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Pierre Poalier, Leslin Lewis, Jean Charest, Scott Aichison and Roman Baber attend the debate, while Patrick Brown is busy selling membership
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May 5, 2022 • 2 minutes ago • 3 minutes reading • 59 comments Candidates for leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada participating in the first informal debate on May 5, 2022 in Ottawa: Top row from left: Pierre Poalievre, Jean Charest. Bottom row left: Leslin Lewis, Scott Aichison, Roman Baber. Patrick Brown, the sixth leadership candidate, is not running. Photo by CPAC
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What was supposed to be a friendly debate ended in a heated exchange between the main contenders for leadership, who were fighting to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in the convoy of trucks and the issue of abortion.
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Pierre Poalier, Leslin Lewis, Jean Charest, Scott Aichison and Roman Baber reunited on the same stage as part of an event organized by the Canadian Strong and Free Network, an organization founded by Reformed Party founder Preston Manning in Ottawa.
Only Patrick Brown was absent, as his team says he is busy selling membership before the June 3 deadline.
Ontario MP Leslin Lewis is not wasting time confronting his fellow MP Pierre Poalievre about his support for truck drivers in the winter, which she said was too late.
Asked if the Conservatives were advocating enough for freedom during the pandemic, Poalievr first began by saying, “Well, I defended freedom during the pandemic from the beginning – I was one of the strongest voices.
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He was quickly cut off by Lewis, who swore that was not true and that he was “not one of the strongest voices.”
“You didn’t even go on truck protests. In fact, you went and took a picture in your neighborhood, at a local bus stop. “You did not stand up for truck drivers,” she said.
Former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest was the first to be booed that evening when he accused Poilievre of “supporting illegal blockades” in Ottawa earlier this year.
Earlier, Charest said in interviews that the rule of law is “not a buffet” from which Canadian parliamentarians can choose, focusing specifically on Poalievre.
“The average truck driver has more integrity in his little finger than you do in your entire scandalous liberal cabinet,” Poalievre said.
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The other two contenders, Scott Aichison and Roman Baber, tried to intervene to restore peace.
“I actually like all these people,” Aichison said, pointing to his colleagues. “They are good people. And here we call each other. “
“Here again, we are politicizing the issue, instead of talking about the main problem that makes people do something against their will,” Baber complained, referring to vaccination.
Throughout the evening, Poilievre has consistently accused Charest of being a “liberal,” a label he has been trying to attach to the former Quebec prime minister since the start of the race.
The attacks went under Sharest’s skin enough that he eventually spent some of his time debating to respond directly to Poalievre.
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“Can I take some time to lie in bed about this accusation that I am a liberal?” Charest began. “I went to lead a coalition in Quebec as a federalist when there was no Quebec Conservative Party.
To this Poalivr replied: “Your record is liberal, Jean. You ruled as a liberal. “
Lewis is also pursuing Poilievre on the issue of abortion, which has been in the headlines for days. So far, he has only said that the Poalievre government will not “introduce or pass laws restricting abortion” when asked.
“Pierre Poliever has run away from some of the media in the last few days because he doesn’t want to know if it’s about life or choice,” Lewis said.
“As a leader, he will have to declare that he cannot just be finance minister if he wants to be prime minister. He will have to deal with the social and conservative problems he is fleeing from throughout this campaign, “she added.
Poilievre was then consistently trying to find Charest to find out how much he was paid when he worked for Huawei, when he worked in the private sector, but was unsuccessful. Charest turned away from the question to challenge Poliever over Quebec’s law on religious signs.
All candidates for leadership will take part in two official debates organized by the Conservative Party of Canada in the coming weeks. The English debate will take place in Edmonton, Alberta, on May 11. The French debate will take place in Laval, Quebec, on May 25.
The new leader will be announced on September 10.
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