OTTAWA -- Conservative members should be able to vote within the next six months on whether or not Erin O鈥橳oole should remain leader of the party, says one Senator who has launched a quickly contentious petition calling for an expedited leadership review process stating that O鈥橳oole 鈥渃an鈥檛 win the next election.鈥�
Saskatchewan Sen. Denise Batters launched the petition on Monday, calling for the Party to give Conservative supporters a chance to have their say about the future of O鈥橳oole鈥檚 leadership and the direction of the Conservative Party before the end of June. Within hours, Conservative Party President Rob Batherson appeared to preemptively shut down her proposal, sending her to the party鈥檚 constitution.
Still, Batters remains determined that her pursuit is fair game.
鈥淚 disagree with Mr. Batherson on that. We're not asking for the leadership selection process to commence, we're simply asking for a referendum of the members鈥� There鈥檚 no particular part that limits what members are allowed to ask for a referendum of, that's what I'm requesting as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada,鈥� she said in an interview on 麻豆影视 Channel鈥檚 Power Play.
鈥淒o you wish to have a confidence vote on Erin O鈥橳oole鈥檚 continued leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, by mail or virtually, at the earliest opportunity and, in any event, no later than June 30, 2022?鈥� the petition reads.
Batters鈥� view was that in order for her petition to be considered, she needed to collect the backing and signatures of at least five per cent of Conservative members in at least five provinces over the next 90 days. However, Batherson has taken the position that a leadership process cannot be initiated by a petition or referendum.
On the webpage she鈥檚 launched to host the petition, it states that O鈥橳oole 鈥渃an鈥檛 win the next election.鈥� According to Batters, by 5 p.m. EDT, 1,000 party members had signed it, including former MPs and electoral district association presidents.
Batters said she has support from Conservative activists and members from across the country, who like her, 鈥渄on鈥檛 want to see this party ripped apart again.鈥�
In the interview, Batters said that the reason she鈥檚 come forward with this petition is in part because she doesn鈥檛 face the same repercussions for speaking out that her MP colleagues might who feel the same way she does.
鈥淭here are many members who are supportive, and I will leave it to them to voice public support. If and when they feel like they're able to do that,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey fear those repercussions.鈥�
Batters, who has been critical in the past of the current leader, said O鈥橳oole 鈥渓ost this election by every measure,鈥� and is critical of his evolving policy positions as well as the loss of seats in key urban and suburban ridings.
鈥淎s leader, Mr. O'Toole has watered down and even entirely reversed our policy positions without the input of party or caucus members. On carbon tax, on guns, on conscience rights, he flip-flopped on our policies within the same week, the same day, and even within the same sentence,鈥� she said in . 鈥淯nder Erin O鈥橳oole鈥檚 leadership, the rift in our party is growing,鈥� she said.
As things stand, O鈥橳oole is set to face a leadership review at the party鈥檚 next convention, which is scheduled for 2023.
CTVNews.ca reached out to O鈥橳oole鈥檚 office for comment about the latest calls for his leadership to come to a vote, and has not yet received a response.
Coming to his defence, Alberta Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner slammed her colleague for initiating the petition, calling it a distraction from the opposition鈥檚 job of holding the government to account. Rempel Garner asked Batters to withdraw it and hash out their differences behind closed doors, with the party鈥檚 next caucus meeting taking place in Ottawa on Wednesday.
鈥淚'm so frustrated with this鈥� This open warfare that's happening right now, like the Liberals are popping champagne to you. I'm sure that the Liberals went out and bought a case of champagne and they're going 鈥榗heers Denise Batters,鈥欌�� she
Several other Conservative MPs including Quebec MP and Ontario MP had also spoken up in O鈥橳oole鈥檚 defence, on social media.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who endorsed O鈥橳oole during his leadership bid, was asked about the latest challenge to O鈥橳oole鈥檚 chances of leading the party into another federal election on Monday.
鈥淚 honestly am not following that situation closely, but it's not unusual after a federal leader loses an election that there's some grumbling. But, at the end of the day鈥� My advice to any party would be that stability is what the public's looking for,鈥� he told reporters alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the join child-care deal announcement. Trudeau declined to weigh in on 鈥渋nternal party issues.鈥�
In October, the Conservative Party suspended national council member from Ontario Bert Chen after he lead an effort to trigger an early leadership review by starting an online petition that also requested that the leadership question be put to members before 2023.
Batters was appointed to the Senate in 2013 by former prime minister Stephen Harper, was aligned with O鈥橳oole鈥檚 predecessor Andrew Scheer, and backed O鈥橳oole鈥檚 leadership rival Peter MacKay. She鈥檚 not the first senator to speak out about O鈥橳oole鈥檚 leadership.
On the eve of the Oct. 5 caucus vote that saw Conservative MPs grant themselves the power if they choose to use it, to review and remove their leader, Nova Scotia Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald wrote to his colleagues imploring them to enact these caucus Reform Act mechanisms.
In his lengthy email, MacDonald cited the vote counts in key regions that saw the party bleed votes to fringe parties, and O鈥橳oole鈥檚 pivot from running in the leadership as a 鈥渢rue blue鈥� Conservative to a more centrist leader.
鈥淗e has been judged by the voters and he has failed to win a winnable election. To keep trying the same strategy, even with some changes, is only going to drive more Conservatives away, and we simply cannot afford to do that,鈥� he wrote at the time.
If Conservative parliamentarians wanted to forge ahead with their own leadership review, 20 per cent of caucus would need to sign a formal agreement to trigger the process, and then it would require a majority of caucus members to vote to remove the leader through a secret-ballot process.
There has been disagreement within the party since the Sept. 20 vote, over whether O鈥橳oole should be given a second chance to lead the party into an election after failing to beat the Liberals and Justin Trudeau despite leading in the polls for a good portion of the race.
Despite O鈥橳oole鈥檚 promise to pick up seats across the country, the party is returning with the same number of MPs鈥�119鈥� that it had before the vote, down from the 121 seats the party won in 2019 under former leader Scheer.
The day after the election, O鈥橳oole announced he would be initiating an internal review of what went wrong during the 2021 election campaign. When he announced the review, he said the party was "building towards victory next time.鈥�
Former Alberta MP James Cumming is chairing that review process, which O鈥橳oole said will 鈥渋deally鈥� be completed by the end of the year, but was not able to commit to making it public.
