Canadians want ‘decisive’ positions from Conservatives, says election report author

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole came under fire from within his own caucus following the failed 2021 federal election campaign but has held onto the party leadership so far.

The federal Conservatives must be clear on the things they stand for if the party wants to avoid the accusations of flip-flopping on policies that have dogged it for the last two election campaigns.

That’s according to the author of the post-mortem report on the Conservative performance in the 2021 federal election. James Cummings spoke with The West Block guest host Eric Sorenson about whether the criticisms of policy flip-flops – over everything from guns to climate change – were fair.

“I think political campaigns are different. They have ebbs and flows, and, you know, there’s issues that come up as you go along,” he said.

“There was just a lot going on that made it a very, very difficult campaign for all parties. But I do think that Canadians want to hear from Conservatives and from the Conservative Party on specifics about what they stand for, and be decisive on what they stand for and why it will be impactful for Canadians.”

Cummings lost his seat in Alberta in the 2021 campaign. He was brought on by the party to conduct a review of what factors prevented the Conservatives from winning the election.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole came under fire from within his own caucus following the failed effort to oust the Liberals from power, but has held onto the leadership so far.

There are attempts underway in a handful of riding associations to review his leadership though, and he has been accused of not following through on a promise made when he sought the party leadership to run as a “true blue” Conservative.

Several of the positions O’Toole took during the federal election contradicted those that he had made during that leadership campaign, including shifting policies on carbon pricing and on laws prohibiting the use of what the federal Liberals refer to as “assault” or “assault-style” weapons.