https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-wanted-2004-coalition-duceppe-1.1118390
Harper wanted 2004 coalition: Duceppe
Stephen Harper once tried to form the type of coalition government he's now calling illegitimate and unprincipled, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said Saturday as he launched his election campaign.
Duceppe slammed Stephen Harper for his criticism of the opposition over trying to work together.
"He finished second in that election," Duceppe said in Montreal. "If he says that's undemocratic, well, that's exactly what he was asking for. So let's not play games with history. He has to take responsibility."
Duceppe says Harper called him and Layton to a meeting in Montreal in 2004 where they came up with new rules — rules now in use in the House of Commons — for running committees and some debate days.
"It was one of the most important meetings I had with respect to parliamentary democracy. And I'm not rewriting history here … we changed most of the rules of the House that day," Duceppe said. "They were important changes."
Duceppe pointed to the letter he signed with Harper and Layton that said Harper was ready to form a government if then-prime minister Paul Martin lost the confidence of the House.
Harper has argued a coalition is not a legitimate or principled way to form government, and he's pointed to the Bloc in particular, arguing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff shouldn't consider relying on the support of separatists.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/otoole-caucus-meeting-leadership-review-1.6200158
Erin O'Toole says he has enough Conservative caucus support to stay on as leader
'We're all disappointed — no one more so than me,' Conservative leader says of election result
Two weeks after losing the election to the incumbent Liberals, Conservative MPs gathered in Ottawa today for a caucus meeting to discuss the disappointing result — and vote on a series of measures that could give MPs the power to fire O'Toole and launch another leadership race to replace him.
While there has been grumbling in Conservative circles over O'Toole's performance during the campaign — at least one caucus member told CBC News that they want to see him resign — the leader said today he thinks he has enough support to hang on and lead the party through another election.
"Yes I do," O'Toole said when asked if he has the backing of most MPs.
"I've spoken to most of the caucus. We're all disappointed — no one more so than me — but we need to make sure we build on the gains we have made, learn from where we fell short. That's what any team, any family does when you have a disappointment, you learn from it and you come together and that's what this meeting will do today."
'We have to be ready to run again'
O'Toole said his focus will be on holding Trudeau to account and preparing the party for another election, which could come at any time in a minority Parliament. "We have to be ready to run again," he said.
"I think Mr. Trudeau has already let Canadians down again in his first 10 days," O'Toole said, referring to Trudeau's beach vacation in Tofino, B.C. on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. "He has more lessons to learn than we do."
Following the terms of the Reform Act — legislation drafted by Conservative MP Michael Chong and adopted by Parliament in 2015 — a series of votes were held at the start of today's caucus meeting. The votes are designed to give MPs and, to a lesser degree, senators more decision-making power in a parliamentary system that has become increasingly centralized around party leaders and their teams.
WATCH | Erin O'Toole optimistic about his political future:
Conservative MPs voted to give themselves the power to elect a caucus chair — the Tories picked for the job Scott Reid, a long-time MP from eastern Ontario — and expel an MP, if necessary.
They also agreed to adopt the Reform Act's leadership review principle but a vote on O'Toole's future isn't expected today.
Under the rule adopted by MPs, at least 20 per cent of caucus members must formally request a leadership review. If enough agree, a secret ballot vote is then held to decide the fate of the leader.
If a simple majority of members vote against O'Toole in such a process, an interim leader is appointed and the party launches a search for O'Toole's permanent successor.
O'Toole described the mechanism as part of a "fair and transparent process" required of any properly functioning party.
"This is not about a sword of Damocles hanging over my head," he told reporters in Ottawa. "We are united as a team."
O'Toole also announced a separate party review that will examine "every element" of the Tories' 2021 campaign, with the goal of helping the party win more votes whenever the next federal election occurs.
The campaign review will be led by former MP James Cumming. Another person not yet named will be tasked with reviewing the Conservatives' Quebec campaign.
Conservative MP Scott Reid handed out 'Vote Scott' cookies to caucus members ahead of the vote on a caucus chair. The eastern Ontario MP was picked to serve in that role at the first post-election caucus meeting. (CBC News)
Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs, who represents the rural Alberta riding of Lakeland, said O'Toole will face tough questions about the party's drift to the political centre in the election.
During the campaign, O'Toole embraced a big-spending platform and promised to push off a return to balance budgets for ten years. He also initially promised to repeal a Liberal ban on assault-style firearms — only to backtrack during the campaign.
Stubbs said that shift in O'Toole's position hurt her in her local race; she said she saw 15 per cent fewer votes cast in her name than she did in 2019.
