The CPC Leader, who regularly betrayed the party base and flip-flopped on key issues, lost the Caucus vote by a decisive margin.
Erin O’Toole has been ousted as CPC leader in a secret ballot vote by the CPC Caucus.
Early results indicate that 73 of 119 members of the Caucus voted to remove O’Toole, making this a decisive decision.
O’Toole’s decisive defeat comes after he and his team flailed around in the lead up to the vote, falsely claiming CPC MP Garnett Genuis was behind the initial letter kicking off the leadership review, and then trying to claim his opponents were far-right.
During the leadership race in which he became CPC Leader, O’Toole ran as ‘True Blue,’ and repeatedly pledge to oppose a carbon tax.
But then, after gaining power over the party, O’Toole flipped, telling the party it needed to change, embracing a carbon tax, purging critics, and attempting to morph the party into a Liberal-lite institution against the wishes of the party base.
Now, the immediate attention will turn towards who will be the interim leader as the organization begins for the leadership contest.
Already, John Williamson, a CPC MP from New Brunswick who is widely respected in the party, has put his name forward:
I am running to be interim Leader of our Conservative Party.
I will respect my caucus colleagues. I will listen to our movement.
I know how to keep us united around the things that matter most to us as Conservatives.
See my full statement: https://t.co/pPXVY9tXua
— John Williamson (@JohnWilliamson_) February 2, 2022
Williamson’s full statement can be read below:
“After encouragement from members of the Conservative caucus, I have decided I am running to be interim Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
As caretaker leader, I will respect what our movement, party and caucus have to say. I came from the grassroots of this party, and I have deep respect for Parliament.
I joined the Progressive Conservative Party ahead of 1988 Free Trade Election, was elected national policy director of the youth wing in 1995 and worked fulltime as a policy writer on Jean Charest’s 1997 campaign platform.
As an editorial writer at the National Post, my primary job was to articulate the case for unity and collaboration among Canada’s divided Conservatives.
I was national co-chair of the “Draft Stephen Harper” team in 2001.
I worked as the national director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation before being hired as communications director in Stephen Harper’s PMO two years before the 2011 election.
I know how to keep us united around the things that matter most to us as Conservatives.
We must demonstrate to our supporters and future voters we’re fighting for them – every day – with a consistent plan.
And, most of all, I will ensure that the new Leader we elect in a fair and efficient contest has what they need to win.
My objective is to deliver a unified caucus to our newly elected leader and a caucus that has worked every day to earn the trust of Canadians.”
It is also believed that Candice Bergen has support within Caucus as a potential interim leader. Bergen has strong support among the CPC base, and regularly spoke in support of the Freedom Convoy when Trudeau and the establishment press tried to demonize the Patriotic Canadians standing up for individual rights and freedoms.
Pierre Poilievre
Pierre Poilievre, who also strongly supported the Freedom Convoy and pushed back against media spin, has strong support within the CPC base.
It’s worth noting that prior to the CPC leadership race in which Erin O’Toole won, Pierre Poilievre (before he had announced he wasn’t running that time), had dominated a huge poll of grassroots CPC members conducted by the National Citizens Coalition:
Now, with a new leadership race on the way, Poilievre continues to dominate on social media and remains in touch with the party base.
More to come…
