Here’s who Stephen Harper is backing for the Conservative leader and why

Content of the article

It’s official, Stephen Harper has supported Pierre Poilievre in the Conservative leadership race. Not that it was ever questioned or up for debate, but now no one can question Harper’s position on who should next lead the party he helped create.

He explained his reasons for supporting Poilievre in a video posted to social media Monday night.

« There’s been a lot of speculation about who I’m supporting or not supporting and why, » Harper said.

Content of the article

In fact, no one wondered who Harper was supporting, everyone knew that. Harper’s dislike of Jean Charest is well documented and none of the other candidates have any hope of winning or have any connection to him.

Poilievre was the only one hoping to gain Harper’s approval. It should be noted that Harper did not back anyone in the 2017 or 2020 leadership races for the Conservative Party. Based on predictions of a slam dunk and a landslide victory made by Poilievre supporters, it’s unclear whether Harper should offer an endorsement now.

“Pierre Poilievre was a strong minister in my government. In recent years, he has been our party’s most vocal and effective critic of the Trudeau Liberals,” said Harper.

Content of the article

“He talked about the issues, especially the economic issues that matter. Slow growth, debt, inflation, lack of job and housing opportunities and the need to fix the institutions that are failing Canadian families. It offers answers rooted in sound conservative ideas, but adapted to today’s realities”

Harper said these are the reasons why Poilievre enjoys such support within the Conservative caucus and why he has attracted so many new members, many of them young people, to the party and the movement.

« That’s how we win the next federal election, and in my opinion, Pierre has by far the strongest case that he’s the person to do it, » Harper said.

The endorsement comes after some polls that likely left Charest’s camp feeling pretty good and hoping they could use the numbers to build momentum and win over swing voters unsure of Poilievre’s style.

Content of the article

An Angus Reid poll showed Poilievre and Charest beat Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in a hypothetical game. Each man would attract 34% voter support according to the poll, but would do so in different ways.

Poilievre would solidify the Conservative base and win big in Western Canada and do better with the men, especially the 55-year-olds. Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Poilievre would turn many voters away from the People’s Party of Canada, while Charest would lead some voters to the PPC but win over disgruntled Liberals, and actually have a bigger lead over Trudeau than Poilievre according to the poll.

Content of the article

Harper’s endorsement is unlikely to do much to solidify support for Poilievre among the many younger voters he has attracted to the party, many of whom would not remember the Harper era. This will dampen Camp Charest’s mood, however, especially the boost he felt as a result of this poll.

Ballots began arriving in mailboxes in early July and must be returned to Deloitte, the company counting the votes, by 5 p.m. on September 6. The winner will be announced on September 10 at an event in Ottawa.

So far, few of the more than 675,000 ballots issued have been returned, with some sources saying it is as little as 5% of the total.