Roundup: O’Toole tells challengers to bring it on

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It’s all coming undone. Erin O’Toole’s grip on the leadership of his party is even more tenuous, as a third of the caucus has now signed a letter calling for a vote on a leadership review. While “sources” insisted that Garnett Genuis was one of the ringleaders of this group, in part over anger for the way in which the conversion therapy bill vote was handled, Genuis denies this and says this is an attempt by O’Toole to smear him. Others sources say this is because the party is angry that the Conservatives allowed too many bills to pass unopposed before the end of the year, but we’ll see what other narratives emerge as more MPs start leaking.

O’Toole responded late in the evening, essentially saying bring on the vote, apparently confident that the other two-thirds of caucus will be with him, but that’s a pretty risky gamble to be making when he’s this weakened, and there is blood in the water. Also, the fact that O’Toole tried to bring up Derek Sloan is very curious considering that he initially protected Sloan when there was a move to expel him from the party after he made racist comments about Dr. Theresa Tam, only to turn against him once O’Toole had secured the leadership thanks to using Sloan’s voters to his advantage. It’s like he doesn’t think anyone can see his blatant opportunism staring them in the face. Oh, and the notion that Andrew Scheer wants to be interim leader is just the chef’s kiss in all of this—one presumes he misses Stornoway and the perquisites that come with it. Scheer is denying it (but it’s not like he’s a paragon of truth either)

Meanwhile, Paul Wells relays more of what he’s hearing from his Conservatives about O’Toole’s likely chances (not good), and fits it into the broader pattern of the party and its predecessor’s leaders going back three-quarters of a century.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau has tested positive for COVID, but was already isolating.
  • Trudeau also has no intention of meeting with the grifter convoy, as their stated aim is to overthrow democracy.
  • The government has tabled a bill to authorise another $2.5 billion in spending for more rapid tests.
  • Chrystia Freeland’s pre-budget consultations appear to be focused on affordability and economic growth.
  • Omar Alghabra says that there is no indication that the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers has had an impact on trade flows.
  • Alghabra is also promising a suite of policy responses to help with supply chain issues, following a meeting with stakeholders.
  • Sean Fraser announced $85 million being made available to help clear immigration backlogs, but it could take months.
  • Elections Canada’s report on the last election has been tabled, and notes difficulties in finding staff, particularly for some Indigenous communities.
  • The House of Commons held a take-note debate on the situation in Ukraine.
  • The Commons’ ethics committee wants to suspend PHAC’s use of publicly available anonymised mobile phone data to track movements under public health orders.
  • Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall broadcast the bizarre conspiracy theory that the PM’s photographer was staging photos of protesters with Confederate flags.
  • Robert Hiltz expresses the local frustration with the grifter convoy.
  • Althia Raj believes that parties should have to turn their receipts over to Elections Canada for verification before they get any expenses reimbursed.

Odds and ends:

My latest Loonie Politics Quick Take wonders about the internal reckoning the Conservatives will have to undergo in the wake of the grifter convoy.

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6 thoughts on “Roundup: O’Toole tells challengers to bring it on”

  1. I found O’Toole’s “anger vs optimism” framing to be the funniest line yet — I wonder if he realized he is channelling “sunny ways” ?

    • I don’t see why not. I mean his economic platform was basically a really poor ripoff of *the budget will balance itself*.

      Or he was channelling Jack Layton’s “hope is stronger than fear” in a misguided attempt to chase after the mythical Blue Dipper.

  2. I hope the party self-destructs so that Trudeau can govern like Chrétien for the next decade. All those people calling for *his* ouster, and publishing “rumours” of his impending retirement (like Tom Brady?), just don’t know how to play the long game.

    • OK, forget Brady. Point still stands that the rumour mill should wait for Trudeau to make a statement instead of speculating on their own. He’d have a gold mine of stupid to compete against next go-around.

  3. Wasn’t it only three bills that passed – the conversion therapy ban, a pandemic aid bill, and the 10 paid sick days for federally regulated workers?

    If the Tories feel they let too many pass unobstructed, I’d kind of like to know which one they wanted to obstruct. I feel like that’s an important questions for Canadians to get the answer to.

  4. Pingback: QP: Back to inflation | Routine Proceedings

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