2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election
The 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election is a leadership election that will be held by the Conservative Party of Canada to elect the successor to Erin O'Toole. He was removed on February 2, 2022, as leader by the party's caucus in the House of Commons of Canada by a vote of 73–45. Candice Bergen was chosen as interim party leader and will serve until a permanent leader is elected. The leadership election will take place on September 10, 2022. Background. Following the 2021 Canadian federal election, the Conservative Party remained  the Official Opposition with a loss of two seats, leaving it with 119 seats in the House of Commons. O'Toole announced that he had enough support to remain leader, but launched a review of the Conservative election campaign. James Cumming was selected to lead the review. In November 2021, Senator Denise Batters launched an internal party petition to review O'Toole's leadership. Party president Robert Batherson quickly decided the petition was not in order. The following day, Batters was removed from the National Conservative Caucus, although she retained her membership in the Saskatchewan Conservative Caucus and the Conservative Senate Caucus . In late January 2022, Cumming completed his review and briefed Conservative MPs and senators on his findings. His report blamed party staff for "over managing" O'Toole during the campaign, but also said O'Toole needed to be more "authentic" and that Conservatives failed to craft policy on some issues. In response to the report, O'Toole acknowledged that he needed to appear less "scripted" during the final days of the campaign. On January 31, 2022, Conservative MP Bob Benzen submitted a letter with signatures from 35 Conservative MPs calling for a leadership review, pursuant to the "Reform Act", of O'Toole's leadership  to the Conservative caucus chair, Scott Reid. In the letter, Benzen criticized O'Toole's reversal on repealing Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax and assault weapons ban. This was the first time the "Reform Act" leadership-removal provisions were invoked. During the review, held on February 2, 2022, 45 MPs voted to retain him against 73 who voted for his removal. Immediately following his removal the Conservative caucus voted by secret ballot to appoint Candice Bergen as interim leader. In addition to Bergen, eight other caucus members sought to be appointed interim leader, including John Barlow, John Brassard , Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Marilyn Gladu, Tom Kmiec, Rob Moore and John Williamson. Campaign. On March 30, 2022, concerns arose that the party's membership lists may have been compromised and used to make fake donation pledges. Melanie Paradis, a former staffer to Erin O'Toole, posted a warning to twitter about the alleged breach, saying that she was contacted about a $120 donation pledge she never made. Laurence Toth, spokesman for the Charest campaign, said someone had made numerous false donations pledges using a Ukrainian IP address, saying it was an "obvious attempt to create chaos" for the campaign. The  party has denied that members data had been compromised but is investigating the incidents. In early April, Charest gave several interviews in which he said Poilievre's support for "the blockade" and the Canada convoy protest disqualified him from being a party leader. In response to Charest's comments, Poilievre said Charest was "repeating Liberal lies about truckers." On April 12, 2022, Poilievre raised concerns of potential fraud through the use of prepaid credit cards to purchase party memberships. A lawyer for his campaign sent a letter to the leadership election organizing committee demanding that it prohibit the use of  prepaid cards to purchase memberships, and saying the campaign would take "appropriate steps to require the party comply" if it did not receive an "acceptable response" in a few days. Debates. Canada Strong and Free Network invited all declared candidates to its debate, but only candidates who satisfy the party's verified criteria are permitted to attend. Dalton had agreed to attend the debate, and the Independent Press Gallery of Canada debate, but failed to become a verified contestant and withdrew from the leadership election prior to either debate. Verified candidates are required to attend all official debates organized by  the party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee. In April 2022, the committee advised candidates that they reserved the right to hold a further debate in August. Rules and procedures. On March 8, 2022, the party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee released the Rules and Procedures for the 2022 Leadership document. As in the previous two leadership elections, the vote will be held under instant-runoff voting in which each electoral district is given 100 points, distributed according to the weight of a candidate's vote in that electoral district. Should no candidate receive more than 50% of the points in  a round, the candidate with the lowest amount of points is removed and their points reallocated to the next highest choice on the ballots that had selected them. Voting is only open to those who are members of the Conservative Party of Canada as of June 3. To be considered as a candidate, a member of the party must apply by April 19 to the Leadership Candidate Nominating Committee with a completed Leadership Contestant Questionnaire, a written endorsement of