The Conservative Party recently made two bold moves in hopes of putting the party on the right track to effectively challenge the Trudeau government, which has made much of the population weary with continued restrictive COVID mandates. First, Conservative lawmakers ousted Erin O'Toole from his post as chairman of the party. Then, they voted Candice Bergen in as interim leader until a permanent chairman can be elected.
Brian Rushfeldt is the co-founder of a pro-family grassroots group in Alberta. Now, he says, the Conservatives must pick a permanent chairman when they gather in a few months. He tells AFN that two MPs lead the pack – one of them being Pierre Poilievre, who has been a member of Parliament since 2004.
"I think he has a pretty strong support from a lot of the people within the party," states Rushfeldt. "When the last leadership race was on, he said No, I've got a young family. That comes first. That was only a year and a half ago …."
Over the weekend, Poilievre right) announced via Twitter that he's running for his party's leadership position.
"I think that he is probably the best choice," Rushfeldt adds, "and I was glad to see that they raised the issue of economics because he is the strongest Conservative on fiscal issues that we have ever seen."
Rushfeldt adds a second name: Leslyn Lewis, a Jamaica native who finished second to O'Toole in the last leadership vote and reportedly got strong support from the party's social conservative wing.
"She was the second-most popular candidate out of five, for sure," Rushfeldt offers. "So, [I think] either one of them [could] win the leadership – and then I do really believe that either one of them could win the next election [for a new prime minister]."
Still, Rushfeldt sees Poilievre as a clear favorite. "The Conservative Party definitely needs somebody who is really strong, very vocal, and very smart and tuned in – and he is that," he argues. "I think he will run a very powerful campaign and a very smart campaign."
And he doubts Lewis would step in to impede Poilievre's progress; in fact, he predicts she will probably back him.
