Conservative party leader ousted by lawmakers

TORONTO (AP):

The leader of Canada’s Conservative party has been ousted after a vote by his party’s lawmakers.

It is the third main political rival Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has helped bring down.

Party lawmakers voted 73 to 45 on Wednesday to remove Erin O’Toole, who angered some by trying to move the Conservative party more towards the centre.

O’Toole’s removal has big implications for the conservative movement in Canada. With him gone, the party could swing back further right and in a populist direction.

O’Toole advertised himself more than a year ago as a “true-blue Conservative”. He became Conservative Party leader with a pledge to “take back Canada”, but immediately started working to push the party towards the political centre. He lost the federal election last fall.

STRATEGY

O’Toole’s strategy, which included disavowing positions held dear by his party’s base on climate change, guns and balanced budgets, was designed to appeal to a broader cross section of voters in a country that tends to be far more liberal than the United States.

One of the leading candidates to replace him is Pierre Poilievre, a polarising party lawmaker who met protesters railing against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions who are protesting in Ottawa. Many Canadians were outraged by the crude behaviour of the demonstrators. Some urinated and parked on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some carried signs and flags with swastikas.

In the fall election, Trudeau bet Canadians didn’t want a Conservative government during a pandemic and voiced the concerns of Canadians who were upset with those who refuse to get vaccinated.

One Conservative lawmaker, John Williamson, immediately announced he would run for interim party leader.