What a sad turn of events for the Conservative leadership race! Political junkies were looking forward to an exciting race, with some heavy weight conservatives battling it out for the crown title of Prime Minister in waiting. But one by one, presumptive candidates are throwing in the towel and we are headed for a coronation of Peter McKay.
It all started with former Progressive-Conservative leader (and former Quebec Premier) Jean Charest. He was the first to bow out, surprising many by giving an interview to Radio-Canada to confirm that he was in fact not running, much to La Presse's dismay who had trumpeted a few minutes prior to the Radio-Canada interview that it was to confirm he was running. Ooops!
La Presse could be forgiven, though, since all signals were pointing in that direction. Charest's team, comprised of Mulroney loyalists, provincial liberals and red Tories, was ready. Funding was in place. Heck, the launch video was ready to go, with a Charest 2020 branding to boot. Charest listed a lot of grievances to justify his last minute about-face: the party, he said, had changed and as an outsider, he didn't have enough time. And while he claims that being under a criminal investigation was not an issue since he had done nothing wrong and the cops were merely on a six-year long fishing expedition, there is no doubt that Charest was having trouble finding much love within the party because of the cloud hovering over his candidacy.
Rona Ambrose was next to say no, although in her case it was not really surprising. She was under pressure by the likes of Jason Kenney, Scott Moe and Brad Wall to give it a run (and defend the prairie provinces' interests). But everyone knew that she was happy as a private citizen, making more money than she ever did as a politician, after having left politics on a high note. In the end, her calculus was easy, especially considering that her husband had made his views clear in the past about his preference.
Finally, Harper's heir apparent Pierre Poilièvre surprised everyone by changing his mind, even more at the last minute than Charest: his candidacy launch was planned for Sunday at the Nepean Sportsplex and media had received the information already. His claims that he did not realize how hard running for leader was going to be left many observers perplexed, inside and outside the Blue ranks. He suddenly realized that he missed the first year of his baby's life because of the election? Unlikely.
Cogéco radio host Bernard Drainville reported that, according to Tory sources, it was a skeleton in his closet that stopped him from running, namely his mistreatment of bureaucrats while he was a Parliamentary Secretary and then a Minister. But the young Turk has been known in Ottawa circles for his abrasive personality and his uber-partisan approach on everything at everytime. These reports are not new yet, suddenly, somehow would now prevent him from fulfilling his personal ambitions? I have doubts.
And even if he thought he couldn't win, Poilièvre was well positioned to run a strong campaign and likely be the runner-up, which would make him the likely successor if the next leader were to fail. It was an opportunity to raise his national profile and even redefine himself in the process. Something doesn't add up. No matter what it is, Poilièvre is out.
The succession of withdrawals led many to speculate this was all because of a sinister manoeuver by Stephen Harper, who was secretly plotting a comeback. That is not happening.
No, what the Conservatives are left with is a 5 month-long coronation of Peter Mackay, surrounded by a bunch of also-rans. Yes, Erin O'Toole becomes Mackay's de-facto main challenger. Yes, he finished 3rd last time around, behind Andrew Scheer and Maxime Bernier. But on the first ballot, O'Toole had only 10.65% of the vote, a number he was barely able to double after 11 more rounds. Still, fair game for him to portray the race as a two-way race between him and McKay, despite Marilyne Gladu's protests.
Because the two-time Sarnia-Lambton MP, the only quasi-prominent female candidate in the race, has even less of a public profile than O'Toole. A former engineer for Dow Chemical, Gladu did not particularly make a splash as a member of Scheer's shadow cabinet. Another MP is also in the race, Derek Sloan having announced on his twitter account that he was in, on a platform of not being afraid of being a Conservative. Full, big, bold. Whatever that means.
So far, the news of candidates dropping out has garnered the bulk of the coverage in this leadership contest. One notable exception, though, has been the noise created by Richard Décarie, a one-time deputy chief-of-staff for then-Leader of the Opposition Stephen Harper, who is bringing forward an anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion platform. Most of the other candidates have jumped over each other to denounce Décarie, much to his delight. Along with Clayton Knutzon, Leslyn Lewis, Rick Peterson, Aron Seal, Bobby Singh, and whoever else throws their hat in the ring, Peter Mackay will be in interesting company for five long months.
Photo Credit: Ng News
