Poilievre skips third Conservative leadership debate

OTTAWA-

The Conservative Party of Canada’s plan to hold a third leadership debate in August could fall apart, with one candidate refusing to attend and another wondering if it’s really necessary.

The campaign of presumptive front-runner Pierre Poilievre announced on Thursday that the longtime MP would not participate in the debate or face a hefty fine.

Jenni Byrne, a senior member of Poilievre’s team, posted a scathing statement on Twitter explaining her decision after the party announced earlier today that it would hold a debate in early August.

Conservative Party rules state that candidates must participate in formal leadership debates or face an “automatic penalty of $50,000”.

“Participation is compulsory and no substitutions will be allowed,” according to the rules.

Byrne’s statement noted that Poilievre took part in the first two official debates in May, plus one organized by the Canada Strong and Free Network – an organization that promotes the conservative movement.

He also criticized the English-language debate held in Edmonton for featuring sound effects and a series of questions about the candidates’ tastes in music and television.

“It’s not the campaign’s fault that the party debate in Edmonton was widely recognized as an embarrassment…candidates were given ping-pong paddles to hold when they wanted to speak.” It was more of a game show than a debate,” the statement read said.

“And it happened despite strong caveats to the party about both the moderator and the format – all of which were ignored.”

The debate was moderated by former political journalist Tom Clark, whom the Poilievre campaign called “an elite Laurentian liberal media personality.”

A request for comment from Clark has yet to be returned.

Party spokesman Yaroslav Baran said he understood “there are multiple views on the debates held to date”, and pointed out that the race rules state that attendance is compulsory.

Byrne’s statement says the plan for another debate comes as the Poilievre campaign scrambles to get Conservative members to vote. The MP boasts of selling almost 312,000 memberships – a figure that party headquarters will not verify. That’s more than the total number of members the party had when Erin O’Toole was named leader in 2020.

The party said a record number of people – around 675,000 – registered ahead of the vote.

Members have until early September to return their ballots before the results are announced in Ottawa on September 10. Voting is already underway, with most ballots having been mailed.

Poilievre’s campaign continues to attack fellow leadership candidate Jean Charest’s repeated calls for a third debate, saying the former Quebec premier couldn’t draw the same crowd sizes as Poilievre in the spring when the candidates were selling memberships to supporters.

“That’s why he wants another debate – to use Pierre’s popularity with the members to bring out an audience he can’t get on his own.”

In response, Charest’s campaign accused Poilievre of preferring to craft social media posts “than answering questions in real time.”

“Jean was NEVER shy about answering tough questions,” it read, adding that he felt the format of the French-language debate held in Laval, Que., was constructive.

Leslyn Lewis, a Social Conservative MP from Ontario who is also running, said party members had the chance to see leadership candidates present their visions for the country in the two previous debates, which remain. on line.

“I’m not sure what value we place on members through a hastily organized debate at this time,” she said in a statement.

Like Poilievre, Lewis stressed that this is an important step in the race for candidates to meet members and says she has a packed schedule of events.

“I have found that the concerns of ordinary Canadians vary significantly from the high-level political questions that are posed to us in formal debates,” she said.

“Issues facing rural Canadians were not represented in the debates held.”

As to whether she plans to participate, her campaign says she is in discussions with the party.

Besides Charest, candidates Scott Aitchison, a rural Ontario MP, and Roman Baber, a former Ontario lawmaker, had also expressed hope for another debate.

Poilievre’s decision to skip the event means there will be not one, but at least two fewer contestants on stage, given Patrick Brown’s recent disqualification following an allegation he broke the law federal elections.

Brown denied this charge.

It is also not the first time during the race that the planning of a debate has been put aside.

Poilievre declined to participate in an unofficial event while the contestants were at the Calgary Stampede.

The Independent Press Gallery, an organization that represents various media outlets and journalists, also announced that it had to cancel a debate it had scheduled because too few candidates had confirmed their attendance.

The party’s leadership election organizing committee said it decided Wednesday night to hold a third formal debate after polling members last week. Some 24,000 responded.

“The response has been overwhelmingly supportive,” Baran said.

Although officials and campaigns only have a few weeks to plan for the event, campaigns were told earlier in the race that their candidates could be called back for a debate in early August at the party’s discretion.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 21, 2022.