Conservative party message was 'keep your promises''

Well that was quick . . . and decisive. Now it remains to be seen how bloodless the coup really was. Deposed Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole is a classic example of politicians who get elected on promises . . . and then wander off in their own direction. That didn’t wash with Conservative members of Parliament who also got elected on those promises . . . and had to answer to their own rank and file members.

There are some gut issues that Conservatives will not compromise on – that are not negotiable – their right to own firearms, and opposition to what they perceive as carbon tax scams.

In the school of politics, O’Toole failed geography, the west on not on his map of Canada. He may have felt secure in his Ontario enclave to flip-flop on those issues, but not in other parts of the Dominion. That’s enough to get any westerner spitting and sputtering. 

If the other parties relished the idea of an easy ride now that he’s gone, they have to face the interim leader of the Official Opposition – Manitoba MP Candice Bergen. When it comes to spirited debate in Parliament she takes a back seat to no one.

And now the race is on for a new leader. It remains to be seen how united or divided Conservatives are after this sudden change in direction.