Jean Charest’s main pitch to become leader of the Conservative Party of Canada – his only pitch, really – was that only he would be able to beat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a federal election: that his version of moderate conservatism wouldn’t alienate centrist voters the way Pierre Poilievre’s convoy cheerleading and weird flirtations with right-wing conspiracies would, and that his record in Quebec would help the party win crucial support in the province. The hitch in Mr. Charest’s plan, of course, was that in order to win the country, he first needed to win the party, and the party obviously wasn’t interested in Mr. Charest’s bland rice pudding of an attempted political movement.
