Petition launched to speed up vote on O’Toole leadership| Latest News Headlines

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s leadership review vote is expected to be offered to Conservative Party members over the next six months, says a senator who has launched a petition calling for a fast-track process saying O’Toole “Can’t win the next election.”

Saskatchewan Senator Denise Batters launched an official petition on Monday, calling on the Party to give Conservative supporters a chance to speak out on the future of O’Toole’s leadership and the leadership of the Conservative Party before the end of June.

“Would you like to have a vote of confidence on Erin O’Toole’s continued leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, by mail or virtually, as soon as possible and, in any event, no later than June 30, 2022?” the petition reads.

“On behalf of activists and Conservative members from coast to coast to coast, we have started this petition because we don’t want to see this party tear itself apart again,” Batters said. in a video announcing the launch of the petition. “Under Erin O’Toole’s leadership, the divide in our party is growing,” she said.

Batters, who has been critical of the current leader in the past, said O’Toole “lost this election in every way” and criticized his changing political positions.

“As leader, Mr. O’Toole has watered down and even completely overturned our political positions without input from party or caucus members. On the carbon tax, on firearms, on conscience rights, he did an about-face on our policies in the same week, the same day and even in the same sentence, ”she declared.

As it stands, O’Toole is expected to face a leadership review at the next party convention, which is slated for 2023. To be considered, Batters will need the support and signatures. at least 5 percent of Conservative members in at least five provinces.

On the webpage she launched to host this post, it is stated that O’Toole “cannot win the next election.”

“Since the election, O’Toole has learned nothing from this devastating defeat. It’s business as usual. His strategy has failed and he refuses to change it. He’s surrounded by the same old team with the same old ideas. Its numbers in the polls keep dropping. His about-face and his weakness mean that he will never be able to regain the confidence of the Canadian people that he lost during the elections ”, we can read.

CTVNews.ca has contacted the O’Toole office for comment.

Batters was appointed to the Senate in 2013 by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She is not the first senator to speak out on O’Toole’s leadership.

On the eve of the October 5 caucus vote that saw Conservative MPs take power, if they choose to use it, review and remove their leader, Nova Scotia Conservative Senator Michael MacDonald, wrote to his colleagues imploring them to adopt these caucus reforms. Mechanisms of action.

In his lengthy email, MacDonald cited the vote tally in key regions that saw the party bleed votes from fringe parties, and O’Toole’s pivot to running for leadership as a “really blue” Tory. to a more centrist leader.

“He was judged by the voters and he failed to win a winnable election. Keeping trying the same strategy, even with a few changes, will only kick out more Tories, and we just can’t afford to do that, ”he wrote at the time.

If Tory parliamentarians were to move forward with a leadership review, 20% of caucus members would have to sign a formal agreement to trigger the process, then a majority of caucus members would have to vote to remove the leader by ballot. secret. to treat.

There has been a disagreement within the party since the September 20 vote, over whether O’Toole should have a second chance to lead the party to the election after failing to beat the Liberals and Justin Trudeau despite his head in the polls for much of the race.

Despite O’Toole’s promise to win seats across the country, the party returns with the same number of MPs (119) it had before the vote, up from 121 seats the party won in 2019 under the former chef Andrew Scheer.

The day after the election, O’Toole announced that he would launch an internal review of what went wrong during the 2021 election campaign. When he announced the review, he said the party was “heading towards victory next time ”.

Alberta MP James Cumming is chairing this review process, which O’Toole says will “ideally” be completed by the end of the year, but could not commit to making it public. .