Canada’s Conservatives have ousted their leader amid accusations of “flip-flopping” on key Tory issues, and a broader debate over whether the party should appeal to a more rightwing voting base.
In a secret ballot held on Wednesday, 73 Conservative parliamentarians voted to remove Erin O’Toole as leader. Forty-five voted for him to keep his job.
The vote comes as potential candidates to replace O’Toole have embraced a well-funded protest in Ottawa over vaccine mandates and public health measures, spearheaded by far-right groups.
O’Toole, a former air navigator, took the party’s top job in 2020. But support for him collapsed after he was unable to topple Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party in the September 2021 election.
In the months since, O’Toole has battled restlessness within the party, facing accusations that his positions on a carbon tax and assault weapons are inconsistent and that he has driven a wedge through the Conservatives over social issues, including LGBTQ protections.
Earlier this week, 35 of the party’s 118 members of parliament signed a letter calling for a change in leadership, effectively forcing the vote on O’Toole’s political future.
“I am asking for your support, colleagues. I am asking to have the courage to give a chance to our teams,” he said during the caucus meeting. “You have been heard. My goal will be to bring us together.”
O’Toole, a four-term MP, had previously warned that a tack to the right risked losing any gains the party had made and would set it up for another loss to the Liberal party.
O’Toole’s challenges have also come from former caucus members, who sent a letter earlier this week calling for a change in leadership. “Erin O’Toole has not only failed to unite the party, his words and actions in recent days have created greater disunity. It is time for him to step aside for the good of the Conservative party and the nation,” the former MPs wrote.
Wednesday’s vote marks the second time Conservatives have searched for a leader during the coronavirus pandemic and comes amid questions over the trajectory of the party’s policies. A previous rift in the party after a tense leadership battle between former leader Andrew Scheer and Maxime Bernier led to a splintering, with Bernier forming his far-right People’s Party of Canada.