Geoff Corfield
Geoffrey Corfield has been active in Conservative politics in Canada since 1976, both federally and provincially. But he won’t always write about politics because he has more experience with writing history and humour. He lives in London, Ontario, frequents used book shops, swims lengths, drinks beer, plays croquet, has his own town in north-central Queensland and six books published, and would very much like to find a publisher for this New Zealand book and its companion one for Australia.
LEADER BY POST
The Prime Minister of Canada is caught in yet another scandal, and the
Bloc Quebecois say they will try to bring the minority Liberal
government down.
Meanwhile the Conservative Party is electing another leader. The last
one, chosen in 2017 (I didn’t vote for him), lost the 2019 election and
(thankfully) fell on his sword. The close second place finisher (my
vote) left and formed another party (0 seats, I donated).
The new leader will be chosen by mail-in ranking ballot to be received
by 21 August, with results announced 23 August. My vote is in.
The four candidates:
- Leslyn Lewis, 50, Toronto lawyer, academic Dr., no elected
political experience. Served on Toronto constituency association and
was replacement Toronto candidate in 2015 election. Not bad for a kid
from Jamaica who came to Canada age five. - Peter MacKay, 54, lawyer and politician, Nova Scotia M.P.
1997-2015, former cabinet minister and leader of Progressive
Conservative Party that merged with Alliance Party to form
Conservative Party in 2003. - Erin O’Toole, 57, Greater Toronto M.P. since 2012. Military,
lawyer, placed third in 2017 leadership. - Derek Sloan, 35, Eastern Ontario M.P. since 2019. Seventh Day
Adventist “defending religious liberties against political
correctness”. Business experience and law degree.
As a Conservative Party member I was on each candidate’s mailing list.
This is my impression of the candidates and why I voted as I did.
Leslyn Lewis ran by far the best campaign. She sent out regular emails
asking for response, I replied, and she often replied back. She also
held “Zoom” events. MacKay and O’Toole relied on telephone “Town
Halls”, and calls from staffers. Sloan I heard nothing from except a
leaflet at the end.
MacKay is the most experienced and the favourite, but I wasn’t
impressed by his campaign: he’s too wishy-washy, and he thinks the
Arctic is melting. If the run-off is between MacKay and O’Toole, I
prefer O’Toole, so I placed MacKay fourth. If he wins, he wins.
Sloan impressed during the live debate. Direct and forthright, I like
that. I donated $50 to his campaign and placed him third on my ballot
in the hope he will continue.
O’Toole is more hard-hitting than MacKay. We need that; the last
leader was too soft. He comes from Greater Toronto and we need to win
seats in Toronto and Ontario. Conservatives won only 8 of 23 ridings
in Greater Toronto, and only 36 of 121 in Ontario. I placed him
second.
I was in touch with Lewis more than all the other candidates combined.
She has a calm persona and will only get better. Billed as a “social
conservative”, she is well aware of other things. I donated $50 to her
campaign and placed her first on my ballot. She’s Toronto and we need
to win in Toronto. Conservatives hold 0 of 25 Toronto seats. If she
causes an upset, fine, if not I hope she will continue.
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