MP Leslyn Lewis launches Conservative leadership bid for second time
Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis has formally announced that she will run to be the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, for a second time.
Lewis tweeted the news on Tuesday, stating her campaign will focus on 鈥渉ope, unity and compassion.鈥
The Ontario-based lawyer and now MP ran in the party鈥檚 2020 leadership race, placing third behind Erin O鈥橳oole and Peter MacKay. Her platform was notably socially conservative.
Prospective candidates have until April 19 to declare their candidacy. As was the case in the 2020 leadership race, the entry fee stands at $200,000, in addition to a compliance deposit of $100,000.
The deadline for applications is June 3, with the party slated to elect a new leader on Sept. 10.
Longtime MP Pierre Poilievre is the only other formally declared candidate in the race, though former Quebec Premier Jean Charest is also expected to throw his name in the ring on Thursday in Calgary.
鈥淭here is significant momentum building towards a launch on Thursday. Calgary will be the first stop on his tour. More to come in the next days,鈥 reads an email from his press secretary.
Other names being considered are MacKay, MP Michael Chong, and Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown.
In mid-February, a source close to MacKay told CTVNews.ca that the former cabinet minister hadn鈥檛 yet made a decision and said there was 鈥渓ots to consider鈥 with family coming first.
Chong, meanwhile, said he is taking time to reflect on how he can 鈥渂est help鈥 the party.
MP Marilyn Gladu, who attempted a run in 2020, but failed to qualify as an authorized contestant, former interim leader Rona Ambrose, and political commentator and strategist Tasha Kheiriddin are all out.
Former co-chair of the party's leadership organizing committee and deputy leader Lisa Raitt says Conservatives want to see 鈥渧ision鈥 in this race.
鈥淭hey want to see somebody who can sway the population and that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e going to be looking at,鈥 she said, adding that the logistical challenges of the pandemic made the last contest challenging.
鈥淚t was the beginning of the pandemic, everything had to be done online. It was short, it was chaotic鈥his one will have in-person debates, this one will have in-person speeches and meetings across the country.鈥
LEWIS鈥 POLITICAL CAREER
Lewis made the transition from law to politics in 2015, running for the Scarborough 鈥 Rouge Park seat. She placed second behind Liberal candidate Gary Anandasangaree.
Following the resignation of Andrew Scheer as Conservative leader, Lewis ran for the party鈥檚 top post.
Notably, she dubbed herself as pro-life, said she would scrap the Liberal鈥檚 carbon tax, and pledged to implement 鈥済ood common sense鈥 fiscal policies. She also promised stricter penalties for politicians who break ethics law, and the upholding of individual freedom of speech.
鈥淐anadians will no longer be walking around on eggshells in fear of being punished for innocently saying the wrong thing in a conversation,鈥 said Lewis in a 2020 campaign video.
Despite losing the leadership, she won the Haldimand 鈥 Norfolk seat in the 2021 federal election, marking the first time Lewis had a voice in the House of Commons.
Throughout the pandemic, she has come under fire for her skepticism on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for children.
On her 2022 campaign website, Lewis says the past two years have seen the Liberal government 鈥渄ivide, discourage and refuse to listen to Canadians鈥 and that Canada has moved away from the basic respect of human freedoms.
As to whether Lewis will once again capture the social conservative vote as she did the last race, Raitt says it might prove more challenging given her competition.
鈥淲hat I have been seeing is some of the folks who you would put into that part of our party have come out to support Mr. Poilievre already,鈥 she told 麻豆影视 Channel鈥檚 Power Play.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Milton increases to a Category 4 hurricane as Florida prepares for massive evacuations
Hurricane Milton strengthens into a Category 4 storm, and Florida could see dangerous storm surge, forecasters say.
DEVELOPING Police in several cities to increase presence ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary
On the anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks in Israel, police departments in cities across Canada are increasing their presence in Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as at the locations of planned protests.
Lawyers for Madeleine McCann suspect seek acquittal in his German trial on unrelated sexual offence charges
Lawyers for a man who is also under investigation in the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann called on Monday for him to be acquitted in his trial on charges of unrelated sexual offences.
Madonna's brother, Christopher Ciccone, dead at 63
Christopher Ciccone, a multihyphenate artist, dancer, designer and younger brother of Madonna, has died. He was 63.
Lawyers representing the Ontario man accused of selling hundreds of suicide kits with deadly effect around the globe have filed to intervene in a case in Canada鈥檚 highest court, arguing there is no way he can be charged with murder under Canadian law.
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
A man stole a police car and drove it onto the field of an East Vancouver park Sunday morning, placing 'dozens of bystanders in harm鈥檚 way,' according to police.
War rages on multiple fronts as Israel marks a year since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack
Israelis held sombre ceremonies on Monday to mark a year since the deadliest attack in the country's history, a Hamas-led raid that shattered its sense of security and ignited wars on two fronts with no end in sight.
Timeline: What has happened in Canada since Oct. 7, 2023
The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel last year, and the immediate Israeli retaliation that followed, sent shockwaves throughout the world that have shaken Canada culturally and politically.
Local Spotlight
Bernie Hicks, known as the 鈥楤atman of Amherst,鈥 always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi鈥檚 Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
Some Manitobans are cleaning up Sunday morning, after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province Saturday.
Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.
A gargantuan gourd 鈥 affectionately named 鈥極rangina鈥 by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home 鈥 earned the massive honour of being named B.C.鈥檚 heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.
Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.
From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.
A husband and wife have been on the road trip of a lifetime and have decided to stop in Saskatchewan for the winter.