It should be plainly obvious to realize the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the entire planet on its side, forcing anything planned between March and June to be at the very least postponed.
At least, it should be. And yet the Conservative Party of Canada turned a blind eye to that fact, waiting until Friday to announce it would suspend its leadership race, which was scheduled for June 27.
That decision comes of little solace to leadership hopefuls such as Marilyn Gladu, Rudy Husny or Rick Peterson, who missed the cut to appear on the official ballot by virtue of failing to raise $300,000 or 3,000 verified signatures. Anyone hoping to appear on the ballot was required to pony up with both that amount of money and signatures by March 25. While just about every other organization has offered some sort of ‘break’ on deadlines amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Conservative Party was steadfast that potential candidates meet that deadline, even though large gatherings were all but illegal for much of the month of March and thousands of Canadians began tightening their belts in anticipation of lost wages and mounting bills. As a result, only four names were able to become verified candidates- Lelsyn Lewis, Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole and Hasting-Lennox and Addington’s own Derek Sloan.
Perhaps it’s a testament to those four who were able to meet the criteria in the middle of a global pandemic. Perhaps the CPC sees those able to overcome that unexpected wrinkle as just that much stronger a candidate and perhaps better positioned to garner votes in the next federal election. More likely they denied their members, and candidates, a fair race while perhaps closing the door on an otherwise serious contender.
It’s fair to wonder if they’d have been more open to extending their deadlines were the heavy favourites, MacKay and O’Toole, unable to meet them.
Despite satisfying the criteria to appear on the ballot, Sloan has been critical of the decision to forge ahead with the race. Prior to Friday’s announcement of suspending the June 27 vote, Sloan was among those voicing criticism with the idea of rolling along as though the country weren’t in the middle of a major health crisis. Even after the announcement he was quick to point out that although the campaign has been suspended, the party is yet to fully commit to delaying the actual vote.
MacKay for his part made no secret that he had no desire to delay the vote, going so far as to call for the vote to actually be held earlier.
While MacKay’s opinion may fall in line with the party’s plan on ignoring the pandemic, it’s unlikely to score him many points with the average Canadian who has put their entire lives on hold in favour of much more pressing concerns.
-Adam Prudhomme