A new advocacy group dubbed 鈥淐entre Ice鈥� hopes to be the voice of moderate Conservative Party of Canada members as the race for a new leader unfolds, says its co-founder.
In an interview on 麻豆影视 Channel鈥檚 Power Play on Thursday, Rick Peterson, a former leadership candidate, said there鈥檚 a 鈥渨ide open鈥� gap within Canada鈥檚 political sphere, currently unrepresented by any party, but ready to be energized.
鈥淚n our Conservative Party, at times, those of us who are in the moderate centre seem to be a little bit alienated or not seem to be welcome at times. But on the other hand, the Liberal party has opened up the centre given the fact that they鈥檝e done this [confidence-and-supply agreement] with the NDP,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a very strong, robust group of Canadians, pragmatic Canadians in the middle, who are looking [for a] centrist approach.鈥�
The Centre Ice group will officially launch its advocacy efforts next Wednesday.
Peterson said he鈥檚 got his eye on a few candidates who鈥檝e already put up their names, such as Ontario MP Scott Aitchison, former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, with strong moderate ideas.
鈥淭he lines are clear in the sense that there are leadership candidates in this leadership race who totally understand and subscribe to the fact that we need to expand the Conservative base to the centre,鈥� Peterson said.
There are currently eight candidates who鈥檝e met the first deadline to run in the race that caps off with a vote on Sept. 10.
Listen to Rick Peterson鈥檚 interview at the top of this article.
