Fans of Canadian politics have to be getting excited for this year’s federal Conservative parties leadership race, a race featuring endless talking points and personalities.
The race for the next federal Conservative leader is shaping up to be dramatic and factional, in a way that only conservatives can provide, Penny Collenette said.
Collenette, who worked under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in numerous positions and is a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said the race is for the “soul of the party.”
The early race has started to take shape with two major protagonists with two different visions of the direction to take the party.
Pierre Poilievre has grabbed the role as the embodiment of the right-wing populist faction of the party. His primary opponent is Jean Charest, former leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives and Liberal premier of Quebec between 2002 and 2012. He is considered the progressive centre-right candidate in the race.
There are nine other candidates vying for the leadership role after the party ousted Erin O’Toole as leader earlier this year after growing dissatisfaction in the Durham MP following the 2021 election where Justin Trudeau managed to cobble together a minority government.
The “identity crisis” narrative isn’t overblown, Collenette said, a recipient of the Order of Ontario.
And after two losing elections with two different leaders the clock could be running out on the Conservative party that Stephen Harper founded in 2003, she said.
“They have to get this one right,” and if they don’t the Conservatives are in serious trouble and run the risk of splintering further, Collenette said.
A notable splinter in the party occurred when Maxime Bernier broke off from the Conservative Party after he narrowly lost the leadership race to Andrew Scheer in 2017.
Bernier then founded the People’s Party of Canada, which won about five per cent of the popular vote in the 2021 election. It wasn’t enough to win a seat but it was a notable amount that has some conservatives embracing a move further to the right to bring back those votes, Collenette said.
The PPC’s vote share was up from the 2019 results, where the party received about 1.5 per cent of the vote share.
This could be part of a new brand of 2022 populism seen during the occupation in Ottawa, Collenette said.
“There’s a new feel and new intensity,” she said.
This Conservative leadership race boils down to right-wing populists versus progressives, and they need to get this one right, Collenette said.
A leader will be picked on Sept. 10 at the party’s convention. Those thinking about joining the already crowded race have until June 3 to do so.
Here’s a list of all 11 conservatives that have announced their candidacy:
Loading…