(Ottawa) A backbench MP who entered the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership race by promising to launch an investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic says he is aware of “ political realities” he faces.
Posted at 6:47 a.m.
Marc Dalton, a two-term Conservative MP from British Columbia who is Métis and speaks French, says he entered the leadership race because he felt that was what he had to do.
“I don’t have $300,000 required at the moment,” he acknowledged in reference to the amount candidates have to pay to enter the CCP leadership race.
“I’m confident it will come,” he said.
Before becoming a federal MP, Marc Dalton was a provincial deputy from British Columbia, but under the colors of the Liberal Party. He describes himself as a risk taker, which he says takes courage.
“It’s not necessarily the favorite that’s going to win,” he said of the preferential ballot the party uses to choose its leaders.
“It’s the second and third choices that matter,” said Dalton.
Marc Dalton announced his candidacy in a short video posted on social media where he presented himself in front of an image of the House of Commons in the background.
He is the fourth MP to participate in the race to succeed Erin O’Toole as leader of the Conservative Party in the country, after Pierre Poilievre, Leslyn Lewis and Scott Aitchison.
Other candidates have also come forward, including the former premier of Quebec, Jean Charest.
If elected by Conservative activists, Dalton promises to launch a national inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic to look into Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government’s spending to get people vaccinated.
He says the investigation would also look at what the government knew about what he called “vaccine-related injuries.”
Yet health experts around the world say vaccines against the new coronavirus are safe and the most effective tool to prevent hospitalization.
According to Health Canada, adverse side effects can occur, but they are relatively rare. It regularly publishes data on the matter and indicates that out of more than 81 million doses administered to date, there have been approximately 8600 reports of side effects which can be considered serious.
Marc Dalton, Conservative MP for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, points out that citizens have raised concerns with him about adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination and that a family member has had a bad experience.
Mr Dalton says he himself experienced side effects, including difficulty walking, after his first dose. He received his second dose, but chose not to receive the booster dose.
Despite everything, the Conservative MP maintains that he is not opposed to vaccination.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic also looms large in the campaigns of other Conservative Party leadership candidates.
Pierre Poilievre called for the end of all mandates related to COVID-19. This is also what Roman Baber, who became an independent MP in Ontario, asked after the premier of that province, Doug Ford, expelled him from caucus because he spoke out against confinement.
When asked what distinguished his message on the pandemic from other candidates, Mr Dalton said he was the only MP to speak about “vaccine injuries”.