After two days of meetings with his caucus, during which he was to try to ease tensions, the Conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, raised his support for the convoy of truckers converging on Ottawa. After avoiding supporting them directly, Mr. O’Toole announced that he would meet with them personally. A change in tone which follows the outings of some of its deputies, who had gone further than their leader publicly.
Erin O’Toole hammered Thursday night that truckers deserve, like all Canadians, to be heard in Ottawa. The country is deeply divided, he lamented, accusing Justin Trudeau of being responsible for this “fatigue” because of his handling of the pandemic.
The Tory leader had refrained from supporting the convoy of truckers on Monday, saying it was not up to a party leader to take part in a protest. On Thursday, he announced he would meet with some truckers “to hear their concerns.” The meeting will take place outside the parliamentary precinct, where the authorities have warned that they fear overflows this weekend.
Mr. O’Toole denied changing his mind. He declined to say whether his caucus had pressured him to take a stronger stand in support of truckers who are challenging the vaccination requirement imposed on them by the Canadian and US governments.
Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and current deputy party leader Candice Bergen offered their support. MP Pierre Poilievre (who came close to running for the leadership against Mr O’Toole before standing down) has promised to bring coffee in support of ‘peaceful, hard-working, law-abiding and freedom-loving’ truckers.
The Sergeant-at-Arms of Parliament, who is responsible for security, urged MPs to avoid Parliament Hill and warned them to be careful, warning them that individuals are looking for their home addresses in Ottawa-Gatineau. Police expect 1,000 to 2,000 trucks to arrive downtown, but other groups want to join them.
Erin O’Toole called on protesters to remain peaceful and “extremist groups” not to use their claims to promote “discrimination, hatred, chaos”.
On Twitter, Andrew Scheer this week accused Prime Minister Trudeau of being “the greatest threat to freedom in Canada”.
Reproaches for the last elections
Although Mr. O’Toole preferred to talk about the convoy of truckers at a press conference, after his caucus meeting, he had spent the morning discussing with his elected officials and senators the review of the last election campaign. promised after the disappointing results of September.
Former Minister Christian Paradis and former Alberta MP James Cumming consulted 400 candidates, campaign managers, members of riding associations and party members to prepare their report.
The conclusion, according to media leaks, is that Erin O’Toole had a good start to the campaign, but the second half was spoiled because the leader was delivering his messages too controlled, missing natural and did not support his political proposals.
The majority of conservatives lamented that the leader essentially campaigned in his Ottawa television studio, rather than on the ground.
The report observes that the internal debates of the last two leadership races have undermined the confidence of Canadians. The CP would also still pay the costs, among cultural communities in urban centers, of the 2015 promise to set up a telephone line to denounce “barbaric cultural practices” and of the party’s desire to ban the face-to-face citizenship oath. covered.
Despite everything, the leader retained the support of all Quebecers consulted, assured Christian Paradis. “People have a positive curiosity. We would like to know him better. Which is a good sign for the preparation of the next election,” he said in an interview.
Erin O’Toole, however, has had to deal with internal criticism for months. Three riding associations have also called for the vote of confidence in the leader (scheduled for the 2023 convention in Quebec City) to be moved up to take place by June 15. Other local executives would consider doing the same.