In 2017, Mr. O’Toole unsuccessfully attempted to replace Mr. Harper as party leader, posing as moderate. Last year he won with a far-right approach, posing as a “true blue conservative” (blue is the party’s color) who vowed to “take back” Canada. Once he won, however, Mr O’Toole repudiated much of it – appealing to union members, a group rarely courted by Tories in the past, while making it clear he would not reopen not the abortion debate.
In preparation for next week’s vote, Mr O’Toole and his aides studied the efforts of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron to modernize that country’s Conservative Party. And just like Mr. Trudeau did in 2015, they sought to target voters who normally do not show up on election day.
For Mr. Trudeau, it was the youngest. For Mr. O’Toole, they are blue collar workers worried about the future of their jobs and annoyed, even angry, by what they consider to be Mr. Trudeau’s political correctness.
Lori Turnbull, professor of political science at Dalhousie University, said the experience of Britain’s Tories shows that the idea has merit, but also challenges the party machinery on election day.
“The question then is, are they actually going to come out for him?” she said.
Mr. O’Toole has also worked on improving his diet and increasing his exercise levels, losing 40 pounds in the past year.
Most importantly, he focused on his new moderate campaign platform, which is available as a 160-page glossy magazine. Mr. O’Toole changed his leadership campaign slogan “Take Back Canada” to “We have a plan”.
“Evil alcohol lover. Twitter junkie. Future teen idol. Reader. Food aficionado. Introvert. Coffee evangelist. Typical bacon enthusiast.”