‘Time for a reckoning’: Rifts in Conservative caucus laid bare as O’Toole digs in

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says he’s ready to fight to hold on to the helm of the party after a third of caucus signed a letter to force a vote on his leadership as early as Wednesday.

O’Toole addressed the letter in a series of tweets Monday evening, while drawing attention to internal party division.

“There are two roads open to the Conservative Party of Canada. One is the road of Randy Hillier and Derek Sloan. It is angry, negative, and extreme. It is a dead-end; one that would see the party of Confederation become the NDP of the right,” he said.

“The other road is to better reflect the Canada of 2022. To recognize that conservatism is organic not static and that a winning message is one of inclusion, optimism, ideas and hope.”

He added that he’s “not going anywhere.”

“It’s time for a reckoning. To settle this in caucus. Right here. Right now. Once and for all.”

Conservative MP and international development critic Garnett Genuis said on Monday evening that he is one of 35 MPs who have signed the letter seeking an early leadership review but did not initiate the process.

“About 1/3rd of caucus signed a letter calling for an end to Erin O’Toole’s leadership, representing a broad cross-section of opinion. Mr. O’Toole should recognize that his position is untenable, rather than using lies to publicly attack members of his own team,” he said.

Conservative MP Bob Benzen also issued a statement saying he supports the review following the release of a report that detailed how the Conservative election campaign ended in defeat.

“In an attempt to spin the 2021 election loss, Mr. O’Toole has claimed the results made our caucus more ‘regionally diverse,’ but this came at the expense of losing seven seats in Western Canada, and an overall loss of two seats nationally. Surely, the goal of any national political party should be to form government by winning the most seats, and the Conservatives failed at this task under Mr. O’Toole,” he said.

Benzen added that O’Toole has made a series of “flip-flops” and had “questionable judgement” as leader when he adopted a “de-facto carbon tax policy” in April 2021. He said O’Toole pressured members during the election campaign to support the entirety of the party platform or face expulsion or penalty, and failed to stand up against Bill 96 in Quebec and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms during the pandemic.

“I feel that the Conservative caucus has given Mr. O’Toole more than enough chances for a course correction to resolve the concerns of many of the grassroots members of our party. In consideration of Mr. O’Toole’s record as leader, I believe a caucus leadership review is the only way to avoid a dangerous split in the Conservative Party that may not be repairable,” he said.

Through the Reform Act— an initiative from Ontario Conservative MP Michael Chong that came into effect in 2015—caucus voted after the election to give itself four key internal powers for the coming session, including the ability to review and remove the party leader and elect an interim replacement.

To forge ahead with a leadership review, 20 per cent of caucus needs to sign a formal agreement to trigger the process, and then a majority of caucus members would have to vote to remove the leader through a secret-ballot process.

MPs are gathering Wednesday for their regularly scheduled caucus meeting, at which time a vote could occur.

O’Toole still seemingly has the support of key members of his leadership team.

In an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play natural resources critic Michelle Rempel Garner pleaded with her colleagues to refocus their energies on fulfilling their role as official opposition.

“I am very concerned about ensuring that Canada has a strong opposition at this juncture in our nation’s history, there are so many crises that the government needs to be held to account on,” she said.

“Now we need to act as leaders, leaders that we’ve been elected to be…this is not going to inspire Canadians that we can govern.”

Heading into Parliament Hill on Tuesday for question period, Deputy Leader Candice Bergen said she would also put her support behind O’Toole, as did Tim Uppal.

The majority of Conservative MPs declined to declare their position.

TRUCKER PROTESTS

The letter is the latest challenge to O’Toole’s leadership, after a handful of electoral district associations put forward calls to host a leadership vote before the scheduled one at the party’s national convention in 2023.

It also comes amid a trucker convoy rally in Ottawa protesting pandemic lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and other public health restrictions. While one of the main objectives of the rally was to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it may end up being his main rival who is toppled while the truckers are in town.

O’Toole has faced criticism for being unclear about whether he supports the convoy, originally stating it wasn’t his place to “attend a protest on the Hill” and then days later stating he would meet with truckers.

“I’ve never seen the country more divided, and I’ve never seen a time that we need to come together more than now,” he told reporters after a caucus meeting last week.

Other Conservative MPs have been ardent in their support of the protests.

THE AFTERMATH OF A VOTE

If more than 50 per cent of MPs vote to oust O’Toole, he will be removed as leader and caucus will then vote to elect an interim leader.

Conservative strategist Jamie Ellerton said no matter the outcome, the vote will be a positive step forward for the party as it gives MPs the opportunity to air their grievances with each other instead of through the media.

“There kind of needs to be a reconciliation between the various factions at play here as to what the path is going forward, how they’re going to operate, to ultimately give Conservatives a chance. Ultimately the more Conservative infighting there is in all of this, the biggest winner is Justin Trudeau,” he said.

Benzen released another statement on Tuesday noting that O’Toole’s reaction to the letter confirmed his “worst fears.”

“Mr. O’Toole wants to divide this caucus and this party, not unite it. Rather than humbly admitting his mistakes and correcting course, Mr. O’Toole is doubling down – launching attacks and threatening ‘consequences’ against any MP who dares dissent,” he said.

“Even if Mr. O’Toole wins the vote on Wednesday, the Conservative Party and its grassroots supporters across the country will loose. A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello.