Conservative Party

Charest has the edge in Ontario over Conservative leadership rival Poilievre, poll suggests

A new poll released today suggests former Quebec premier Jean Charest has the advantage in the all-important electoral battleground of Ontario over Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, his primary adversary in the Conservative leadership race.

The Angus Reid Institute poll, which surveyed 5,105 Canadians from March 10-15, also found Charest is the favoured candidate among people who’ve voted Liberal in the past.

MONTREAL—If you are not a Conservative supporter and are nevertheless cheering on Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre in his leadership bid because you believe the party will either implode or at least never make it to government on his watch, you may want to have a chat with Paul Martin’s former palace guard,

Over Martin’s abbreviated tenure as leader and prime minister, the notion that Stephen Harper’s presence at the helm of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) was a prescription for repeat Conservative defeats was widespread within Liberal ranks.

After all, Harper hailed from the Reform side of the conservative movement — a faction that had over its existence failed to find much traction among progressive centre-right voters east of Manitoba.

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Seems the braintrust has lined up behind Charest.

Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown launched an attack Monday on his opponent Pierre Poilievre, accusing the Conservative MP of supporting “discriminatory policies” that target immigrants.

Poilievre, the MP for the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton considered the front-runner in the race, pitched new policies Monday that he said will make it easier for skilled immigrants to practice their professions in Canada. He vowed to take on what he called “money-grabbing gatekeepers” who determine whether an immigrant is qualified to work in Canada.

I wonder if the CPC will see a sizable increase in Muslim members thanks to Patrick. Maybe it’s a good thing he wins. The CPC will never recover.

The opening days of Pierre Poilievre’s official run for the Conservative leadership have been like one of those noir films in which everything is black and white, a sense of foreboding permeates the atmosphere and malevolence lurks in the background. We can’t be sure what’s coming but we know it’s not likely to be pretty.

Patrick Brown attacks Pierre Poilievre for backing ‘barbaric cultural practices’ policy

“Pierre has no credibility announcing any sort of policy which largely impacts minority communities, such as immigration, because he’s never publicly stood against policies that disproportionately impact them, like the niqab ban, the (barbaric cultural practices) tip line, or Bill 21,” read Brown’s press release on Monday morning.

Well he’s secured the Barbaric Muslim vote.

The race to become the next Conservative leader is officially on, with several declared candidates and a formal set of rules to guide the campaign.

So far, Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis and Roman Baber are in the race, which culminates in a winner being announced on Sept. 10. More Conservatives, such as Patrick Brown and Scott Aitchison are expected to launch their own bids, the former on Sunday. Other prominent Conservatives, most recently Peter MacKay and earlier this week MP Michael Chong, have said they won’t be joining the fray.

A month ago, Pierre Poilievre used his highly weaponized Twitter account to announce a run for the Conservative leadership with a tightly staged three-minute video: the MP in a suit and tie, seated at a desk before an expansive bookshelf, vowing to deliver Canadians from oppressive government and elite control.

On Thursday, Jean Charest announced his own candidacy for the Conservative leadership by joining Twitter and posting a casual 22-second video — no tie, only a blank white wall behind him — to greet his new followers.

Federal Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest is pushing back on claims made by his rival Pierre Poilievre that he is a Liberal, calling the allegation “ludicrous.”

“When (Poilievre) says I’m a Liberal, is there anyone in the country that doesn’t already know that I went to Quebec politics to fight the separatists’ cause in a coalition party that was called the Liberal Party, as is this case in British Columbia,” said Charest, in an interview airing Sunday morning on CTV’s Question Period with Evan Solomon.

Poilievre and his surrogates have been attempting to paint Charest as a Liberal, due to Charest serving as the Quebec premier from 2003 until 2012 as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party.

Lots of media push for Charest. That should be a Liberal red flag.

Jean Charest launched his Conservative Party leadership campaign on Thursday. There had been plenty of anticipation over this announcement from the former Quebec Liberal premier and federal PC leader.

Several commentators had encouraged him to jump in and make it a competitive race. There’s been some analysis of the diminished role of moderate Conservatives in the party, and how his campaign could help correct this. National Post columnist Tasha Kheiriddin, who opted not to run for the party leadership this week, threw her support behind Charest as “the candidate that I believe can best unify the party and win the next election.”

On Sunday morning, at 11 a.m., Patrick Brown will become the fifth candidate to enter the Conservative leadership race. Brown will join perceived front runner MP Pierre Poilievre, former Quebec Premier and PC Party leader Jean Charest, MP Leslyn Lewis and Ontario MPP Roman Baber in the hunt for the top Conservative job.

A new poll suggests that Conservative voters believe Pierre Poilievre would make the best leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

The Leger poll found that 41 per cent of Conservative voters believe Poilievre would make the best leader. Jean Charest, who is set to launch his Conservative leadership campaign in Calgary on Thursday, is the second choice (10 per cent), followed by Peter MacKay (nine per cent), Patrick Brown (three per cent), and Leslyn Lewis (two per cent). Thirty-three per cent were undecided or preferred not to answer.

I like him but I doubt he will be able to shake the CPC  from its LPC 2.0 wet dream.

CTV News has expressed “regrets” over a 2018 story about then Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown with “factually incorrect” information that caused “harm” to his provincial political career.

In a settlement Wednesday, CTV acknowledged the story, which alleged sexual impropriety with two women, “required correction.” After the story was broadcast, Brown strongly denied the allegations and filed an $8-million defamation suit against the network’s parent company, Bellmedia.

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Brown, Lewis, Charest to announce Conservative leadership runs this week: sources

It’s going to be a pivotal week in the Conservative leadership race. Sources close to former Quebec premier Jean Charest, Ontario MP Leslyn Lewis and former MP and Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown predict all three will formally announce their leadership bids.

Lewis made the leap first. On Tuesday she tweeted out a video announcing her bid and saying she wants to run a campaign based on hope, unity and compassion.

She’ll try to reignite the enthusiasm she garnered in the 2019 leadership race — when she emerged from political obscurity to run a widely praised campaign focused on national and party unity and her social conservative values, including an opposition to abortion.