GUNN: Canada needs strong conservative leadership

Last Friday, Erin O'Toole sat solidly, if uncomfortably, on top of the Conservative throne. Having dispatched, with what seemed like relative ease, all those who had publicly sought his removal.

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Senator Denise Batters was ejected from caucus. Bert Chen was removed from National Council. MP Shannon Stubbs was thrown ruthlessly under the bus. And then came Saturday.

The arrival of the passion-fueled Freedom Convoy disrupted the entire national conversation. Truckers from across Canada and their equally frustrated allies, rallied against the vaccine mandates and remaining COVID-19 restrictions. But far from seizing the moment, O'Toole was nowhere to be found. In fact, he initially tried to avoid the issue entirely until finally settling for an incompressible smorgasbord of platitudes and contradictory positions that satisfied no one and further eroded his position.

Instead, it was left to other MPs, from Pierre Poilievre to Candice Bergen and Andrew Scheer, to fill the void. They publicly met with the truckers parked outside Parliament Hill to discuss their concerns and empathize with their cause.

This lack of leadership and moral absenteeism was the final straw for many in the conservative movement and, evidently, the Conservative caucus.

By Wednesday, O'Toole had been removed as leader by his own caucus. It was an overwhelming vote of 73-45, leaving the Conservatives, once again, without a permanent leader.

But this challenge for Canada's Conservatives also presents a unique opportunity. A chance to reset the conversation and create a vision for the country that differs substantially from the one put forward by Justin Trudeau.

This is an occasion for which I have a couple of recommendations. And they all start with course-correcting where Erin O'Toole went wrong. This includes scrapping the O'Toole carbon tax, reaffirming support for law-abiding gun owners, and ensuring the next election will be the last the CBC broadcasts on our dime.

This is to say nothing of the need to stand up for the constitutional rights of all Canadians (including freedom of speech, assembly and association), which in reality, should be a pre-requisite for anyone seeking the leadership of any political party in Canada.

But just as important as the individual policies being pursued will be the intrinsic personal qualities and characteristics of the next Conservative Party leader. This leader is needed now, more than ever. They must be strong, principled and unapologetically conservative.

They must be someone who doesn't kowtow to the media or grovel to the CBC, but instead proudly articulates an alternate path forward for Canada that can excite voters and redraw the electoral map.

The next leader must be an authentic individual, who doesn't wake up each morning having to decide which version of themselves they should be today. A leader who knows who they are and how they plan to lead the country and who is the same person before, after and during the leadership race.

During the proud history of the Conservative Party, both in Canada and the United Kingdom, there have been numerous leaders that fit that description. Many would point to Churchill or Thatcher, while others, our very own John A. Macdonald. But for many years now, there has been a void in this country; shoes left unfilled from previous generations that accomplished so much and asked for so little in return.

It's time for that legacy to be continued. For the proud, conservative torch to be carried again. But will the requisite leader step up? We will see.

Aaron is Producer/Director of the hit online series, Politics Explained. His videos have targeted, among others, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) for dramatically raising rates on BC drivers; Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps for tearing down the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald; Canada’s Justice System for its treatment of child murderers; and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his massive deficits, destructive energy policy and obsession with political correctness.

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