Why O’toole would be a better PM
Tory leader comes across as honest, friendly
Canada’s federal election has reached the third week — the midway point. The Conservatives are ahead of the Liberals in every major opinion poll by three to six per cent. While these numbers should always be taken with a healthy grain of salt, it’s clear that Erin O’toole’s political trajectory is currently soaring above Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s.
Many Canadians have already locked in their preferences. Their votes are secure, no matter what happens during the leaders’ debates or on the campaign trail.
For undecided voters, this is the stage of an election where they start considering a leader’s political intangibles. What characteristics would make him/her trustworthy and effective? Does he/she have the proper balance of life and work experience? What is his/her knowledge of issues, both domestic and international? Is his/ her political vision for the country realistic or unrealistic?
Finding appropriate answers to these questions (and others) may help undecided Canadians park their votes in a particular direction.
How do Trudeau and O’toole compare?
Trudeau’s backstory is well known. He’s the son of the late former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1968-1979, 1980-1984). He has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Mcgill University, bachelor of education degree from the University of British Columbia, and didn’t complete a master’s degree at Mcgill in environmental geography. He taught French, math and drama at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy (leaving for undisclosed reasons), and occasionally dabbled in politics.
Trudeau was first elected to Parliament in 2008 in the Quebec-based riding of Papineau. He became leader of the third-place Liberals in 2013, and helped rebuild a party that some political commentators had left for dead.
He defeated Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in 2015, and became the country’s 23rd prime minister.
The Conservative leader’s backstory is less familiar. He’s the son of John O’toole, who worked in senior management roles at General Motors and later became a municipal councillor and Progressive Conservative MPP for Durham (1995-2014). Erin O’toole holds an honours bachelor degree in political science and history from the Royal Military College in Canada, and a law degree from Dalhousie University. He’s worked in two law firms (Stikeman Elliott, Heenan Blaikie), and served as counsel for Gillette and Procter & Gamble.
O’toole was first elected to Parliament in 2012 in the Ontario-based riding of Durham. He served as minister of veterans affairs under Stephen Harper and was a shadow minister for middle class prosperity and foreign affairs. He won the Conservative leadership on Aug. 24, 2020, on the third ballot over former cabinet minister Peter Mackay.
Trudeau has more political experience, whereas O’toole’s life and work experience is superior. The difference comes when you take into account the intangibles. The latter seems to be miles ahead of the former.
O’toole has presented himself as an intelligent, honest and friendly communicator. That’s his real personality, as many will attest. He’s used it to his advantage by refusing to modify his character to check certain boxes and please every Joe or Jane Lunchbucket. What you see is what you get.
His knowledge and experience is wide ranging, including law, business, foreign policy and the military. He balances fiscal and social conservatism, and takes moderate positions on such social issues as abortion. He supports small government and lower taxes, public-private synergies for health care and other social services and a market-based approach to rebuild our tattered economy. He favours a more muscular foreign policy where Canada leads rather than follows, creating a “big tent” policy for conservatives, libertarians and other right-leaning individuals, helping non-traditional Conservatives feel more comfortable with the party, and building alliances with everyone from Bay Street to blue-collar workers. His political vision for Canada seems realistic.
That’s quite the contrast to Trudeau.
The Liberal leader’s communication skills, which used to be one of his strong suits, have dissipated into a complex, multi-faceted web of blackface, fake feminism and carbon-tax insanity. His leadership hasn’t been strong and determined, but rather weak and ineffective. His wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars may appeal to far-left types and millennials, but has turned off Conservatives and middle-of-the-road Liberals. His smug, know-it-all attitude — which is rather rich, considering he had little-to-no life experience — turns off Canadians. He doesn’t exude trust or confidence with many individuals, business leaders or even union bosses. His public spats with (mostly) female Liberal MPS and cabinet ministers has destroyed his ability to build solid working relationships. He’s shifted Canada back to the foreign-policy kiddie table, and is widely viewed as more of a follower than leader on the international stage. His political vision for Canada has been unrealistic from the very start.
O’toole therefore fits the role of a strong, effective leader and “man of the people” more on his worst day than Trudeau could ever hope to accomplish on his best day.
Is there enough time for Trudeau to reverse this trend? Yes, but the window is narrowing with each passing day. Leaders’ debates rarely have much of an impact. The old, tired Liberal strategy of selling Conservatives as extreme, out of touch and having a hidden agenda doesn’t have many buyers. If Trudeau can’t figure out how to counter O’toole’s political acumen, the election dance at the midway point could feel the same after the final bow.
O’TOOLE’S LIFE AND WORK EXPERIENCE IS SUPERIOR.