The four contenders for the Conservative leadership will debate each other in French today — but French-speaking party members won’t be the only Conservatives grading their performance.
Parlez-vous français?
The answer (and how honestly you answer it) could determine whether you can win the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada and become the next prime minister.
The party will hold the first of two leadership campaign debates in Toronto today. It will be entirely in French. A debate in English will follow on Thursday. CBC News will carry the debate live online starting at 7 p.m. ET.
None of the candidates vying for the leadership — Ontario MPs Erin O’Toole and Derek Sloan, former cabinet minister Peter MacKay and Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis — speak French as their first language.
It’s not clear how comprehensible the debate will be. While both O’Toole and MacKay can communicate in French, they do so with some limitations. Lewis and Sloan reportedly do not speak the language with any fluency. Nevertheless, the format will still have them debate each other in one-on-one match-ups.
In the end, the focus will be on the two front runners, MacKay and O’Toole. But the audience will be focusing on what they say as much as how they say it.
Both MacKay and O’Toole have been reaching out to Conservative Party members in Quebec.
O’Toole’s platform has an extensive section specifically aimed at the province. The proposals emphasize respect for, and expansion of, Quebec’s political jurisdiction and endorse limits on federal interference in the province’s affairs.
The platform also includes promises to close the border crossing at Roxham Road, provide financial assistance for the ‘third link’ infrastructure project in Quebec City and ensure the party’s next federal campaign in the province is run by a dedicated team in Quebec.
The O’Toole campaign clearly sees Quebec as an important part of its path to victory. The platform names Quebec 50 times; it cites Alberta nine times and Ontario just twice.
MacKay’s campaign has not announced any Quebec-specific policies. A spokesperson says that in communications with party members and in media interviews, MacKay has outlined his support for equalization, infrastructure projects and respect for Quebec’s jurisdiction. MacKay also recently tweeted a video about the work he is doing to learn French, aided by his multilingual wife, human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam.
Les gens me demandent l’état de mes progrès en français, je vous invite à visionner la vidéo suivante pour les découvrir! pic.twitter.com/dLQMiakl1C
For all their efforts, however, it’s not clear yet who has the edge in the province.
MacKay leads in Quebec endorsements
By one measure, MacKay seems to have the inside track.
Half of the ten MPs in the Quebec Conservative caucus have endorsed MacKay. They include Steven Blaney (who placed ninth in the 2017 leadership race)