Image credit: File photo/CFJC Today

By Aaron Schulze

Conservative Convention Fallout

‘We need to change’: MP McLeod echoes CPC Leader O’Toole’s message at convention

Mar 21, 2021 | 4:10 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo’s Member of Parliament (MP) believes the way for her party to win the next federal election is to offer a positive alternative to the Liberal government.

Exiting the Conservative Party of Canada’s (CPC) virtual convention, Cathy McLeod echoed her party’s leader Erin O’Toole’s call for the Tories to change.

“I think jobs, accountability, and mental health coming out of the pandemic are going to be critical,” McLeod said. “I heard very clearly from Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo that they really thought a credible climate change plan was important. Putting forward something that is credible in that area is also critical, which he did highlight in his speech. There’s no longer a conversation ‘is climate change real,’ it’s how we’re going to approach it.”

While both McLeod and O’Toole said the CPC having a climate change plan is important ahead of the next federal election, a resolution at the party’s convention put a damper on their message.

On Saturday (March 20), 54 per cent of CPC delegates voted against a resolution that would have placed a firm statement right into the text: “we recognize that climate change is real. The Conservative Party is willing to act.”

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The party’s policy declaration already contains a lengthy section on the environment, and it tacitly accepts the existence of climate change, and the need for policy to address it.

The resolution would have further modified the party’s environment policy to stress the need for highly polluting Canadian business to take more responsibility to reduce their GHG emissions and be accountable for the results. It would additionally have stated the party believes in supporting innovation in green technology.

McLeod said she didn’t hear a delegate say that climate change isn’t real, but there some issues that people had with what she called a large, multipart resolution.

“Canadians expect a credible climate plan, and it’s not just about climate. Within the debate, there was many other people that talk about the pollution of our water and other pieces. They had other pieces of that resolution that they didn’t like or (believed) didn’t do a good job of replacing our existing resolution. I didn’t hear anything in terms of that one specific line but obviously that’s the line that made the headlines,” McLeod said.

In his speech to the CPC grassroots, O’Toole presented a skeleton of the party’s “Secure the Future” recovery plan. The five main points included securing:

• Jobs
• Accountability
• Mental Health
• The Country
• Canada’s economy

However, no exact details were provided on the steps the CPC would take. McLeod believed it was best for O’Toole to highlight key priorities while presenting further details in the coming weeks and months.

“It was a 30-minute speech already,” she said. “To each one of those topics, they need to be shared in great detail with Canadians. Mental health is hugely important coming out of the pandemic. I think he could have used his whole speech on that one area.”

McLeod left the convention more optimistic of a CPC victory, liking the plan and tone O’Toole laid out. She said the CPC still has a role as the official opposition to the Liberal government until a federal election is called.

The 44^th Canadian federal election can take place no later than Oct. 16, 2023.

with files from The Canadian Press