Month: November 2021

For over three months the Conservatives have been dealing with one issue that they can’t seem to put to bed.

Pretty much every story on the Conservative Party has focused on just one issue- vaccinations.

It is always a negative story- there is nothing positive in for the Conservatives, no matter how the party tries to spin it. Talk about hanging an anvil around your leader’s neck!

First day back there they were again focused on vaccinations all because some of the Conservative MPs either won’t get vaccinated or won’t say. This is one very dumb hill for the Conservatives to take a stand on.

For the Conservatives its vaccines, vaccines, vaccines while for the public it is get lost and get with the program.

Other Conservative leaders like Doug Ford took decisive action. You don’t see him weighed down with this issue day after day.

With galloping inflation hurting Canadian families and especially seniors this constant distraction dilutes any messaging O’Toole, and his key spokespeople try to get out.

It is often said that politics is a team sport unfortunately some of his caucus is very much offside with the Canadian public and you don’t win elections when voters are reminded of this day after day.

That is quite an anvil some of his caucus have handed to O’Toole.

Yesterday one of our unelected senators decided to try to kick start the process to force a leadership review of O’Toole.

Denise Batters was appointed by Harper on January 25, 2013. Today however, at a time when we need unity to control the agenda in the House and when we need to kick Trudeau off of the front pages, the good senator has decided we need to splinter and keep our leader on the front pages, but as negative unhelpful news not positive news.

Here we have an unelected senator attacking an elected MP and an elected leader from the safety of the Senate. This is a pretty safe spot from which to cause trouble. After all you cannot be turfed (you were never elected), you are not really accountable to anyone and no matter what happens to O’Toole or the party, you will get paid and still have a pension. It is easy to speak out and be brave when you have nothing to lose.

I have been involved in politics for over 50 years and such a move is always interesting.

When this type of thing happens the first question that comes to mind is does she have a future leadership candidate in mind? She didn’t support O’Toole in the last one.

Is there a group or candidate using the safety of the Senator’s position to advance their agenda while they remain anonymous?

I guess we will see. It will be interesting to watch where this goes, but one thing is sure the Liberals will be loving every moment of it.

It must be so much fun to work in the Opposition Leaders Office (OLO) these days. Just think as the House of Commons gets set to return, you have to keep your leader from appearing in public. Why? Because you can’t afford to have him repeatedly asked questions that he can’t answer about his nonvaccinated MPs. Because O’Toole can’t answer the questions, he always looks dumb and weak. Not exactly great optics for your leader and the man who wants to be our next Prime Minister.

That is what the Conservatives should be focused on isn’t it?

Come to think of it, wasn’t this same ant-vax issue one of the reasons the Tories blew the last election?

The OLO Issues management staff must dread going into work in the morning to see which MP went off the rails overnight with some loony statement. Right now, O’Toole’s own MPS led by Marilyn Gladu and her so called civil liberties caucus, which should be named the anti-vax caucus, is taking the lead in giving her leader a rough time.

I can guarantee you the Liberals are going into work every morning and giving each other high 5s with every stupid move and comment that this CPC MP and others make. They can thank the Tories for creating so much negative news for O’Toole and the CPC that they have taken the focus off of Trudeau. The anti-vaxers are making political life so easy for the Liberals.

I am still waiting to see if the anti-vax brigade of Tory MPs will be stupid enough to charge the Hill on opening day demanding to be let in. Now won’t that coverage enhance the image of the Tories to voters. As long as the current bunch of MPs feel they can do and say what they want, the Tories will just sink deeper into the mud and be further away from any electoral comeback.

Right now, O’Toole is trying to play it safe and keep his job as leader. But he is losing control of his caucus and party. How long will it be before he wakes up one morning and decides it isn’t worth it?