The Conservative leadership race: who’s in, who’s out, who’s waffling

OTTAWA — Ontario MP Erin O’Toole has switched from the No to the Maybe camp in the ongoing Conservative leadership race. Here’s a look at who else is in, out or still waffling.

In:

Kellie Leitch. The pediatric orthopedic surgeon first elected as an MP in 2011 was the first official entrant in the race and so far has raised the most money, collecting $234,785.60 in the second quarter of the year.

Maxime Bernier. The Quebec MP filed his papers a few days after Leitch and has already outlined several key policy positions, including a pledge to end supply management, a controversial approach in his home province with its established farming industry. He came in last in fundraising last quarter, bringing in $56,902.83

Michael Chong. The Ontario MP, a longtime champion of democratic reform, is spending the summer holding fundraisers to bolster his campaign coffers. He came in second in the first round of fundraising, raising $84,689.38.

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Tony Clement. Also from Ontario, the former cabinet minister lost to Stephen Harper for leadership of the party in 2004 and is trying again, officially filing his papers last month.

Deepak Obhrai. One of the longest serving members of the current Conservative parliamentary caucus, he sent an email to his fellow MPs last month saying he’s going to join the race, though is not yet listed as an official entrant on the party website.

Out:

Jason Kenney. The longtime Alberta MP will give up his seat this fall after announcing in July he wants to lead a unified conservative party in Alberta instead and so will seek election provincially.

Rona Ambrose. A small group of conservatives, including some MPs, had been pushing Ambrose to consider making the jump from interim leadership of the party to the full-time job. It would have required a rule change at the party level and efforts to make that happen failed at the party’s May convention.

Hasn’t made it official:

Lisa Raitt. The popular Tory MP from Ontario recently told the CBC she is leaning towards running.

Peter MacKay. The former cabinet minister from Nova Scotia now working as a lawyer in Toronto is considering a bid. With Kenney out, some see MacKay as an obvious front-runner if he enters the race. However, sources say it currently looks like MacKay is thinking about staying away.

Andrew Scheer. The former Speaker of the House of Commons is spending the summer weighing his options. One key consideration for him is his young family. The Scheers have five children and the life of the Opposition leader will mean a great deal of time away from home.

Steven Blaney. The Quebec MP was one of just five the Tories managed to elect in the province in the 2011 election and he helped bolster support there  ahead of last year’s campaign, which saw a dozen Conservatives elected.

Kevin O’Leary. The popular TV personality and businessman first mused about running for the leadership earlier this year. He only took out a party membership in May, ahead of the convention. Since then, his thinking has begun to shift; he’s now considering whether to run himself or throw his weight behind another candidate.

Brad Trost. The Saskatchewan Tory is one of the foremost advocates for socially conservative positions within his party. When a policy opposing same-sex marriage was dropped from the party handbook in May, he said he was going to start looking into a leadership run and may announce in September.

Dan Lindsay. The former president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba announced in May he was forming a committee to explore a possible leadership campaign

The Canadian Press