Conservative MPs Shannon Stubbs, left, and Rachel Harder rise to cast their vote during a marathon voting session in the House of Commons Thursday March 21, 2019 in Ottawa. Stubbs said O'Toole will face tough questions at the first post-election caucus meeting. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
"I believe there needs to be an accounting on how it is that we are going to maintain Conservative voters, maintain confidence among Conservative voters and supporters," she said.
She said O'Toole's embrace of a more moderate form of conservatism — which was sold as a way to win over voters in urban areas of central Canada — failed to pay dividends.
"The reality is that today, after the 2021 election, Conservatives are more rural, more homogeneous than we've ever been before. And we lost great, strong, necessary colleagues in big cities in every part of this country," she said.
Most of the MPs who stopped to speak to reporters ahead of the caucus meeting said they support O'Toole staying on as leader, even if they supported some of the Reform Act policies in principle.
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, who ran for the party's leadership last year, said O'Toole "showed himself to be a really impressive leader. He did well in the debates, the platform was great. He did lead the team well and no one is perfect."
But she added there were "a few problematic points in that campaign" that need to be addressed before the next election. She said some Conservative supporters were disappointed by the "flip-flop on the carbon tax" and O'Toole's shifting position on firearms during the campaign.
Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, who fended off a People's Party challenger in her southwestern Ontario riding, said she is "100 per cent, absolutely" behind O'Toole.
"I think the story will be gone by 12 o'clock," she said of today's caucus meeting.
Chong said he "supports Erin staying on as leader" because the party performed better in Ontario and Quebec than in past elections, picked up a seat in Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time in 10 years and won back traditionally Tory ridings in the Maritimes.
"The topline results look very similar to the last election. But when you look beneath the hood, so to speak, the results are quite different. Was it enough? Clearly not," Chong said.
"I think he should stay on because I think he's set us on the right track. Clearly we've got some work to do but if we stay on this track — with changes, clearly mistakes were made — I think that sets us up well for the next election."
Conservative B.C. MP Dan Albas said the party is well-positioned to win in the next election. "Everyone I've been speaking to so far has been saying the same thing — the Liberals, the trend is not their friend," he said. "We've grown our vote share in parts of the country we haven't won in a long time."
"I fully support Mr. O'Toole," said Conservative Alberta MP Michelle Rempel Garner. "We're all looking forward to getting back to work."
If he can avoid a caucus revolt in the meantime, O'Toole faces another formal challenge to his position in 2023.
Under the party's constitution, there is an automatic leadership review at the first national Conservative convention "following a federal general election when the party does not form the government and the leader has not indicated, prior to the commencement of the national convention, an irrevocable intention to resign."
So if O'Toole does not resign before the planned 2023 convention, delegates will be asked to vote on whether they want to launch a "new leadership selection process" to replace him. The scars from this campaign may have faded by the time members get a say.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/otoole-vaccine-confusion-1.6241358
O'Toole concedes some Conservative MPs have caused 'confusion' over vaccines
Conservative MP launching 'civil liberties' working group compared COVID-19 to polio
O'Toole and his team have been grappling with questions about vaccines for months as some of his party's MPs and senators have spoken out against mandatory shots or have avoided getting vaccinated altogether.
O'Toole has tried to walk a fine line — telling Canadians he supports the vaccination campaign while opposing mandatory vaccination rules for public servants and the travelling public.
O'Toole also has said his party will challenge a House of Commons Board of Internal Economy policy that requires all MPs attending Parliament in person to be vaccinated — but has refused to say how many Conservative caucus members are fully vaccinated.
A group of Conservative parliamentarians recently formed what they call a "civil liberties" working group to advocate for the unvaccinated.
While promoting the group's work during an appearance on CTV, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu suggested that polio — a disease largely eradicated in Canada through vaccinations — posed more of a threat than COVID-19.
"In terms of the risk, people that got polio, many of them died and many of them were crippled, and that is not the same frequency of risk that we see with COVID-19," she said in an interview on the network's Question Period program.
"I'm just receiving the information from medical experts that talk about the relative risk. I'm not a doctor myself."
Between 1949 and 1954, 11,000 people in Canada incurred some degree of paralysis and 500 people died due to polio. More than 29,000 Canadians have died so far of COVID-19 since the onset of this health crisis in early 2020.
Gladu also said "multiple sources of data" must be reviewed to determine if vaccine mandates actually work to curb the spread of the virus. She said asking people to disclose their vaccination status is a slippery slope that could lead to "discrimination" against people with other health conditions.
