The Conservative caucus will be briefed Thursday about an internal review examining what led to their 2021 election defeat.
Former Alberta MP James Cumming is overseeing the review, which he says will focus on all aspects of the Conservative campaign from the party infrastructure to the performance of the leader. “The mandate of the report was to look at what went right and what went wrong, so I’ve reached out to – we’re in excess of 400 people that we’ve either spoken to or spoken to in groups or received written submissions from,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. Cumming said that list includes candidates, campaign managers, electoral district associations, party members, activists, and others.
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The Conservatives failed to dethrone the now-three-term Liberals or increase their seat count, and lost votes in key Western ridings where support is usually steady. That dip in popularity was attributed, in part, to the rise in traction of the People’s Party of Canada. O’Toole announced the internal review the day after the election, saying it would help the party in “building towards victory next time.” “We have a busy session ahead in the House of Commons. And if we take Justin Trudeau at his word, we may be back to the polls in the next 18 months,” he said at the time.
LEADERSHIP DOUBTS
Since then, O’Toole has faced direct challenges to his leadership from within the party tent. Saskatchewan Sen. Denise Batters was kicked out of caucus in November after launching a petition to force a leadership vote within six months, Batters has stated that Cumming’s report must include consideration of O’Toole’s failures.
Source:ctvnews.ca
