Conservative leader Erin O’Toole reunited with his colleagues in caucus on Wednesday, amid discord within his party. While the deputies and senators met for the first time since December, in order to prepare for the return to parliament, the disavowals of the leader – although isolated – continue to multiply.
This week’s Conservative caucus will be “decisive” for Erin O’Toole, a Conservative summed up on Wednesday.
The last meeting of the troops dates back to mid-December. Since then, three Conservative riding associations have demanded, in January, that the leader’s vote of confidence, scheduled for the 2023 convention in Quebec City, take place instead this spring, by mid-June. The Foothills association in Alberta, the Carlton Trail–Eagle Creek association in Saskatchewan, and a third (whom the party did not name) passed a motion to this effect “in order to ensure unity and strength of the Conservative Party of Canada in view of an imminent election”, since the Liberal government is in a minority.
The leader’s entourage minimizes these outings to only three constituency associations among the 338 in the country.
Saskatchewan Senator Denise Batters launched a petition this fall – which has since garnered 5,800 signatures – also seeking to advance the vote of confidence. The party rejected this initiative, and the leader expelled the senator from the caucus. But senators continued to welcome him into their own caucus, just as Saskatchewan MPs decided to do this week.
Erin O’Toole has also had to contend, for the past week, with the support of some of her MPs in the convoy of truckers heading for Ottawa to challenge the vaccination obligation imposed on them by the Canadian and American governments. Some netizens who associate themselves with the truckers have made threatening comments, suggesting trucks crash into Parliament or protesters attempt to recreate the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol.
Mr. O’Toole tried hard not to publicly support the protesters. He contented himself with repeating on Monday that he supported truckers and that he demanded “reasonable accommodation” for those who refuse to be vaccinated.
Ex-leader Andrew Scheer, MP and ex-minister Pierre Poilievre, and even the party’s current deputy leader, Candice Bergen, however, publicly supported the convoy of truckers, as did other of their colleagues. “I support peaceful protests against these mandates [de vaccination obligatoire] and our truckers,” said Mr.me Bergen in a written statement posted on Twitter and taken up by elected officials.
Conservatives close to Erin O’Toole refuse to see it as a real affront. This is not a direct contradiction, they say, but rather a nuance, since the chief also defended the rights of truckers.
The four truths of election
The leader will also have to react to the assessment of the last election campaign carried out by former MPs James Cumming and Christian Paradis. The findings of their report will be presented to caucus on Thursday. A good part of the day will be devoted to it, in the hope that the question will finally be clarified.
Mr O’Toole was blamed for the party’s second place in the election and the loss of two seats. Conservatives have criticized the leader’s largely virtual campaign strategy, which held press briefings in an Ottawa studio; lack of communication from campaign leaders with candidates on the ground; and Erin O’Toole’s failure to elaborate his platform enough, merely repeating that he had “a plan”.
Still, a conservative source said the start of Wednesday’s matches was not too tense.
A motion, which was to invite the party to adopt a firmer position against Quebec’s law 21 on secularism, was ultimately not put on the agenda.
Another conservative estimated Wednesday that it was not impossible for the leader to hope to calm tensions. “Without having to convince everyone, he can restore people’s confidence by mobilizing the troops on a promising file and by showing leadership,” said this person.