Saskatchewan MPs hopeful to unite Conservative party under new leadership

Two Conservative members of Parliament from Saskatoon agree that nobody wanted a situation like what played out Wednesday for now-former party leader Erin O’Toole.

A leadership vote resulted in a 73-45 decision to remove O’Toole as head of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Saskatoon-University MP Corey Tochor said it has been an “eventful” week in Ottawa.

“No one wants to see a party leader removed, but it got to a point where it was overwhelmingly desired by our membership that a change at the top was needed,” Tochor said, calling Wednesday a “tougher” day.

Tochor said he voted for the review of O’Toole’s leadership and was “under the same belief as many of the grassroots and the base” that it was time for a new party leader.

“Someone who unites and is a fighter,” Tochor said. “I’m excited to see how this leadership race unfolds.”

Kevin Waugh, MP for Saskatoon-Grasswood, did not disclose how he voted, but called it a “solemn day” for the party.

“It’s a secret ballot. There was lots of talk in caucus,” Waugh said. “It’s been a tough week here in Ottawa leading up to today’s vote.”

Waugh said he’s “not particularly proud of what’s happened in the last three months” to the Conservative Party, noting divisiveness has been present among those in the party.

“I came to the decision today to move on from leadership but at the same time, the grassroots needs to decide now which is the direction of the Conservative Party of Canada,” Waugh said.

Waugh said the Conservative Party saw a shift towards the centre of the political spectrum away from the right under O’Toole’s leadership. He said O’Toole did a lot for the Conservative Party, but said issues in caucus ultimately culminated in leaving O’Toole behind.

“As an MP, I never want to see this in a party. We have been divided, obviously, but at the same time, I guess we have some clarity now in caucus,” Waugh explained.

Tochor and Waugh agree it’s time for the party to move forward in a more unified way. Waugh indicated it is not quite clear what that will look like.

“Do we need a new vision? Do we need new policies? I guess that’s up to the grassroots,” he said.

Waugh stated Canadians have indicated they want a change to the current leadership of Canada.

“We are the alternative to the Liberals,” Tochor said, adding the path forward for elected Conservatives will be to “listen long and hard to the people that we represent.

“Now more than ever our country is divided and we need the Conservatives to bring unity back to our country and save us from the direction that Justin Trudeau would like to take us,” Tochor said.

Waugh said the Tory membership will have a say in who the next party leader is — and he noted that’s a good thing.

An interim leadership vote was to be conducted Wednesday night in Ottawa to decide who will lead the Conservative Party until a new leader is voted on.

‘Turn the page and move on’

Regina-Wascana MP Michael Kram said Wednesday, just minutes after the vote happened, that it had already been a very emotional day.

Kram was tight-lipped about how he voted or any comments he might have made in the meeting, but did say that he’s OK with the outcome.

Kram said he appreciates O’Toole’s many years of dedication and service to the party.

“It’s not easy to lead a national party and Erin O’Toole did his best but it’s time to turn the page and move on,” said Kram.

Part of the discontent with O’Toole’s leadership, particularly in the west, was over the party’s inclusion of a carbon tax of sorts in its platform for the fall election. Kram said he heard a lot about that on the doorstep when he was campaigning.

“I figured, as the leader of the party, we need to give him the leeway and the latitude to do what he feels is best to break through in Eastern Canada. So in that context, I figured if this is what works in Eastern Canada, then that’s what works, but clearly it did not work,” said Kram.

Personally, Kram said he liked the provincial idea that there was an exception to the carbon pricing formula for Saskatchewan.

Kram said the vote Wednesday night for an interim leader would be a bit different for him, as it’s an election without him on the ballot.

“I’m going to sit back and do what the voters do at election time and listen to all the speeches and see who I feel is the best man or woman for the job,” said Kram.

The campaign for a new permanent leader will start right away and when asked about what he would be looking for a new leader, Kram was rather pragmatic.

“Confidence in the candidate’s ability to unite the party and break through in those regions of the country where we need to win votes and we need to win seats,” said Kram.

Steinley not surprised

Warren Steinley said Wednesday was a tough day for everyone but he wasn’t surprised at O’Toole’s ousting.

“I’m glad that the untenable leadership situation in our party has been dealt with and that there’s no lingering leadership questions now,” said Steinley.

The MP for Regina-Lewvan said the situation was untenable because party members and Canadians were starting to have questions about it.

“We needed to make sure that there was trust between us and Canadians and we needed to work on that and I think that’s the decision that our caucus came to today is we needed a fresh start. We needed to unite,” said Steinley.

Steinley believes O’Toole’s loss in popularity had to do in part with some things in the last election — the inclusion of a carbon tax in the platform and the change on firearms policy in particular.

This is the third time the Conservative Party will be searching for a new leader since 2017, but Steinley doesn’t think that shows instability. He said this is what happens when a party experiences an election loss and that the party is strong.

Steinley is excited to see who’ll be putting their names forward for the leadership; he said he’ll be looking for someone with a strong fiscal message.

“Someone that is going to take spending seriously, someone that is going to kick-start our economy, fight for jobs (and) fight for our energy sector,” explained Steinley.

The Conservative Party is strong in the west but not as much in Eastern Canada. Steinley said part of remedying that will be a leader with a strong economic message.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick