Federal Progressive Conservative leadership hopeful Erin O’Toole spent some time touring southwestern Ontario over the weekend, and that included a visit to The Chatham Voice.
The Durham MP is one of 14 people vying for the leadership of the party to fill the void left behind by the departure of Stephen Harper.
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O’Toole said he believes the sheer number of candidates indicates how many within the party are confident in the place Harper left them.
“We have good strength, a good track record,” he said. “There are 14 of us, but really there are five or six of us who would have the national presence to win.”
Dave Van Kesteren, MP for Chatham-Kent Essex and chair of the Ontario caucus of the federal level of the party, thinks the true leadership pool is a little smaller than that.
“Erin’s being a bit generous when he says the pool is five or six. There are probably about four, and there’s no question he’s near the top,” he said.
Does Van Kesteren support O’Toole? He said he couldn’t openly support one candidate at this time.
“I haven’t made a commitment. I’m chair of the Ontario caucus, so I don’t think it’s fair to sit in that chair and endorse a candidate, especially when a number of them are in that caucus.”
O’Toole, 44, who has been in Parliament since 2012, is a former cabinet minister under Harper, holding the Veteran’s Affairs portfolio in 2015. He is a veteran, having served 12 years as a navigator in the RCAF.
He said his experience gives him an upper hand towards leading the party.
“I think I can take the best from the Harper era – strong on the economy and public safety – and I’m a vet myself, and build on that, but tell the story in a new way,” he said.
O’Toole said the loss to Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in the fall of 2015 saw the erosion of party support in the rings surrounding some of the country’s largest cities, including here in Ontario.
“Now we have to bring back some of the suburban folks to our party who voted for us in 2011, but not last time around,” he said.
O’Toole said he also thinks he can speak to those people from experience, and can address younger voters as well.
“I’m actually younger than Trudeau. I have the ability to reach out to a younger audience with a Conservative message,” he said. “I’m also from Bowmanville; I’m a suburbanite.”
What’s more, he’s from small-town Ontario.
“I think the small towns of Canada built Canada. Communities like this (Chatham-Kent) stepped up in huge numbers in times of war. There’s a commitment to service,” he said. “Mix in agriculture and entrepreneurial small business and you have hard-working people.”
Included in the 14 PC leadership hopefuls are celebrity Kevin O’Leary, a high-profile businessman who appears on television shows Dragons’ Den in Canada and Shark Tank in the U.S.; and Kellie Leitch. Both appear to be utilizing the success of Donald Trump south of the border as platforms for their bids.
Leitch is taking hard, ultra-conservative stances on numerous issues, including immigration; while O’Leary hopes to walk off the set of reality television to lead the Conservatives in Ottawa.
“Kellie is a good friend. She’s articulating what she’s trying to get across. I don’t agree with everything she’s saying, however,” O’Toole said.
“I like Kevin. He donated to the Liberals in my riding. He traditionally has not been a Conservative,” he said. “I welcome anyone into this race. But I think what’s fundamental is you have to become an MP first. The next leader has to face Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons from day one. Mr. O’Leary hasn’t really committed to do so at this time.”
O’Toole added he questions O’Leary’s selectivity on delivering his message.
“We had 500 people at the debate (Friday) night. He has skipped the last two party debates. I don’t think that’s respectful to the grass roots,” he said. “I’m happy to defend my track record. Kellie defends her position. Put your ideas and record out there. Don’t just try to control the coverage.”
O’Toole is more focused on Trudeau than his leadership competitors.
“Trudeau is out-of-control spending. Literally, anything that moves, he taxes,” O’Toole said. “He’s taxed seniors, small business, payroll, and has his nationalized carbon tax, all while running a $28-billion deficit.”
The leadership hopeful said he’s working to develop a kick-start program for youth coming out of post-secondary education. Where Trudeau has told our young citizens to get used to a decade of job churn, O’Toole said he wants to reach out to them based on their needs.
“I think the Conservatives – good on job creation, good on using the tax system as a positive way to create jobs – we can reach out to voters who not only voted for us in the past, but ones who didn’t vote for us last time but will as we speak to their needs,” he said. “I’m running on the best of what our government did in the past.”