the party's Code of Conduct policy document, and a $50,000 deposit. Then the member has until April 29 to  provide the remaining $150,000 registration fee, a $100,000 security deposit (related to providing financial filings and adherence to the Rules and Procedures document), and 500 signatures of endorsement from party members (which must span at least 30 Electoral Districts in 7 provinces). The document limits expenses to $7,000,000 and prohibits accepting contributions from non-residents and foreign entities. Ballots are mailed to Conservative party members in late July or early August with the results being released on September 10. Media coverage of the 2022 race has described it as "the most expensive-to-enter race in Canadian  history". Scott Aitchison, 49, MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka (2019–present), Shadow Minister for Labour (2021–2022) and Mayor of Huntsville, Ontario (2014–2019). Roman Baber, 42, MPP for York Centre (2018–present). Baber was elected as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and has been sitting as an independent MPP since January 15, 2021. Patrick Brown, 43, Mayor of Brampton (2018–present), Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (2015–18), Ontario Leader of the Official Opposition (2015–18), MP for Barrie (2006–15) and MPP for Simcoe North (2015–17). Jean Charest, 63, Premier of Quebec (2003–12), Leader of the  Quebec Liberal Party (1998–2012), MNA for Sherbrooke (1998–2012), Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1993–98), Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (1993), Minister of Industry, Science and Technology (1993), Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs (1993), Minister of the Environment (1991–93), Minister of State (Fitness and Amateur Sport) (1988–90), Minister of State (Youth) (1986–90), and MP for Sherbrooke (1984–98). Leslyn Lewis, 51, MP for Haldimand—Norfolk (2021–present) and the third-place finisher in the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election. Pierre Poilievre, 42, MP for Carleton (2015–present) and former MP for the now-abolished riding of  Nepean—Carleton (2004–15). Previously, Poilievre was the Shadow Minister of Finance (2017–21; 2021–22), Shadow Minister for Jobs and Industry (2021), Minister of Employment and Social Development (2015), and Minister of State for Democratic Reform (2013–15). Candidates. Awaiting verification. These candidates have submitted the entrance fee and signatures, and are waiting for final approval. Grant Abraham, is a lawyer, columnist and unsuccessful candidate in the 2019 United Kingdom general election in the constituency of Strangford, where he stood for the Northern Ireland Conservatives. Abraham attended high school in Abbotsford, British Columbia, before completing bachelor's degree in business and English at  Trinity Western University. He completed a law degree at Queen's University Belfast. Joseph Bourgault, CEO of Bourgault Tillage Tools and founder of Canadians for Truth. He lives in St. Brieux, Saskatchewan. Joel Etienne, is a lawyer, movie producer, and 2021 candidate in York Centre. He also ran as a candidate for the Canadian Alliance in the 2000 election in Eglinton—Lawrence. He is originally from New Brunswick, and graduated from the University of Moncton. Withdrew or failed to qualify. Failed to qualify as verified contestants. Approved applicants who failed to qualify as verified candidates. Leona Alleslev. Leona Alleslev, 54 , is the former Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (2019–2020), and former MP for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill (2015–2021). Before entering politics, Alleslev was an air force officer and corporate manager, having worked for IBM and Bombardier. She launched a campaign website on March 26, 2022, before becoming an approved contestant in mid-April. At the time, her campaign manager, Steve Gilchrist, said that they had collected the required signatures for Alleslev to become a verified contestant, but that the fundraising requirement of $300,000 was a "very high bar" which needed to be met in "very  short time frame". He said it may be designed to exclude candidates from the leadership election. On April 29, 2022, Alleslev announced that she was withdrawing from the leadership election having failed to raise $300,000 required to pay the entry fee and deposit by that deadline. Alleslev had called for a significant increase to Canada's defence spending. Marc Dalton. Marc Dalton, 61, MP for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge (2019–present), MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission (2009–2017). Before entering politics, Dalton was a teacher in British Columbia. He identifies as of French and Métis heritage. Dalton is bilingual in  English and French. He announced his canidacy on March 20, 2022. On April 17, 2022 he was approved as a candidate. On April 29, 2022 it was announced that he failed to qualify as a verified candidate. Dalton said he needed "just a bit more time" to raise the necessary funds. Failed to qualify as approved applicants. Bobby Singh. Bobby Singh, is a Toronto-based businessman who was the party's candidate for Scarborough—Rouge Park, Ontario in the 2019 election. Singh briefly sought the Conservative leadership in 2020 but withdrew early after failing to satisfy the application criteria. On  March 18, 2022, Singh announced his candidacy for the 2022 leadership election. By April 29, 2022, he had failed to become an approved contestant.