The Conservative Party of Canada needs to court Rona Ambrose now!

 



The disastrous election results of September 20 indicate another change in leadership is a pivotal point that the Conservative Party must undertake. With another minority Parliament facing Canada and Justin Trudeau longing for a majority mandate, a two year window is the latest time-line one can expect before the write is dropped. Erin O' Toole  gave an honest, credible performance that, ultimately resulted in fewer seats (elected and leading in 119 as of this evening - Sept.21)  than his predecessor Andrew Scheer's 121 in 2019 with a gain of 26 seats over the 2015 election that saw the end of Stephen Harper's political career and the rise of Trudeaumania 2.0.  But, it also allowed the Conservative brass to view Rona Ambrose as interim leader between 2015 and 2017. Her lengthy experience as cabinet minister during the nine year period of the Harper government has ably prepared her for bigger and better opportunities. Justin Trudeau appointed her to the NAFTA advisory council in 2017. She holds an MA in political science  from the University of Alberta. 


If the Conservative Party is going to get back in the game, it is with Ms. Ambrose as leader. She is the perfect foil for the faux-feminist Justin Trudeau and has the political chops to back it up. Ambrose is an active feminist who launched the She Leads Foundation with Laureen Harper - wife of Stephen Harper - that encourages women to run for public office. Although, she turned down the CP request to assume leadership in 2020, this is the perfect opportunity to prepare for the next election with a seasoned, astute leader that will give Mr. Trudeau fits.  Erin O' Toole had the perfect opportunity to unseat a Prime Minister, who arguably, may be the most lacking in achievement who has served at least one term as PM. Cannabis legislation aside and his governments deft handling of the pandemic in the early stages do not overshadow the numerous scandals, poor economic policy, and flat foreign policy that ignores the "wolf warrior" nature of the Communist Party of China on Canada and our allies, internationally.Trudeau said during the English debate that "you can't be lobbing tomatoes across the Pacific" in response to Erin O' Toole's questioning of the Trudeau's government handling of China's detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor; the Trudeau government has failed to counter China in any meaningful way.  Canadians deserve stronger leadership at home and abroad and Ambrose will provide that in spades. 


The Liberal Party has been the "big tent" party since Laurier was prime minister and while conservatism may demure some of those finer points, it does provide a strong voice for the present where the Liberal Party has its eye on the future e.g. Justin Trudeau's line: "the budget will balance itself" does not bode well for the long term  viability of most Canadians. The LPC has been strong  on immigration, an almost sublime attempt at gerrymandering the electorate; responsible immigration numbers need to  be  re-enacted as many multi generational Canadians need more attention than they are getting out of the federal government. Rona Ambrose can manage this file with a team that she will put together that may,  if she can convince former Liberals - Jody Wilson Raybould,  among others, to cross the floor  and support a Conservative "big tent" party within cabinet with a balanced approach across Canada for all Canadians. 

Comments