Poilievre joins growing list of Tories not ruling out a leadership bid

Conservative Finance Critic Pierre Poilievre responds to the federal economic and fiscal update on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — Longtime Conservative member of Parliament Pierre Poilievre has added his name to a growing list of Conservatives who aren’t ruling out a leadership bid.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference Monday, Poilievre wouldn't give a clear answer when explicitly asked if he's ruled out a run – but he did say that he doesn't have "any campaign organization" at the moment.

"It's too early to say what's going to happen. There will be lots of people who will put their names forward. What I do know is that we need someone who will stand up, fight back, and win," said Poilievre, while pounding his fist on the podium.

The Conservative finance critic's carefully worded response allowed him to join an increasingly wide net of high-profile Conservatives who have been tip-toeing around an explicit answer as to whether they plan to run or stand down. After Andrew Scheer announced his plans to resign as party leader last Thursday, he barely had time to step away from the microphone before the names of potential candidates started to spread like wildfire.

As a result, high-profile Conservatives have been pressed on whether they're interested, and so far only a few – including provincial cabinet ministers Caroline Mulroney and former federal cabinet minister Lisa Raitt – have clearly stepped away from an increasingly crowded field of potential candidates.

In a Sunday interview on CTV's Question Period, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said she hopes no conservative women "self-deselect" from the race.

"It says a lot about our party that we have all these women that are qualified to run," Rempel Garner said.

Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen added that she's "glad" she's being "thought about and considered and talked about," but added that it's "very, very early."

Of the sitting MPs, failed Tory leadership candidates Michael Chong and Erin O'Toole and prominent Quebec Conservative Gérard Deltell are all among those whose names keep coming up in speculative circles. However, none have formally announced their decision as to whether they'll try to take over the party's helm.

THE UNELECTED FAN FAVOURITES

Two major heavyweights who could throw a spanner in anyone's leadership ambitions are Rona Ambrose and Peter MacKay. Ambrose was the Conservative Party's interim leader after former prime minister Stephen Harper stepped down in 2015, and it didn't take long for her name to start trending on Twitter after Scheer announced his plans to step down.

Ambrose also got a boost to her potential candidacy when Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told the Calgary Herald's Don Braid that when it comes to the leadership, "Rona would be [his] first call."

Peter MacKay is someone whose name is raised whenever concerns are come up about the current Conservative leadership, so naturally when Scheer stepped down MacKay's name was invoked once more.

MacKay took some jabs at Scheer in October, when he sat on a panel in Washington and likened Scheer's election loss to "having a breakaway on an open net and missing the net." While the former Conservative cabinet minister quickly went on a media blitz to declare his support for Scheer following the scathing statement, rumours began to fly that MacKay was planning a leadership bid before Scheer had even stepped down.

One unelected Conservative organizer has formally stepped into the race, although his name wasn't on the tip of people's tongues when the battle for the top spot began.

Bryan Brulotte, CEO of MaxSys Staffing and Consulting and longtime political organizer, told CTV News that he plans to run.

PEEKING AT THE PROVINCES

Former and current provincial leaders, however, are not adding to the already-crowded list of potential leadership candidates.

Both Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall have ruled out a run – and both went on to float Ambrose's name, lending more weight to her bid – should she opt to launch one.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has also ruled out a bid and agreed with the other premiers that Ambrose would be a good candidate.

Whatever the potential candidates decide, it's likely that the race will be a crowded one, if the last leadership race is anything to go by. The 2017 Conservative leadership race boasted 13 candidates, and ended with a hair-splitting victory for Andrew Scheer against Maxime Bernier.

Bernier left the Conservative Party to launch the People’s Party of Canada, which failed to elect a single candidate – including Bernier.

Bernier said there is "zero chance" that he would launch another bid for Conservative leadership, and took the opportunity to tweet his assertion that the Conservative Party is "morally and intellectually corrupt."