"People are being forced to disclose and the question is, what is next?" she said.
In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Gladu said vaccine mandates "infringe on people's rights" and that politicians "need to hear from all sides," including those who choose to go unvaccinated.
WATCH: Conservative MPs forming 'mini-caucus' to talk about vaccine-related issues
Conservative MPs forming ‘mini-caucus’ to talk about vaccine-related issues
Asked about Gladu's comparison of COVID-19 to polio, O'Toole said Conservatives "take a professional approach to discussions on the safety of vaccines."
"That was not the case yesterday with Ms. Gladu. There is a big difference between the work you do as an MP for your constituents and questions involving reasonable accommodations and the matter of efficacy of vaccines. Vaccines are safe and effective," O'Toole said. "There is a big difference between the work done by MPs for constituents and creating confusion."
Gladu's comments not 'helpful,' says O'Toole
With more than five million eligible Canadians still choosing to avoid vaccination, O'Toole said, politicians should be focused on helping the hesitant find answers to legitimate questions.
"Ms. Gladu's interview yesterday added more questions and I don't think that's helpful," he said.
Gladu isn't the first Conservative MP to speak out about vaccine policy. Newly elected MP Leslyn Lewis, who placed a close third in the 2020 Conservative leadership race, has emerged as a vocal critic of plans to roll out COVID-19 shots to kids, saying Canadian children are being "used as shields for adults."
Most health experts say vaccine coverage in this younger cohort will help Canada finally achieve some form of herd immunity against the virus.
Tory MP Dean Allison, who represents the Ontario riding of Niagara West, has invited speakers challenging the widespread use of COVID-19 vaccines onto a show he broadcasts online. Those guests — some of them doctors — have suggested vaccines aren't necessary for those previously infected by the virus, a position that is not widely held by public health experts.
"It's a great example of why members of Parliament, of all stripes, should let the professionals, the public health officials, the physicians, answer questions about efficacy of vaccines or provincial programs on vaccines," O'Toole said when asked about the actions of these MPs.
O'Toole dodged questions about whether these MPs should be booted from caucus for questioning the advice of public health officials, saying caucus membership isn't a decision for the leader alone.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pounced on the Conservatives' disunity on vaccines ahead of a Liberal caucus meeting today. He said Conservative squabbling over vaccines threatens the country's pandemic recovery.
"Even as Canadians are moving forward, even as Canadians are continuing to get vaccinated at record rates, the Conservatives are actually moving backwards. More and more Conservatives are stepping up to stand against vaccination, to stand against science," Trudeau said.
WATCH: Trudeau calls out Conservative MPs on vaccination
He said he wouldn't tolerate Liberal MPs challenging the Commons vaccine mandate.
"I can't imagine any of you putting up your hand and saying, 'Well, I deserve special treatment because I'm an MP.' I can't imagine it occurring to any of you to say that, but that's what Conservatives are saying," he said.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/otoole-shadow-cabinet-shuffle-1.6242300
O'Toole leaves MPs who questioned vaccine policy out of his shadow cabinet
Poilievre appointed finance critic, Rempel Garner out at health in Conservative shadow-cabinet shuffle
Notably absent from the critics' list are MPs who have voiced opposition to COVID-19 vaccine policies.
Newly elected MP and former Conservative leadership contender Leslyn Lewis, long-time MP Marilyn Gladu and Saskatchewan MP Rosemarie Falk have been left on the Conservative backbench without a prominent role in the next Parliament.
Lewis has criticized COVID-19 vaccinations for children. Gladu recently took on a role with a new "civil liberties" working group of parliamentarians concerned about vaccinate mandates. Falk has expressed opposition to what she has called "mandatory vaccinations."
Gladu and Falk served previously in O'Toole's pre-election shadow cabinet as critics for the Queen's Privy Council and seniors respectively. Gladu, who made waves recently by comparing COVID-19 to polio, also served previously as the party's health critic under former leader Andrew Scheer.
B.C. MP Mark Strahl, who said last month in a social media post that vaccine mandates are "discriminatory, coercive and must be opposed," has lost his job as the party's shadow minister for labour.
Ontario MP Dean Allison, the host of an online show that has featured vaccine skeptics as guests, has been left out of the shadow cabinet, although he didn't have a role on O'Toole's team before the September federal election.
Asked what he would do about MPs who have questioned public health guidance or government directives on vaccines, O'Toole said his choices for the shadow cabinet reflect how he feels about the issue.
