Erin O'Toole, Conservative Leader, lost his leadership today. He has to move

[applegrove]

from the leader of the opposition house in Ottawa.

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=b0-Lv0eAEc7YzXeGo7IaKg

[nycbos]

1. I read the NY TIMES article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/world/americas/erin-otoole-ousted-canada.html

I think it's too bad because it goes to show you that rational conservatives aren't just a dying breed in the US

For a democracy to function, you need rational people on the other side and it seems that Mr. O'Toole was rational even if most of the people here posting on the site would've disagreed with him on a majority of the issues.

[applegrove]

2. True this. I make fun of him because I am relieved nobody

Last edited Wed Feb 2, 2022, 11:13 PM - Edit history (3)

has been injured or worse. I remember when there was a shooter on Parliament Hill in 2014. I live 10 blocks away. My sister called me to say not to go downtown. I turned on the TV and it was upsetting. One victim dead, one terrorist dead, police everywhere not knowing if there were more terrorists. I could not watch being that close. I did errands and ate out. There was a big crowd as everyone from government offices had evacuated. I remember, on Jan 6, I also quit watching live. I pick and chose what I watch because I am soft. I laugh when I can because it helps make sense of situations. If you are laughing at your situation or the situation of your country you have to be looking outside yourself to get there. Takes a load off. People in suburbs did not vote for Conservatives because they were seen as trying to pretend they were centrists. Do you know how many people in the suburbs of Toronto are two generations away from living somewhere else in the world where politicians are not honest and authentic and earnest like Trudeau and those on the left in North America? O'Toole was lying his ass off. They reject that ****! I am very relieved they will not be pretending as much anymore. I don't see much hope for them federally unless they elect a retail politician and they don't have one other than Doug Ford and he is busy being Premier of Ontario. I am relieved. This is the right in Canada in retreat.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. I think Erin O'Toole was about as authentic and honest as Conservatives come, flip-flops included

It's a shame, in a way, he had to go. Though it bolsters Trudeau and the liberals.

Trudeau keeps going up and knocking down Conservative leaders. One, two, three.

I think McKay would also have an above average level (for a Conservative) of integrity. Maybe Rona Ambrose. If I were Trudeau, both of those would be competition. But the rest? Blecchh.

But whoever gets it is going to have to herd a pack of hyenas on the nutty hard right along with an ordinary party center right.

[applegrove]

9. Doug Ford was going to socially re-engineer Ontario. People disliked

him. He has ambitions to run for the Leader of the country so he backed down. That is the only reason he backed down. Since then he has stuck like glue to Trudeau on Covid. It wad during the Raptors winning parade where he was universally booed that he realized his dream of federal politics was almost dead. Mark my words if they get into power federally they will attack everything that makes us a liberal democracy. They will play us off against each other. And since they have no higher ambition they will ignore liberal democracy public anger. I would rather see public anger directed at the right before and during a federal election than after it. That's where I'm coming from.

[Bev54]

3. The thing is we are a multi party parliamentary system, I am ok if the conservatives fall.

[nycbos]

4. I am aware that Canada has a multiparty parliamentary system of government.

I still believe for democracy to truly work you need a functioning rational right of center party. If you look at the Republicans in the United States, and the Conservative Party in the UK it seems that those rational conservatives are few and between.

I'm not saying I would've supported Mr. O'Toole if I was a Canadian. I'm saying it was good that the Conservative Party in Canada had a rational leader. It's too bad for democracy in general if a wacko replaces him.

However, if I was sitting in Liberal Party headquarters in Ottawa I might be popping champagne corks right now. My allbeit Limited understanding of Canadian politics suggest that Mr. O'Toole would've had the opportunity to win voters that another leader wouldn't.

[applegrove]

5. He in fact won the most votes but those votes were in the wrong places.

People did buy his act. Just not in the suburbs of Toronto.

[Bev54]

6. The conservatives can choose to go further right to try and combat the leakage of voters to

the far right PPC but will bleed middle of the road conservatives. They will come back whether as a new party or a revival but there will always be a right of centre party. We just need to sort the difference between the two. We will have to see which turn they take with their next leader. NDP is further left than the liberals which I consider to be mostly middle of the road. The population of Canada is more middle and left than they are conservative as can be seen by the voting in the last election. That is why we tend to have minority governments which I am ok with.

[NanananaFatman]

7. We are very far gone

If we consider Erin the Tool as a rationalist.