Jean Charest? Leslyn Lewis? Contenders testing the waters for Conservative leadership race

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This article was published 21/02/2022 (941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — As the political fires generated by weeks of cross-Canada protests and the Liberal government’s subsequent emergency declaration start to subside, the Conservative party’s leadership race is heating up.

The only official candidate, Pierre Poilievre, is fundraising off the controversy, and conservative polling firms that have helped past leadership candidates are in the field to see where the base stands on it all.

Meanwhile, the base of support is expanding for a potential candidacy by former Quebec premier Jean Charest, while supporters of social conservative and former candidate Leslyn Lewis are actively asking members if they’d back another leadership bid by the rookie MP.

The flurry of movement comes even though there are no official rules set for the contest, nor a voting date for party members to elect a replacement for Erin O’Toole.

That’s not stopping Team Poilievre, which sent a letter Monday afternoon seeking donations for his campaign, along with a link to his speech in the House of Commons opposing the emergency declaration.

The letter notes the race hasn’t started yet, and donors won’t be able to get tax receipts, but hopes they can kick in some cash anyway for the first stages of the campaign.

“Pierre is a fighter,” reads the letter from longtime Poilievre supporter Jenni Byrne.

“He’s fought for his constituents and he’s fought for Canadians across the country.”

On Tuesday, Poilievre was formally relieved of his duties as the party’s finance critic, a move many insiders complained had taken too long — convention holds that leadership candidates don’t hold high-profile critic jobs that can provide them with additional profile in the House of Commons.

The seven-term MP entered the race just four days after the Conservative caucus ejected O’Toole as leader.

Poilievre has a stockpile of MP endorsements, but there are factions within the party that are less enthused.

One is Campaign Life Coalition, which has made it clear that it can’t endorse Poilievre because of his progressive social views, which it says even his supporters must be cautious about.

“The fiscal conservative, democratic conservative and libertarian factions of the party’s base need to recognize that this inherent danger exists with Poilievre’s social liberalism. Why?” the socially conservative group wrote in an email blast last week.

“A man who compromises on moral values can be too easily pushed to compromise on economic and freedom principles, also.”

Campaign Life has its eye on Lewis to potentially carry the torch again in this campaign.

Lewis finished third in the party’s 2020 leadership race, thanks in part to her strong socially conservative credentials.

On the weekend, an email from “Team Leslyn” went out to party members and others asking if they’d back her this time around as well, and asking for their contact information.

Then there are those from the other end of the political spectrum.

Alain Rayes stepped down as the party’s deputy leader earlier this month, citing his desire to support a candidate in the leadership race who represents progressive values and centre-right economic ideas.

Rayes is among the Conservative MPs who put their names on an open letter to Charest on Tuesday, telling the former Progressive Conservative leader and Mulroney-era cabinet minister that Canada needs him to run.

“There is no doubt that Jean Charest would be the best person to lead our party and our country,” Rayes said on social media, referring to Charest as an “an experienced and qualified statesman.”

Crucial for Charest’s nascent campaign is showcasing his appeal outside Quebec; among others, the letter is signed by Rick Perkins, a Nova Scotia MP who defeated the Liberals’ fisheries minister in the last election; John Nater, an Ontario MP; and Percy Mockler, a New Brunswick senator.

In the 2020 leadership race, Perkins helped run Peter MacKay’s campaign, a bid Mockler also endorsed.

MacKay is rumoured to be considering another leadership bid, but still has around $400,000 of debt from the last contest.

Late last week, a polling firm that worked with his 2020 campaign was making calls asking respondents if they’d support MacKay, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, Poilievre or Charest.

Pollsters were in the field just after the Liberals announced they were using the Emergencies Act to give police and others new powers in a bid to end nearly three weeks of protests in downtown Ottawa and to stave off renewed blockades at the nation’s borders.

The polling company asked respondents whether they agreed with the viewpoints espoused by the protesters, and whether they thought their tactics went too far.

This week, Conservatives voted against the emergency declaration, but the debate showcased a range of positions on the issue.

Some Conservative MPs continue to insist that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ought to have met with the protesters, and described the demonstrations in Ottawa as little more than a nuisance, while others said all politicians need to do some soul searching about how and why the protests began.

“I am left to consider whether I could have been quicker to call out abhorrent behaviour, or how I could have shown greater empathy to my neighbours,” said Tory MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North).

“What can I do now to be a positive actor inside and outside of the House?”

Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz