WEYBURN – The federal Conservative Party underwent a sudden leadership change, with a vote by secret ballot by the Conservative caucus forcing leader Erin O’Toole to resign, and MP Candice Bergen has been chosen as the interim leader.
MP Robert Kitchen of Souris-Moose Mountain is pleased with the choice of Bergen as the interim leader, and said his only regret with this choice is this means she won’t be able to run to replace O’Toole.
The MPs took a vote on O’Toole’s leadership, which he lost by the margin of 73-45, with the caucus chair abstaining from voting. MP Kitchen declined to say how he voted, and added he would not violate the confidentiality of the caucus meeting by revealing how the discussion went there prior to the vote.
Explaining how the process for the vote came about, he noted a Conservative member put forward a motion for party reform, including giving the members the ability to remove a member from caucus, including the party leader. This was voted down in 2015 and in 2019, but was passed this year after 20 per cent of the members voted in favour of the action.
“A vote was called by secret ballot, and unfortunately for Erin, he did not meet the requirement for over 50 per cent support, and he resigned,” said Kitchen.
He added that, in his opinion, the major problem with this vote is that the party members across Canada did not have a vote on the leader.
“I believe it should be the members of the Conservative Party, but that’s where the legislation is,” he said.
While Kitchen would not say how he voted, he noted he supported O’Toole in the last two leadership votes held by the party.
Asked if the issues around the Freedom Convoy, which arrived in Ottawa at the end of January, had any impact on the call for the vote on O’Toole’s leadership, Kitchen replied, “I don’t know. I really haven’t had a chance to talk to many of the members about it. There is a lot of frustration across the country on a lot of things, and there’s frustration with MPs with how this Liberal government is controlling things.”
Meanwhile, the Conservatives will move forward as the Official Opposition, and the interim leader, Candice Bergen, “I think is a fantastic choice. The only regret I have is now she’s not eligible to put her name in for the leader.”
He pointed out that she’s very experienced and well-educated, and had served in Stephen Harper’s administration as well as the deputy leader under O’Toole. A leadership race will be held by the party at a later date, not yet set.
The Conservatives will be fighting against some of the big issues ongoing right now, such as the high inflation and higher taxes being imposed by Trudeau, such as higher CPP premiums and a coming increase in the carbon tax on April 1.
“At the same time, he’s looking to cripple our industries, particularly the oil industry,” said Kitchen, adding these higher taxes and costs will all filter down to the consumer, and to small business owners and seniors.
His duties as the chair of the Government Operations and Estimates standing committee have resumed, with the first meeting held on Friday with the Parliamentary budget officer. Kitchen was re-elected as the chair of the standing committee in December, and leading up to this meeting he had a couple of subcommittee meetings in preparation.
“I look forward to that role, as it concerns so much of what’s going on in the economy. It will keep me busy for sure,” he said. “I try to stay up on the issues in the riding, and the more I can do, the better.”
He added some people think he’s able to do more than he’s able as an opposition MP, and said, “I will try to address issues as best I can.”
