Politics This Morning: O’Toole elevates Bergen as deputy leader, tasking her to ‘focus’ on Western alienation

Good Thursday morning, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole unveiled his House leadership team, elevating the party's former House leader Candice Bergen to the role of deputy leader and assigning Gérard Deltell as her replacement. Ms. Bergen, a Manitoba MP, has been tasked with focusing on ensuring that the party's base out West is heard, amid the potential threat posed by the Wexit party, which is vying to peel away votes from would-be Conservative supporters in the next election. The grievances of Western Canadians was an issue that Mr. O'Toole flagged in his first call with the prime minister, after they had exchanged niceties. Ms. Bergen, who was neutral in the leadership race, succeeds Leona Alleslev, the ex-Liberal who crossed the floor, who resigned from the post to throw her support behind Peter MacKay. Mr. O'Toole plans to announce his critic assignments net week. He said the Conservatives are ready for an election, if one is called this fall following the vote on the throne speech, but his party's pushing for one. "I'm not here for an election," he told reporters. "I'm here for the relaunch of our economy." The latest Angus Reid poll suggested that the Liberals and the Conservatives were neck and neck with 35 per cent of support, while the NDP was trailing at 17 per cent, followed by the Bloc Québécois at seven per cent. Its figures suggested that Mr. O'Toole comes with the advantage of still being a relative unknown among the Canadian pubic, with past supporters of the Bloc (45 per cent), Liberals (43 per cent), and the NDP (38 per cent) indicating they have yet to form an opinion of him. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is holding virtual outreach tours to compensate for the fact that the pandemic has made travelling even within the country a potential health risk, according to Canadian Press. He spent yesterday chatting with leaders from British Columbia, including Premier John Horgan, and will hold another tour of the Atlantic provinces today. Mr. Trudeau told CBC that he planned to discuss the ongoing opioid crisis in B.C. during his call with Mr. Horgan, who, in an open letter earlier this summer, appealed to the prime minister to decriminalize possession of illicit drugs for personal use. The PM, in an interview with CBC Radio that aired yesterday, said decriminalization isn't a "silver bullet" to the spike in overdose deaths due to opioids. He said the government is approaching the issue as a health issue, pointing to funding it's earmarked for safe supply of opioids and housing. "In any crisis like this, there is not one silver bullet," he said, adding the government is moving "aggressively" to ensure that there's a safe supply of illicit drugs to avoid overdoses on drugs that laced with fentanyl, which can be lethal. Mr. Trudeau shot down suggestions that he would replace Governor General Julie Payette, who is facing allegations of workplace harassment, saying she's "excellent." "I think on top of the COVID crisis, nobody's looking at any constitutional crises," he said in an interview with RED FM's Harjinder Thind Show in Vancouver. He pointed to the government's move to hire an outside firm to conduct a probe on allegations reported by CBC and National Post, saying the government isn't "contemplating" replacing her "right now." The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: O’Toole elevates Bergen as deputy leader, tasking her to ‘focus’ on Western alienation

Plus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says decriminalization of drugs 'not a silver bullet' in fighting opioid crisis, as overdose deaths spike amid the pandemic.

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: O’Toole elevates Bergen as deputy leader, tasking her to ‘focus’ on Western alienation

Plus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says decriminalization of drugs 'not a silver bullet' in fighting opioid crisis, as overdose deaths spike amid the pandemic.

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