaccination and respecting individual health choices.
This position exposed him to criticism from his conservative colleagues who wanted him to defend more forcefully the right of citizens not to be vaccinated. Others, including the federal Liberals, criticized him for not being able to say whether his 118 fellow MPs were doubly vaccinated.
Mr. Baber believes the lockdowns will be remembered as a failure of public policy, and he sees the response to the pandemic as being tied to “cancellation culture and political correctness.”
As an immigrant born in the former Soviet Union, who arrived in Canada at age 15, he says he wants to fight this “cancellation culture” and “restore democracy to Canada” which, according to him, “has been somewhat eroded with censorship, with (vaccination) obligations, with the invocation of the Emergencies Act”.
In terms of campaigning, Mr. Baber said he was convinced he could pay the $300,000 required by the party to enter the race. He also assures that he is currently finalizing his campaign team.
When it comes to making electoral gains — something the party needs to do in areas like the GTA if it hopes to form government — Baber says that as an urban politician, he believes the Conservatives should talk more about public transit, housing and health care.
And as for the type of conservative he considers himself to be, Mr. Baber replies that he is a “democratic conservative”.
“I believe that we must commit to respecting fundamental democracy and the differences of opinion within our own Conservative Party — and I speak from experience. »