Wall impressed with Lewis, O’Toole after leadership race

Brad Wall was glued to the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race Sunday night, even while party officials needed tape to repair torn ballots.

“I watched it all, right from the ballot-eating machine story right through the evening and the end result,” the former premier of Saskatchewan told Gormley earlier this week.

In the wake of the voting – after Erin O’Toole had won the leadership and after Dr. Leslyn Lewis had finished a strong third – Wall took to Twitter to offer his opinion on one aspect of the race.

Proud of Saskatchewan Conservatives for making @LeslynLewis the top choice.

– Brad Wall (@BradWall306) August 24, 2020

Lewis won in Saskatchewan on the first ballot and had the most votes nationally of the top three through two ballots. But due to the point system the Conservatives used, Lewis was in third place after the second ballot and dropped out of the race.

“I was proud of Saskatchewan Conservatives for voting as they voted,” Wall said. “They clearly demonstrated they don’t care about gender; that’s not the prime consideration. Neither is colour or anything really other than a couple things.

“Saskatchewan Conservatives like the principled and policy-informed campaign that she ran. I also think Conservatives on the Prairies were thinking, ‘Who would have a good chance to beat (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau?’

“We can debate whether or not it’s the right conclusion or the wrong conclusion, but the conclusion for a lot of Saskatchewan Conservatives was she was in the best spot to defeat Trudeau.”

Instead, O’Toole will get that opportunity if everybody is still in their current position when the next federal election is called.

Wall noted the points system used for the balloting Sunday skewed the end result. There were 100 points available for each riding, meaning there were many more points up for grabs in provinces like Quebec and Ontario than in others like Alberta and Saskatchewan.

O’Toole won Quebec, which in the final analysis mattered more in the voting than Lewis’ victory in Saskatchewan. And that, Wall said, represents O’Toole’s first challenge as leader.

“He won this race on the strength of that system, on the strength of Quebec support,” Wall said. “Fair enough, but Job 1 of the new leader is to reach out to the base and consolidate the base of support, and we saw (during the federal election) in October the base for the Conservative Party is in Western Canada.

“They’ve got to grow — they need about another million more votes nationwide to have a chance to form a national government -but you have to start at the base.”

Wall said he doesn’t know O’Toole well, but he did speak to him during the campaign. Since O’Toole’s victory, he has impressed Wall by presenting himself with humility.

For Wall, that’s an important trait for anyone who’s leading a political party for the first time.

“The challenge for a new leader is to brand themselves before your opponents do,” Wall said. “Never mind all of the other important qualities we want in a leader, I think (it’s important to have) someone who has a humbleness, who’s humble in their approach to Canadians, who understands that this next job that they want is something they have to earn.”

“When you’re trying to earn something, it means you’re not just going to point out why your competitor is bad or why that person shouldn’t be chosen. You’re going to also want to make sure you present what it is that you and your team might do a little bit better.”