‘This is balls to the wall,’ if he wins, O’Leary won’t commit to remaining Tory leader without a majority government
Polls indicate Kevin O’Leary has a good chance of becoming the next leader of the federal Conservative Party, but all bets are off on him sticking around if the party loses the next election or ends up with a minority government. “I’ve said to the caucus, I’m going to deliver a majority mandate or fire […]
Five things to watch for in Tory leadership race
MONTREAL—Now that the deadline has passed for Conservative rivals to sign up new members for the May leadership vote, here are a handful of observations on the fluid state of play in the battle for Stephen Harper’s succession: 1. There are still 14 names on the Conservative ballot, but a consensus is emerging that the […]
The baneful morality of the political ‘pivot’
GATINEAU, QUE.—Our media culture is so drenched in cynicism that the most outrageous, even despicable, pronouncements—from Conservative leadership candidates, for instance—are treated as mere strategy, even tactical coups. The underlying assumption is that once someone has won the contest, he or she will “pivot” back to a more reasonable, compassionate, and thoughtful posture. No harm […]
Leitch’s campaign says mass email to supporters while pictured firing a handgun intended to communicate directly to gun owners, ‘very important’ community
OTTAWA—Conservative Party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch’s email to supporters about her proposed firearm policies, which included a photo of her firing a 1972 Walther P1 handgun at a shooting range while discussing the “tradition of using firearms for hunting and for recreational purposes,” was intended to communicate to lawful gun owners who are important to the party, […]
Leitch pictured firing Walther P1 in fundraising email to her Conservative Party supporters, not a Nazi-era handgun, says gun owner
OTTAWA—An email blast from Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch to supporters shows her firing a 1972 Walther P1, not what two national gun associations had identified as a Nazi-era semi-automatic weapon, a 9mm Walther P38, the owner of the gun told The Hill Times later Tuesday night after reading the story. “The handgun is not a P38. […]
Conservative Party must be transparent about fraudulent memberships or it will ‘undercut credibility of outcome,’ says Kent
The Conservative Party has to be transparent to Canadians and to its more than 100,000 members about the process it’s undertaking to scrub fraudulent memberships from the party list or it will undermine the outcome of the leadership race, says Conservative MP Peter Kent. “That will undercut the credibility of the outcome. It is incumbent on the […]
Bernier’s national membership chair MP Nuttall was accused of membership fraud in 2010
Amid unproven allegations that Maxime Bernier’s leadership campaign fraudulently signed up members, which Mr. Bernier denies, The Hill Times has learned his membership chair was accused of using similar tactics in 2010. Conservative MP Alex Nuttall (Barrie-Springwater-Oro Medonte, Ont.) was one of the first MPs to support Mr. Bernier’s (Beauce, Que.) leadership for the Conservative Party. Mr. Bernier […]
Raitt willing to serve in an O’Leary-led Conservative caucus
Conservative MP and leadership candidate Lisa Raitt has a website dedicated to telling people that Kevin O’Leary is “wrong for the Conservative Party and wrong for Canada,” but says she’s willing to put all that aside and support him if he becomes leader. And that support includes serving as a critic in an O’Leary-led Conservative […]
O’Leary says ‘fraud’ occurring in Conservative leadership race, alleges ‘vote rigging’
Kevin O’Leary says there’s “fraud” happening in the current Conservative leadership race, and he’s reported it to party officials, who say they are investigating. The businessman-turned Conservative leadership candidate issued a statement Thursday night that said “there are backroom organizers who are committing widespread vote rigging and potentially breaking our electoral and financing laws to […]
Think Trump politics is invading Canada? Watch the NDP leadership race and think again
MONTREAL—In one of those great moments in multi-streaming the other day, I clicked on a Politico piece called “Trump’s Dictator Chic” in the middle of watching the NDP leadership debate. Just as I was reading author Peter York’s account of where the new American president’s breathtakingly garish Fifth Avenue apartment fits in the pantheon of eerily similar […]
