Gary Vidal’s hat is now in the ring. The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP representing northern Saskatchewan has voiced his support for Ontario MP Erin O’Toole in his party’s leadership race.
Vidal explained why he endorsed O’Toole March 7 as he was travelling back to Ottawa.
“I've learned to trust my own instincts and intuitions on my judgments of people,” he said.
“One of the things that got me going down that track was my interactions with Erin over the short time I've had to spend with him in Ottawa.”
Two candidates have verified status with the party in their federal leadership election. O’Toole is joined by former Nova Scotia MP Peter MacKay on the ballot.
Current Conservative leader Andrew Scheer announced in December he would be stepping down as leader of Canada’s official opposition after allegedly committing improprieties with party funds.
Vidal is one of 10 current MPs who have voiced support for O’Toole. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney also has endorsed O’Toole.
“Even though I'm a new MP, even though I don't really have a lot of standing so to speak, [O’Toole] always treated me with respect and dignity and wanted to know my opinions,” Vidal said.
“That just shows an openness to engage people.”
Vidal said he got a chance to speak at length with O’Toole before announcing his support for the candidate.
“We discussed a lot of stuff in about an hour and I got to ask him some very frank questions and I liked his responses,” he said.
“I think I have very good alignment with him as far as my values and my ideas about policy and how we approach them.”
O’Toole ran in the same 2017 party leadership contest Scheer won, coming third.
“I have a really strong sense that O’Toole has the ability to unite our party and in extension to unite Canada,” Vidal said.
“One thing I've learned in the short time that I've been part of all this is that there's a lot of really good people in our party and in our team of people in Ottawa, but we have a very diverse set of opinions and ideas about a lot of topics. I think that's actually a really good thing because that's representative of Canada as a whole.”
Vidal said he wasn’t too worried the leadership contest would turn into a negative for his party.
“At the end of the day, we're all on the same side,” he said.
“I chose to throw my support behind Mr. O’Toole for now, but if somebody else wins the leadership, they're my general. They're my boss, they’re my leader and I will follow them.”
Vidal is the Tories’ shadow minister for Indigenous Services. It’s been a trial by fire for the former Meadow Lake mayor, with protests and ongoing unrest spreading across Canada.
“It's obviously been challenging times with all the stuff going on across the country,” he said.
“With great challenge comes great opportunity to make a difference. I'm just trying to do my part to try to make a difference in where we come out of this thing.”
The CPC leadership election will take place June 27.
