The Conservative Party of Canada held a leadership election on May 27, 2017. The leadership election was prompted by the resignation of Stephen Harper, who had led the Conservative Party of Canada as its leader from 2004, after the party's defeat in the 2015 election.
Thirteen candidates entered the contest: Chris Alexander, Maxime Bernier, Steven Blaney, Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Pierre Lemieux, Deepak Obhrai, Erin O'Toole, Rick Peterson, Lisa Raitt, Andrew Saxton, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost. Additionally, four other candidates withdrew, including Kevin O'Leary, who remained on the final ballot.
Voting was conducted using a ranked ballot; however votes were calculated so that each electoral district had equal weight with each electoral district allocated 100 points. 259,010 party members were eligible to vote in the leadership contest. 141,000 members cast a vote.
Andrew Scheer was elected leader on the thirteenth ballot, narrowly defeating second-place finisher Maxime Bernier. Many considered Scheer's victory as an upset, given Bernier's consistent frontrunner status in the polls.
History
Background Stephen Harper, who led the Conservative Party of Canada as its leader from 2004 following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties, led the party through five federal elections: the party increased its seat count in the House of Commons in 2004, formed two minority governments in 2006, and 2008, and then a majority government in 2011. Following the defeat of the party in the 2015 federal election on October 19, Harper tendered his resignation as party leader. In a statement, Conservative Party President John Walsh said he had spoken to Harper, "and he has instructed me to reach out to the newly elected parliamentary caucus to appoint an interim Leader and to implement the leadership selection process."
Interim leadership Conservative Party president John Walsh's letter to caucus stated that only Members of Parliament (MPs) would vote for the interim leader, but Conservative Senators pointed out that the party constitution states that the entire parliamentary caucus votes. The caucus allowed senators to vote, declining to adopt the provisions of the Reform Act that would have only allowed MPs to vote.
The caucus chose Rona Ambrose, MP for Sturgeon River—Parkland, Alberta and former Minister of Health, as interim leader at its first meeting on November 5, 2015, in a vote by preferential ballot. Ambrose, as the interim leader, also served as Leader of the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada until a permanent leader was chosen. She defeated Candice Bergen, Diane Finley, Mike Lake, Rob Nicholson, Erin O'Toole, and the joint ticket of Denis Lebel and Michelle Rempel in the caucus vote.
Under the party's constitution, Ambrose, as the interim leader, could not run for the permanent position.
Leadership election timing Following Harper's resignation, debate emerged within the Conservative Party regarding the timing of the leadership election. Some members of the party's national council called for a leadership convention as early as May 2016 according to Maclean's magazine. However, interim leader Rona Ambrose said there was a consensus among the party's caucus that the leadership election should not be rushed and should be held sometime in 2017. In a December 2015 interview, Ambrose said the party would take its time allowing all members, including those not already involved in politics, to build a strong candidacy. "If we take a little extra time, that will mean we'll have a better leadership race."
The Conservative Party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) met at Toronto's Albany Club January 15–17, 2016 to discuss the process for the Party to elect its next leader. Among its decisions, LEOC selected May 27, 2017, for Conservative Party members to elect their next leader.
Aftermath Subsequent to the election, fourth placed candidate Brad Trost and his campaign were fined $50,000 by the Conservative Party of Canada for allegedly leaking the party's membership list to the National Firearms Association. Trost denied that he or any of his staff leaked the list. On February 11, 2019, the Conservative Party released a statement from its Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) which concluded: "In short, LEOC does not believe there is evidence that the Trost Campaign was responsible for leaking of the membership list...." The fine was therefore removed from the Brad Trost Campaign. Trost went on to lose renomination as the party candidate for his riding during the 43rd Federal election on March 10, 2018, to Corey Tochor, former speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature.
Criticism has been raised about how the party memberships were handled, with some prominent members saying they never received a ballot, even after contacting the party about it.
In addition, the result of the leadership race and party handling was questioned by some supporters of such as runner-up Maxime Bernier and fifth place candidate Kellie Leitch due to discrepancies in the final ballot count, specifically a gap between the number of ballots cast and the announced result – a 7,466 vote discrepancy, which is greater than Andrew Scheer's 7,049 votes margin of victory in the final round. There was criticism over the exact role of the accounting firm Deloitte during the voting process – a deal revealed that Deloitte was not specifically tasked with auditing the vote but "observe" the counting process. It was also reported that some of Brad Trost's supporters contravened the Elections Act and party membership rules by offering incentives to vote. Dimitri Soudas, a former Stephen Harper aide, pointed out that it violated election rules and it benefited Scheer's campaign but the ballots have been destroyed so the results stood.
