Scheer tries out his Ford-Trump routine
OTTAWA—If you’re tired of the mendacious, anger-spewing modus operandi that now passes for political discourse in the United States, you may want to find something to do outside Canada next year. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who is so uninspiring that rival Maxime Bernier finally quit the party over what he said was moral and intellectual […]
Drawing from a new well: Tories look to party outsiders to quench voters’ thirst for change
Looking to replicate their success in the recent Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, Que., byelection on a national scale, the Conservatives’ 2019 campaign chief is encouraging party faithful to think outside the box and recruit outside traditional party circles. “Especially in seats we haven’t won for a long time, going back to the same well again and again […]
Conservatives reach out to Bernier supporters, ‘time will tell’ how many will follow him out of the party
HALIFAX—Members of the Conservative caucus presented a united front Thursday after Maxime Bernier’s dramatic exit from the party, and suggested the party’s rank and file wouldn’t be too quick to follow behind him. Mr. Bernier (Beauce, Que.) lost the contest to lead the party last May by a razor-thin margin to Andrew Scheer (Regina–Qu’Appelle, Sask.). […]
Tory delegates vote against anti-abortion resolution, endorse limiting citizenship, as policy convention wraps
HALIFAX—Conservative Party delegates railed against being known as “Liberal lite” Saturday, voting to pass a series of policy resolutions aimed at shoring up their base while trying to dodge some social pitfalls that would make it easier for opponents to place targets on their backs in 2019. Delegates attending the party’s national convention in Halifax […]
Tories target young voters, talk campus recruitment at convention
With a record-number of youth turning out to vote, young Conservative convention delegates gathered in Halifax this weekend say their party can close the gap that saw the Liberals capture their demographic in 2015, if they keep the “big blue tent” in mind on controversial issues and steer clear of “inflammatory rhetoric.” The party has […]
‘Our strength is and always has been our freedom,’ Scheer tackles Trudeau, political correctness, and Bernier in first major keynote
In his keynote speech Friday Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer offered a catalogue of election-ready attacks aimed at a “virtue-signalling” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attacking the Liberals on the carbon tax, deficits, international gaffes, immigration, political correctness, and diversity. It was a big speech for Mr. Scheer, heading into his first election as leader, made bigger […]
Supply management proposal gets the short shrift as Tories prepare policy package
Conservative Party members wrestled Friday with how they’ll be perceived by the general voting public in 2019 as they began the process of whittling down a swath of policy resolutions that will help inform the party’s next election platform. When delegates reconvene on Saturday afternoon to talk policy, they’ll be staring down a list of […]
Ex-Tory Bernier ‘childish,’ a ‘gadfly,’ say delegates angered at ‘deliberate’ distraction
HALIFAX—Despite Maxime Bernier’s move to scrap his Conservative card, members say they’re rallying to offer a more unified message that may be well rid of “fringe” elements, though some warned the Quebec MP has tapped into the grassroots on issues that should be heeded. The bomb Mr. Bernier dropped on Tory Leader Andrew Scheer’s (Regina-Qu’Appelle, […]
Maxime Bernier’s explosive exit from Conservative Party has ‘no impact’ on Tory Halifax huddle, say MPs
HALIFAX/PARLIAMENT HILL—Quebec MP Maxime Bernier announced in Ottawa on Thursday that he is leaving the Conservative Party, saying that he is in “politics to defend ideas, real conservative ideas.” But in Halifax, where thousands of Conservative Party members have gathered to debate those ideas, Mr. Bernier’s (Beauce, Que.) now-former caucus colleagues say his decision changes […]
Divisive riding-refund clawback pulled from agenda, as Tories set to talk policy in Halifax
A proposed change to the federal Conservative Party’s constitution aimed at stopping the national body from clawing back money from its riding associations has been pulled from consideration at this week’s convention. The proposal, sponsored by the electoral district association for Carleton, Ont., was part of the association’s campaign to stop the implementation of a 2017 decision […]
