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THE TRIALS OF MR. O’TOOLE by George Froelich

The political race is on. With a possible Federal election coming up, as early as June, who will reign supreme in the next federal election? The three major political parties are certainly getting ready. But which political leader do Canadians want to be their Prime Minister? Which political leader has the political chops and the leadership qualities to be the chosen one? Leadership is often elusive. It frequently depends on a particular juncture in history of what people look for and what is needed. Despite that there is one thing that is a constant when talking about leadership; one of history’s strongest (in the extreme) leaders - the French military commander, Napoléon Bonaparte, said it best: “A leader is a dealer in hope.” Simple words, but powerful in their impact.

One thing is certain. Erin O’Toole, the newish leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and leader of the official opposition in Parliament, on that score, fails in every respect. His biggest problem? The old fossil-like guard of the party. Every time O’Toole announces a new policy, he finds that the good ole right-wing party stalwarts oppose it. There are many policies that O’Toole espouses that are at odds with the party members and his colleagues in the Conservative caucus. So, let’s just point to one - climate change. Canadians are serious about climate change. Public opinion polls constantly point out that Canadians want government policies to deal with climate change. O’Toole wants that too, at least publicly. And yet, at the recent Conservative party convention, attendees voted down a resolution that acknowledged that climate change is real. What’s a leader to do? Simple for O’Toole, engage in political bafflegab and act like it doesn’t matter. In this case, O’Toole told reporters that he was in charge as party leader and that he would present a climate change policy before the election. Fascinating! But how can it be credible? Given the refusal of the party convention to accept the reality of the climate change crisis (Levitz, 2021) how can the country believe him? And of course, there are other issues. We are facing major economic problems. Millions of Canadians have lost their jobs, many small businesses have gone bankrupt, all Canadians are having to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic causing hardship, emotional turmoil, and endless deaths. Canadians have had enough. The Liberals should be vulnerable. But Canadians are not hearing anything remotely concrete from O’Toole’s party. Canadians need a leader who is able to articulate policies, and action in which they can believe and in which they can have hope. Hope that the economy, the covid pandemic, the climate crisis, etc., etc., will, or at least can, become better. He stresses the potential of our collective strength as a people; – “we will get through this together” - is a constant refrain. On the other hand, O’Toole offers only a steady diet of criticism of the government. He preaches on issues about which most Canadians don’t care. Another difficulty is that the leader of the Official Opposition tends to speak out of both sides of his mouth. He tries to project the image of a kind, gentle man, that cares about Canadians and the problems they are facing. But Mr. O’Toole, like his weak predecessor, refuses to deal in a major and decisive way with some of the most right-wing colleagues in his caucus who spout hate and xenophobia. Conservatives seem chalk-a-block with members who appeal to the misogynistic, the xenophobic and those given to conspiracy theories. A few names come to mind – Pierre Poilievre, Cheryl Gallant and Derek Sloan. They are, or were, part of the Conservative, far-right faction within O’Toole’s caucus. Sloan, a white supremacist, was finally removed from the party after his totally vile beliefs could no longer be ignored. And O’Toole’s speeches and comments indicate he is a mini-Trump of the first order. He has railed against so called “cancel culture”. He has allowed CPC adds suggesting that the Trudeau government’s pandemic response is nothing other than a great “socialist reset” (whatever that may actually mean). Likewise, his attitude toward Canada’s Indigenous residential school tragedy has been one of, “Its architects only wanted to “provide education to the students” and his vow to empower police to arrest protesters who block what he vaguely referred as “critical” infrastructure is a clear nod to that sector of conservative base.

Within his own caucus there is dissension. Many are not happy with O’Toole’s performance and since parties usually depend on their leader to connect with the electorate it is not a good sign that, 200 days into his mandate, he has not lifted the Party’s popularity with Canadians (Grenier, 2021). This is rare because most politicians, as a rule, do receive a bump in their popularity rating when first becoming leader. Even his weak and confused predecessor Andrew Scheer managed that. What this all adds up to, in my opinion, is that it is unlikely that O’Toole, a man with no vision for Canada, will become Prime Minister in an upcoming election. If he fails this time, his present trials are going to look like small beer. Watch out for the knives Mr. O’Toole.


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Resources

Grenier, E. (2021). “Unlike past Conservative leaders, Erin O'Toole has enjoyed no bump in the polls.)” CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-otoole-poll-bump-1.5942766. March 10.

Levitz, S. (2021). “Conservative party members vote down resolution to officially recognize climate change”. The Canadian Press https://globalnews.ca/news/7708960/conservative-party-climate-change/. March 21.

Platt, B. (2021). O'Toole would criminalize blocking 'critical' infrastructure, allow police to clear blockades without injunction. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/otoole-says-he-would-criminalize-blocking-critical-infrastructure-allow-police-to-clear-blockades-without-an-injunction. February 20,

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