Jean Charest booed after calling the convoy of truckers ‘illegal’

The exchanges between Pierre Poilievre, considered a favorite, and Jean Charest, were particularly stormy. Unlike the other candidates, the two men did not even shake hands when they arrived on stage.

In the early part of the debate, the member for Carleton notably accused his opponent of being caught up in donation scandals while he was Premier of Quebec, from 2003 to 2012.

” To hear you talk about law and order is surprising, considering that your Liberal Party [du Québec] received an illegal half -million dollar donation when you were the boss. The average trucker has more integrity on his little finger than your entire Liberal cabinet. “

When given the opportunity to speak a few minutes later, Mr Charest responded by criticizing Mr Poilievre for publicly supporting the truckers who stormed Parliament Hill from January 29 to February 20 and staged, according to him, a demonstration. illegal.

The choice of this adjective got him boos from part of the audience, who were otherwise content on Thursday to applaud the various positions presented by the leadership candidates.

No more losers

Called to explain why the Conservatives have multiplied electoral defeats since 2015, the aspiring leaders, Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest at the forefront, have all shown themselves as capable of allowing the party to return to victory.

For example, Mr. Poilievre is proud of his seven consecutive achievements as an MP, his communication strategy (consisting of umikot the media, he explains) and the popularity of his rally activists since the race began.

According to him, this is because he is campaigning on strength of the CCP whose assemblies are also famous. And our biggest strength today is that we are the party of tax cuts and the fight against inflation, he explained. This is why it is important for us to have a chef with an impeccable track record [en la matière].

We cannot choose the person who has already raised taxeshe added, blaming Jean Charest that night for his introduction to Quebec a contribution to health in the 2010s.

Concerned, the principal stressed the importance of selecting more Conservative candidates in the Greater Toronto Area, where voters, according to him, have been put off by the Conservative’s promise to set up a whistleblower hotline. barbaric cultural practices in 2015, when Pierre Poilievre was in government.

Lewis left the game

Leslyn Lewis – the only woman in the running and the only representative of social conservatismwhich claims a significant share of PCC members-also stood out on Thursday by a violent offensive against his opponents, including Pierre Poilievre.

Pro-life, the Haldimand-Norfolk member notably accused the leader of not wanting to say what brand he maintains on the issue of abortion. He also criticized him for being late before offering his support to demonstrators who blocked access to federal parliament this winter.

Ms Lewis also directly challenged her opponent Scott Aitchison, who suggested during the debate that the Conservatives should not conspiracy theories.

What concerns me is that we keep running away from trouble because we don’t want to be called conspiracy theorists, she pointed out. And then, a few months later, these facts happened.

A first glance

Unofficially, the debate on Thursday, in English, was held at the Shaw Center in Ottawa. He opens the 14th Canada Strong & Free Network (CSFN) Networking Conference, formerly known as the Manning Center after Preston Manning, founder of the late Reform Party of Canada.

The oratory contest was moderated by Candice Malcolm, editor of the right-wing media platform True Northand radio host Jamil Jivani, who will be president of CSFN in the coming days.

This is a first for those seeking to succeed Erin O’Toole as head of the CPC, along with Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest. All of the certified candidates were present, except for Brampton mayor Patrick Brown, who was campaigning behind the cameras in the cultural communities.

Important issues

The CCP has faced heated debates since Erin O’Toole was ousted in February, particularly over the health measures that should be used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, the leak indicated that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade also raised the issue of abortion, a practice opposed, like Leslyn Lewis, by dozens of Conservative MPs.

The entire caucus has also been instructed to remain silent on this issue.

One step ahead for Pierre Poilievre

The CPC leadership career has six official candidates, who will have until June 3 to sell membership cards. Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest, Patrick Brown, Leslyn Lewis, Scott Aitchison and Roman Baber are running.

None of them came from the provinces of Western Canada, where, ironically, the militant base of the political formation is located.

Six other candidates aspired to replace Erin O’Toole, Leona Alleslev, Marc Dalton, Joseph Bourgault, Grant Abraham, Joel Etienne and Bobby Singh, but they failed to get the party to certify their candidacies.

The House of Commons currently has 119 members from the CPC, which forms the official opposition in Ottawa. On the lot, 52 deputies support Pierre Poilievre, four times more than Jean Charest, his closest opponent in the matter.

The MP for Carleton is also leading in fundraising, according to the latest data from Elections Canada.

More debates to come

Many more debates are to take place between now and the election of the new Conservative leader on September 10th.

The six candidates are notably required to participate in the PCC’s official debates, which will take place on May 11 in Edmonton (in English) and on May 25 in Laval (in French). A third game can also be added if the party decides.

Former journalist Tom Clark will be responsible for moderating the debate on May 11, but the identity of his French-speaking counterpart, for May 25, has not yet been announced.

More details are next.