Jointly written by the Editorial Board of the Western Standard.Erin O’Toole was elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on a platform of being the “True Blue” candidate. He relentlessly railed against his primary rival Peter MacKay for being a liberal-lite Red Tory..It was all an act. Anyone who paid attention to his record, public statements, or first leadership campaign, would know that O’Toole was no “True Blue” conservative. It was all a ruse to get the conservative base to give him the party’s top job..It shouldn’t have come as much surprise then when O’Toole immediately turned against conservatives as soon as he had the leadership in his hands..O’Toole courted the down-ballot votes of leadership contestant Derek Sloan; votes that were critical to his victory. But once safely elected leader, he used a wildly trumped up excuse of a $131 donation from an unsavoury character under an alias to oust him from the party’s caucus..Soon after, he fired star Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre from his role as finance critic, demoting him to a lower profile position. It was a move clearly rooted in jealousy of the young upstart’s high profile and stronger performance in Parliament which was earning him support among party rank-and-file. O’Toole only returned him to the job after his leadership hit the rocks following his defeat to Justin Trudeau in the 2021 general election..The greatest betrayal by O’Toole however wasn’t against any one individual, but of the conservative movement itself. While running for the Conservative leadership, O’Toole signed a written pledge of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation to repeal the Trudeau carbon tax, and never introduce one of his own.. EDITORIAL: O’Toole must goErin O’Toole signs the CTF’s “No Carbon Tax Pledge” .But in April of 2021, O’Toole tore up that pledge and announced his own carbon tax plan. O’Toole’s carbon tax plan was comically over-complicated and interventionist, and in most ways, even worse than Justin Trudeau’s. It was a betrayal of conservatives and Westerners, and disgracefully dishonest..Throughout COVID-19, O’Toole has ridden the fence as hard as he can. He has refused to take a strong stance one way or another in favour of lockdowns and forced vaccination, hoping voters aren’t paying attention..But they are. Conservatives and swing centrist voters alike both see a weak leader who’s governed by the daily polls, indecisive, and guided by nothing else but his desire for power. That weakness is one of O’Toole’s greatest obstacles to power..During the 2021 general election, O’Toole’s backing of a modified version of Trudeau’s vaccine passport cost him many votes to Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party. Many others sat at home, or decided to just continue to vote for the devil they know..O’Toole has also explicitly turned his back on the West. Mathematically, he knew he could afford to lose votes in the West if he made up for them in Ontario and Quebec. He made no secret he was willing to leave these otherwise loyal supporters behind, but his promised payoff in the East came to naught, and he was defeated by Trudeau with no material gains..Without strong opposition in Ottawa, many Canadians — led by Westerners — began organizing the Freedom Convoy. For a week and-a-half, O’Toole oscillated like a weathervane. He knew many of them were conservative Canadians whose support he needed to keep his leadership, but they weren’t the kinds of conservatives he wanted..With many of his most prominent MPs — including Pierre Poilievre — greeting the truckers, O’Toole released a last-minute video jumping on the bandwagon. It looked late, indecisive, and desperate..At long last, a large group of Conservative MPs have signed a letter to trigger a caucus vote on his leadership under the Reform Act. On Wednesday, the caucus will vote to determine if he stays, or if he goes..After the news broke, O’Toole released a statement, warning Conservatives if he’s no longer the leader, the party will turn to the right..Nothing would be more welcome. Canada already has four leftist parties in Parliament. At present, the Conservatives offer nothing the Liberals don’t provide already. Canadians deserve at least one credible Conservative Party capable of forming government..At present, the Conservatives are neither credible conservatives, nor capable of forming government. If they do not reverse that on both fronts, conservatives and Westerners would be better served voting for more principled, regionally focused parties..O’Toole’s centrist gamble not only failed conservatives, but Canadians at large. If he had won, perhaps he would have a case to make. But he has none..If the Conservative Party is to be saved, it needs new, principled, and decisive leadership..The first step in achieving that is to remove Erin O’Toole as leader..Jointly written by the Editorial Board of the Western Standard