"We selected experienced MPs who are prepared to fight inflation, prepared to fight the Liberal-NDP coalition and also to address vaccine hesitancy. It's very important for leaders in our shadow cabinet to play that role and that's why I made choices like the ones I just announced," O'Toole said in French.
Former leadership candidates on backbench
Lewis, who has strong support from the social conservative wing of the party, ran a close third place in last year's leadership race.
Newly elected Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis adjusts her mask as she arrives for a caucus meeting. Lewis was left out of Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's shadow cabinet. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
One of the few people of colour elected under the Conservative banner, Lewis has said Canadian children are being "used as shields for adults" and has vowed to stand against the deployment of COVID-19 shots in kids. Most health experts say vaccine coverage in this younger cohort will help Canada achieve some form of herd immunity against the virus.
Gladu also ran for the party's leadership but failed to gain enough early support to get her name on the final ballot.
She is a member of a group of Conservative parliamentarians who recently formed what they call a "civil liberties" working group to advocate for the unvaccinated. While promoting the group's work during an appearance on CTV, Gladu suggested that polio — a disease largely eradicated in Canada through vaccinations — posed more of a threat than COVID-19.
Gladu also said "multiple sources of data" must be reviewed to determine if vaccine mandates actually work to curb the spread of the virus. She said asking people to disclose their vaccination status is a slippery slope that could lead to "discrimination" against people with other health conditions.
WATCH | Conservative MPs form 'mini-caucus' to talk about vaccine-related issues:
Conservative MPs forming ‘mini-caucus’ to talk about vaccine-related issues
After the shadow cabinet positions were announced today, Gladu issued a statement to the media retracting her comments.
"I would like to apologize for my inappropriate comments about COVID-19 vaccines during a recent CTV interview. Upon reflection, I recognize how dangerous it is to share misinformation about the severity of COVID-19 and the safety and efficacy of vaccines. I retract these comments in full," Gladu said.
"I apologize unreservedly to Canadians. I also apologize to my caucus colleagues and Leader for the distraction my comments have created."
Experienced MPs take on top critic roles
Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre is back as the party's finance critic. Known as a hard-charging parliamentarian, Poilievre was swapped out of that role by O'Toole before the last election.
He's back now, O'Toole said, because the Conservatives are intent on holding the government's feet to the fire over its perceived mishandling of inflation. The pandemic, massive government spending and constrained supply chains have caused prices to spike, a phenomenon that makes the cost of living higher for everyone.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre will serve as the party's finance critic. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
"As you know, Pierre is one of our strongest communicators. He's tough in the House. I see Liberals quiver when he rises to his feet, whether it's on the WE Charity scandal or other issues," O'Toole said.
"The big risk facing our country is inflation — the highest rate in 20 years. So, I want Mr. Trudeau and Ms. Freeland worried about their complacency, their overspending and that NDP coalition," O'Toole said, citing media reports suggesting the Liberals and NDP are in talks over some sort of cooperation agreement ahead of Parliament's return on Nov. 22. "They can buy Jagmeet Singh's silence. They cannot buy ours or Pierre's."
Poilievre's replacement as finance critic, B.C. MP Ed Fast, will serve as the party's industry, innovation and science critic. O'Toole said the job change was not a criticism of Fast personally. "I'm a big fan of Ed Fast," O'Toole said.
Alberta MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who was a sharp critic of the government's pandemic response, has been shuffled out of her role as health critic and into the natural resources portfolio.
A skilled communicator, Rempel Garner will take on Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, two Liberal ministers who have been tasked with reshaping Canada's climate policy as the country strives to dramatically slash greenhouse gas emissions by some 40 to 45 per cent by the end of the decade.
WATCH | O'Toole does not include MPs who questioned vaccine policy in his shadow cabinet:
Growing calls for O’Toole to toughen stance on MPs who question COVID-19 vaccines
Last week at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to put a cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector, which could have long-term consequences for jobs and growth in Alberta's oil patch.
"We actually want the country to succeed. We want to reduce emissions but not by shutting down an entire sector of the economy when we need them the most," O'Toole said.
"So, you're going to see a mixture of experienced, talented and new voices proposing an economic future that I think Canadians will be desperate for by the time the next election comes."
Alberta MP Shannon Stubbs, who voiced concerns about O'Toole's leadership after the September election, is also out as the party's shadow minister for public safety.
Stubbs told reporters ahead of the first post-election caucus meeting that she was concerned about the party's shift to the centre under O'Toole, criticizing his election flip-flop on firearms in particular.
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