Erin O’Toole has been the Conservative Party leader of Canada since August 24, 2020. Like his predecessor before him, he lacks any significant climate change plan. He feels the strength of the party lies in Ontario and Alberta, so he’s hesitant to suggest plans that would be unfavourable to his base. Economic recovery from the pandemic isn’t nuclear power or Liquefied natural Gas (LNG) as he would suggest.
Since former Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped down, a blue funk hangs over the Conservatives’ heads. They lack direction and ambition. For that matter, the former party leader, Andrew Scheer’s only plan was to nip at Trudeau’s heels whenever he made a move. He never came up with a concrete rebuttal on any topic other than to say it wouldn’t work, and the reason why, was lacking credibility, if any reason was given.
Even his support for LNG seems to be getting him off on the wrong foot. It was proposed as an alternative to coal but his biggest supporter, Premier Jason Kenney of the Alberta United Conservatives, is ramping up dormant mines for Australian miners who hope to have a market in China and other Asian countries. To be fair, he can push LNG, but he’ll have to button his lip about coal. The Grassy Mountain Coal Project Public Hearings are set to begin on October 27, 2020. It will be interesting for both Kenney and O’Toole, to see which way it goes.
He’s been prompting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to create a parliamentary committee to probe the Liberal government’s pandemic response spending and possible ethical lapses including WE. Trudeau, obviously annoyed as there are more important matters to contend with, has suggested that this motion is a confidence matter. If the Conservatives persist, he will call an election.
The Commons’ ethics committee has also been asking for more information about the money he and his family received as speaker fees from the charity organisation.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet supports the Conservative’s motion. He’s ready for an election as well. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh feels this is a waste of time, and rightly so. There are several issues much more pressing.
Let it be known, how foolish O’Toole is for pushing this motion. If he were elected prime minister, he might make Andrew Scheer, the former Conservative party leader, look much more competent in his performance.
Update 10/21/20 — Snap election averted as Liberal government survives confidence vote in Commons
Canadians will not be heading to the polls for a snap fall election now that the Liberal government has survived a confidence vote on a Conservative motion to create a special committee to probe the government’s ethics and pandemic spending.
MPs voted 180-146 to defeat the opposition motion, with the NDP, Greens and Independent MPs voting with the Liberals. [Read more]
Update 10/22/20 — New Conservative motion could trigger 2nd confidence vote for Liberals
One day after surviving a confidence vote on a Conservative motion, Justin Trudeau’s minority Liberal government faces another Conservative motion that could trigger yet more high-stakes drama over the possibility of a snap election in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The official Opposition is using its second opposition day this week to debate a motion calling for a sweeping probe by the House of Commons health committee into a host of issues relating to the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The motion is so broad and the demand for documents so massive that the Liberals are expected to argue that its passage would paralyze the government — the same argument used to declare the first Conservative motion a confidence matter.
Using an argument that’s likely to be repeated by government members Thursday, Liberal MP Darren Fisher told the committee that “the motion asks public health officials basically to stop what they’re doing to protect Canadians and sift through emails and documents instead.” [Read more]
