The new leader of the federal Conservative Party, Erin O鈥橳oole, will help to lead the fight against the Liberals, said Dr. Robert Kitchen, MP for Souris-Moose Mountain.
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely pleased that he won the leadership,鈥� said the MP on Monday. 鈥淚 supported him in the last leadership campaign, I supported him in the House, and I supported him this time as well. All the hard work he鈥檚 done has been rewarded.鈥�
The federal Conservative leadership race wrapped up on Sunday night, and O鈥橳oole was declared the winner in the third round with 57 per cent of the votes, with weighted ballots used listing second and third preferences.
鈥淯ltimately, when you look at it, it鈥檚 good for the party. They increased the membership significantly,鈥� said Kitchen, noting the leadership race brought in 174,849 ballots.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great thing to see where the grassroots get a say in who the new leader will be,鈥� said the MP.
There was a long delay in getting the first round of ballots counted when an envelope-opening machine cut through a few thousand ballots, but it was sorted out with all of the ballots counted properly, said Kitchen.
鈥淓rin brings a lot to this party. If you listened to his speech (after being declared the winner), he talked about inclusivity. Also we see a lot of respect for the family that comes out of this. I truly believe that when we watch how he responds聽 and presents his policies, we will see a very articulate and knowledgeable man,鈥� said Kitchen.
The leadership process finished just days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament, as he replaced Finance minister Bill Morneau with Chrystia Freeland. He ended the Parliamentary sitting, including the committee hearings investigating the WE charity scandal, and said Parliament will reconvene on Sept. 24 with a new Throne Speech and a confidence vote.
There is speculation the vote might trigger an early election, but Kitchen said the Conservatives will be ready for it should that happen.
鈥淭rudeau prorogued Parliament for one reason, to cancel all the investigations into the WE scandal. We had four Parliamentary committees investigating that,鈥� noted the MP.
Noting that Trudeau said he needed to prorogue Parliament in order to bring in a new budget from minister Freeland, Kitchen pointed out, 鈥淗e could have prorogued a week beforehand instead of a month and a half beforehand.鈥�
O鈥橳oole is now busy putting his new team together to be ready for the reopening of the House of Commons, said Kitchen, and he anticipates there will be a meeting of the Conservative caucus prior to Sept. 23, likely very soon, so O鈥橳oole can address all of the MPs.
If a snap election is held, Kitchen said, 鈥淚鈥檓 running again, and yes, I have my team that we had together from the last election. We鈥檙e sort of setting things up just in case.鈥�
An election will cost money, he said, but 鈥渨e鈥檝e got a government here handing money out left, right and centre.鈥�
