Tory leadership candidates pitch their ability to win the next election in English debate

Brian Platt

June 18, 2020

Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates (clockwise from top left) Erin O’Toole, Peter MacKay, Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan during the English-language leadership debate in Toronto on June 18, 2020. TIJANA MARTIN/THE CANADIAN PRESS

In the last chance that Conservative party members had to watch the four leadership contenders debate, the gloves came back on.

While the French-language debate on Wednesday night featured lengthy, furious exchanges between Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole, the English debate on Thursday night had a much friendlier tone as the candidates debated issues ranging from environmental policy to systemic racism to how to grow the party’s base.

The changed dynamic was likely due to all four candidates being on equal ground, as Derek Sloan and Leslyn Lewis played a much bigger role on Thursday. The night before, both Sloan and Lewis largely stayed on the sidelines because of their poor French.

However, the lack of fiery arguments also meant that MacKay and O’Toole, as the heavy favourites to win the race to replace Andrew Scheer, largely escaped unscathed.

In the opening rounds, candidates made their cases for why they can lead the party to victory in the next election, and each put their emphasis in a different area.

For O’Toole, it’s about winning in the suburbs, a crucial swing region the party largely failed in during the last two elections. For MacKay, it’s about his history of bringing conservative factions together and founding the modern party with Stephen Harper.

Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates (left to right) Erin O’Toole, Peter MacKay, Derek Sloan and Leslyn Lewis wait for the start of the French-language leadership debate in Toronto on June 17, 2020.

In first debate of Conservative leadership contest, it was the O’Toole and MacKay show

Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates (clockwise from top left) Peter MacKay, Leslyn Lewis, Derek Sloan and Erin O’Toole during the French-language leadership debate in Toronto on June 17, 2020.

‘This is painful as hell’: Conservative leadership debate earns candidates mixed reviews for French skills

O’Toole repeatedly cited the fact he’s won his Greater Toronto Area riding three elections in a row.

“We need a principled leader who will unite our party by respecting all conservatives, a leader who can show more urban and suburban Canadians that their values of liberty, family and equality are at the core of our party,” O’Toole said.

He accused MacKay of dividing the party, a likely reference to the “stinking albatross” comment MacKay made about social conservative issues after the party’s defeat in the federal election last fall, and which MacKay has since said he regrets.

“I’ve only focused on bringing conservatives together,” MacKay fired back. “That’s what I’ve done since my earliest days back in 1997, when I first left the prosecutor’s office to join the Conservative party in that election. I’ve worked with Stephen Harper, I’ve worked with social conservatives, fiscal conservatives across the spectrum.”

MacKay also touted the fact he has more endorsements from the party’s caucus than O’Toole. “We need a leader who attacks liberals, not conservatives,” he said. “I will unite the party as I did before with Stephen Harper.”

We are good people. To win the next election, we are going to need somebody to lead with courage, compassion and common sense

LESLYN LEWIS

One of the few times MacKay and O’Toole clashed directly was during an exchange on carbon pricing, with MacKay blasting O’Toole’s platform promise to look at a pricing regime for large industrial emitters.

“There’s only one person on this stage who’s talking about, and I quote, ‘Forging a national industrial, regulatory and pricing regime across the country,’” MacKay said. “That’s Mr. O’Toole.”

O’Toole said his plan is in line with what’s advocated by conservative leaders such as Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

“I find it stunning that Mr. MacKay would suggest he would not support a plan put forward by Premier Kenney with respect to large emitters, or Premier Ford,” he said. “They know their economies better than some bureaucrat in Ottawa.”

Lewis and Sloan, meanwhile, showcased their much different approaches despite both being backed by social conservative groups. While Sloan hit a hard-right message throughout the debate, Lewis had a much more optimistic tone.

“I will never compromise on conservative values, I will never sell out Canada and I will always put Canadians first,” Sloan said. “I will never give an inch to political correctness. I won’t cede an ounce of our sovereignty to international organizations.”

He promised to end Canada’s funding of the World Health Organization, to pull Canada out of the Paris climate agreement, and expressed support for U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lewis, meanwhile, described herself as “the right leader with the right policies at the right time.”

“I am the leader that can withstand the liberal attacks and the lies about who we are as Canadians,” she said. “We are good people. To win the next election, we are going to need somebody to lead with courage, compassion and common sense.”

At various times during the debate, both O’Toole and MacKay were careful to highlight their agreement with a point made by Lewis. That’s likely due to the ranked ballot, where Lewis’s more moderate vision of social conservatism could well put her in the role of kingmaker. Sloan’s hardline approach may mean his voters are less likely to throw support to the more establishment candidates.

Voting in the leadership race will take place this summer by mail-in ballot, and is scheduled to conclude Aug. 21. The race uses a ranked ballot, meaning a candidate will need to eventually collect 50 per cent of the vote to win.

National Post story HERE