Federal Conservatives set leadership vote for June 27, opting for shortened race

'The government can fall at any time and we need to be ready,' said a party official. The race that elected Scheer lasted well over a year

Nationalpost.com
Jan. 6, 2020
Brian Platt

Andrew Scheer’s replacement as the next Conservative Party of Canada leader will be elected on June 27 in Toronto, the party’s leadership organizing committee has announced.

With a minority parliament in place, the party has opted for a much shorter leadership race than the one that elected Scheer in May 2017, which lasted well over a year.

“I don’t think there was any appetite to have a longer race,” said Dan Nowlan, co-chair of the organizing committee. “The government can fall at any time and we need to be ready, so we have an obligation to do it. And I think our members are very excited by the idea of getting it done.”

Nowlan, who also led the 2017 organizing committee, is co-chairing this race’s committee with former MP Lisa Raitt, who ran for the leadership in 2017 and was the party’s deputy leader before losing her Milton, Ont., riding in the 2019 federal election.

Scheer announced his resignation as leader on Dec. 12 following widespread criticism of his election performance, despite having reduced the Liberals from a majority to a minority. The Conservative caucus voted to keep Scheer as leader until his replacement is picked.

There have been many names floated as potential contenders, including current MPs Erin O’Toole and Peter Poilievre and former MPs Rona Ambrose and Peter MacKay. Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest is also reportedly considering a run.

The last leadership race had 14 candidates on the leadership ballot (though one of them, Kevin O’Leary, dropped out of the race before then). There has been much talk among Conservatives about raising the entry requirements this time around -- in particular, raising the registration fee to keep out all but the most serious candidates. The 2017 race had a $100,000 entry fee, of which half was a refundable deposit. The spending limit was set at $5 million per candidate.

Both Nowlan and Raitt told the National Post that final decisions have not yet been made on the entrance requirements. “I can tell you that we’re diligently working to get this done in the next seven to ten days, so that we can come out with the complete set of rules,” Raitt said. “But it’s important for people to know the date so that if they’re thinking about this seriously, then this is crystallizing (whether to run).”

Conservative MP’s pay their respects to Andrew Scheer following his announcement he will step down as leader of the Conservatives, Dec. 12, 2019 in the House of Commons. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
A subcommittee is also deliberating on a schedule for official debates. The 2017 race had 16 debates spread out over six months, five of which were organized by the organizing committee. The vote itself will take place at the Toronto Congress Centre, a large venue near the airport where the last leadership convention also took place.

The timing of the vote means it will coincide with Toronto’s Pride Weekend -- an ironic twist given that Scheer’s reluctance to give a clear answer on his personal views about same-sex marriage or to march in a Pride parade was criticized by many Conservative commentators.

The organizing committee has not yet announced whether the voting system will change. In 2017 votes were weighted by riding, meaning successful candidates needed broad-based support across the country. The ranked ballot system also meant that attracting down-ballot support from other candidates was crucial for victory. Scheer had in fact trailed Maxime Bernier on every round of voting except for the final one, where enough supporters of other candidates supported Scheer to put him over the top.