Rules and voting system Only party members in good standing at 5pm Eastern Time on March 28, 2017, were allowed to vote. The fee for a party membership was raised from $15 to $25, an increase that was reversed on April 23, 2016, after criticisms that the move was "elitist". Membership fees could only be paid via personal cheque or credit card. Cash payments were not permitted. This new requirement was intended to prevent the election being dominated by new members, and to prevent anyone other than the individual member, such as a candidate's campaign, from signing up scores of members and paying the membership fees in cash out of campaign funds. Despite this, the Conservative Party confirmed irregularities with 1,351 memberships connected to prepaid credit cards that it subsequently struck from its membership roll.
Voting was on a one member one vote basis using a ranked ballot; however votes were calculated so that each electoral district had equal weight with each electoral district allocated 100 points. Candidates were assigned a point total based on his or her percentage of the vote in each electoral district. To win, a candidate must receive at least 16,901 points which would be a majority.
To register, candidates must: be members of the party for at least six months (can be waived), submit nomination forms signed by 300 party members from at least 30 electoral districts in at least seven different provinces and territories, pay a $50,000 non-refundable entrance fee, half of which must be paid when filing nomination with the other half due by the close of nominations on February 24, 2017. pay an additional $50,000 compliance deposit, by December 31, 2016, or when filing nomination for those who register in 2017, which is refundable provided the candidate complies with campaign rules. and fill out a 40-page questionnaire that asks for: references, criminal background and credit checks, agreement with basic party principles, a list of social media accounts, questions about possible controversial positions the candidate has taken in the past, and questions about affiliations and personal associations and behaviour that may be problematic. A party committee reviewed the candidate's nomination form and may disqualify a potential candidate. Candidates are allowed to spend a maximum of $5 million on their campaigns.
Timeline
October 19, 2015 – Federal election results in defeat of Conservative government. As Harper spoke to supporters in Calgary, making no reference to his future, a statement was released by the party announcing Harper's resignation as party leader and his request that an interim leader be chosen to lead the party in parliament until a leadership election can be held. November 4, 2015 – Harper resigns as prime minister; Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau sworn in. November 5, 2015 – Conservative caucus held its first meeting since the 2015 federal election and chose former health minister Rona Ambrose interim leader of the party. December 4–5, 2015 – National Council meets, 20-member Leadership Election Organization Committee appointed, including seven members of the National Council and MP Diane Finley, all of whom have pledged to be neutral during the leadership campaign; Dan Nowlan is appointed the committee's chair. January 15–17, 2016 – The Leadership Election Organization Committee meets at the Albany Club in Toronto to decide on the date of the leadership vote, the deadline for candidates to be nominated, campaign spending limits, the entrance fee for candidates and the appeals process for any disputes. May 26–28, 2016 – Conservative Party national policy convention, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, voted on policy resolutions and elected the party president and other officials. An attempt to change the party constitution to allow the party's interim leader, Rona Ambrose, to seek the permanent leadership is defeated. September 12, 2016 – Former Foreign Minister Peter MacKay, who had been leading public opinion polls as the most popular potential leader, announces that he will not be a candidate for the party's leadership. November 2, 2016 – Only those who have registered as candidates by this date, including having paid at least $25,000 of the candidate deposit, are permitted to participate in the first leadership debate, to be held the following week. 12 candidates meet this deadline. November 9, 2016 – First of five official leadership debates organized by the LEOC, held in Saskatoon. November 13, 2016 – Leadership debate organized by the Carleton Conservative Association, held in Greely, Ontario December 6, 2016 – Second official debate held in Moncton in English and French. December 31, 2016 – Deadline for candidates who filed their nomination papers in 2016 to have paid $50,000 compliance fee. January 17, 2017, 6:30 pm – Third official debate held in Quebec City in French at the Quebec Convention Centre. The themes covered will be government and taxes. February 4, 2017 – Leadership debate organized by the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The first debate involving well-known businessman Kevin O'Leary. February 24, 2017, 5pm ET (UTC-5) – Nomination period closes; deadline for candidates to pay any remaining balance of entrance fee. February 24, 2017 – Leadership debate organized by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, held in Ottawa, Ontario February 28, 2017 – Fourth official debate, held in Edmonton at the Maclab Theatre in English and French. March 28, 2017, 5pm ET (UTC-4) – Members who have joined by this date are eligible to vote. April 26, 2017 – Presumed frontrunner Kevin O'Leary withdraws from the election and endorses Maxime Bernier; as O'Leary has withdrawn after the deadline, his name remains on the ballot. Final leadership debate is held. April 28, 2017 – Voting by mail-in ranked ballot begins. May 26, 2017, 5pm ET (UTC-5) – Deadline for mail-in ballots to be received.