Approximately 675K eligible to vote in Conservative leadership race: party
The Conservative Party of Canada says approximately 675,000 members will be eligible to vote in this year’s leadership race.
Party representatives told reporters Thursday the historic number reflects the success of each campaign’s outreach efforts.
“We've had six credible candidates out there, each with a slightly different message to Canadians, but taken together, it's resonated in a way that has produced this extraordinary mobilization,” said Ian Brodie, chair of the Leadership Election Organizing Committee.
In February, before the June 3 membership sign-up deadline was set, there were about 113,000 active members nationally – excluding those whose memberships were set to expire by that date.
The preliminary 675,000 tally has been scrubbed of non-compliance sales – transactions not in line with leadership rules – and duplicate memberships.
“In the frenzy of a leadership race, it's normal to draw in people who don't know all the ins and outs of party finance rules,” Brodie said.
Among those who registered over the course of the last several months, 95 per cent purchased their memberships online.
The party is releasing the list to each individual campaign Thursday. Candidates and their teams have until Monday at midnight to challenge any names they feel have been listed “improperly.”
By that same deadline, they can also request to have a name added if they believe an individual has been missed.
“Our chief returning officer Don Nightingale has the authority to make decisions about challenges. His decisions can then be appealed to our dispute resolution appeals committee. Once all of these challenges have been disposed of, the chief returning officer then promulgates the final voters list,” said Brodie.
The party doesn’t usually release preliminary membership numbers, but did so this time given the notable surge.
The most recent high was recorded during the party merger in 2004, which combined several leadership contests to reach 282,000 memberships.
Ballot packages will be mailed out in batches over the next several weeks, the party said, and must be returned by Sept. 6. A new leader will be named Sept. 10.
During the 2020 leadership race, results were significantly delayed due to thousands of ballots being damaged upon opening.
The automated envelope opening machines were slicing both the envelope and some ballots, requiring a fresh ballot to be re-marked with the identical data in order for it to be properly scanned and tabulated.
Yaroslav Baran, who handles media communications for the current leadership contest, told CTVNews.ca on Thursday they’ve made processing changes to avoid a similar issue.
“Given the volumes we are dealing with, the party has really increased the number of people processing every stage. There is a small army of people working on this, and that small army will be repurposed to ballot validation once we are in that stage,” said Baran in an emailed statement.
CANDIDATES WEIGH IN
Jean Charest’s campaign said the membership number is “great news” for the party and that they are “very confident” they have a motivated base.
“We will continue to persuade party membership by offering real ideas and solutions that will make us competitive in the next federal election,” said Director of Communications, Michelle Coates Mather in a statement.
Jamie Ellerton, campaign manager for Scott Aitchison, said 675,000 Canadians have “stepped up” to help the party “strive for a better Canada.”
“Scott Aitchison will launch his national Hope and Respect Tour next month and continue to work to build a Conservative Party that can deliver the results and good government that Justin Trudeau is incapable or unwilling to provide,” a statement reads.
CTV News reached out to all campaigns for comment but at the time of publication, had only heard from the above.
With files from CTV News' Rachel Aiello
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.
Local Spotlight
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.