Conservative Party

The two front-runners in the race for the Conservative Party’s top job traded blows over their records in the first leadership debate of the campaign Thursday.

Making it clear who he thinks his main opponent is, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre used much of his speaking time to attack former Quebec premier Jean Charest, a man he branded as a tax-hiking Liberal interloper.

Poilievre accused Charest of being too critical of the anti-vaccine mandate protest convoy that occupied much of downtown Ottawa earlier this year, saying he was proud to stand with “law-abiding” and “peaceful” truckers who were protesting COVID-19 restrictions.

At Conservative leadership debate, Pierre Poilievre takes aim at Jean Charest when asked re: his support for the Freedom Convoy. “The average trucker has more integrity in his pinky finger than you had in your entire scandal-plagued Liberal cabinet,” he says.#cpcldr | #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/XeaGlJhJRr

— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) May 5, 2022

Only chicanery could prevent a Poilievre victory after this debate and the CPC braintrust are just the men for the job.

The two frontrunners in the race for the Conservative Party’s top job traded blows over their records in the first leadership debate of the campaign Thursday.

Making it clear who he thinks his main opponent is, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre used much of his speaking time to attack former Quebec premier Jean Charest, a man he branded as a tax-hiking Liberal interloper.

Poilievre accused Charest of being too critical of the anti-vaccine mandate protest convoy that occupied much of downtown Ottawa earlier this year, saying he was proud to stand with “law-abiding” and “peaceful” truckers who were protesting COVID-19 restrictions.

Six candidates are officially on the ballot to become the Conservative Party’s next leader. In holding rallies, appearing in media interviews, and preparing for the soon-approaching party debates, each contender has started to trickle out details of their platforms. Here’s a snapshot of where the candidates stand on the economy, housing, climate, defence and social issues.

Lots of talk, none of it concerning our ruinous mass immigration policy. I wonder why!

… You will not learn from mainstream media that the average Canadian does not buy into every sacred Liberal shibboleth, including the most cherished cultural and economic obsessions. And despite strenuous efforts, Prime Minister Trudeau has not radically shifted the spectrum of politically acceptable policies (the so-called Overton Window, after the late American libertarian activist Joseph Overton, who introduced it).

Canadians tend to be middle-of-the-road, commonsensical and patriotic. Overwhelmingly, they are not woke iconoclasts eager to tear down statues or postmodern ideologues preoccupied with identity politics and alternative lifestyles. Rather, they are pragmatic, fair-minded people who support aboriginal reconciliation and acknowledge history’s dark chapters but do not believe Canada is systemically racist or genocidal.

I think the CPC braintrust believes they do.

A U.S. Supreme Court leak indicating a reversal of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is prompting the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership candidates to publicize their stance on abortion rights.

The draft opinion is reinvigorating a debate that is often part of the party’s leadership race discourse, bringing to light internal policy divisions.

The Conservative Party of Canada today released the list of candidates who will appear on the ballot when party members vote for a new leader in September — and it doesn’t include three candidates who say they collected enough money and signatures to qualify.

OTTAWA — The last time federal Conservatives were picking a leader, their race was transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than two years later, they are at it again. But this time, the race is happening during what appears to be the end of Canadians living under government-imposed pandemic rules.

The events of the past 25 months, from when the health crisis first landed until now, are shaping the contest for who will lead the Conservative party after Sept. 10.

The race is officially on. As of Friday afternoon, at least six candidates had filed their signatures and big bucks to appear on the final ballot in hopes of becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Prepare to see a shift in strategies as candidates gear up for the upcoming debates in May. They will have to decide who they want on their side and who they want to attack. And how do some intend to get noticed in a more crowded race than anticipated?

Poilievre seems to be in control. Not sure anyone can beat him.

Pierre Poilievre is a populist politician — there’s that demonizing word again — and, as a result, he scares the bejeebers out of the political elite.

He’s actually got crowds coming out.

Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest is promising to repeal the Liberal government’s consumer carbon price and eliminate the federal portion of the HST on low-carbon purchases.

He also pledges to stick with an older target for reducing the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 should he win the Sept. 10 leadership election – and return the Conservatives to power.

… To incentivize Canadians to reduce their own carbon footprints, Charest’s plan pitches eliminating the federal part of the HST on purchases such as electric vehicles, Energy Star appliances and high-efficiency windows.