Erin Michael O'Toole (born January 22, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has been the
member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, O'Toole grew up in
Port Perry
Port Perry is a community located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central Toronto and north of Oshawa and Whitby. Port Perry has a population of 9,453 as of 2016.
Port Perry serves as the administrative and commerc ...
and
Bowmanville
Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a to ...
. He joined the
Canadian Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...
in 1991 and studied at the Royal Military College (RMC) until 1995. He was commissioned in Air Command, serving as an air navigator, eventually attaining the rank of captain. Following his active service, he received a law degree, practicing law for nearly a decade until he was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
in a 2012
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
Harper government
The premiership of Stephen Harper began on February 6, 2006, when the first Cabinet headed by Stephen Harper was sworn in by Governor General Michaelle Jean. Harper was invited to form the 28th Canadian Ministry and become Prime Minister of ...
. In
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
, he ran for the party's leadership, finishing third to winner
Andrew Scheer
Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...
.
After Scheer resigned as leader in late 2019, O'Toole ran a successful leadership campaign, defeating former cabinet minister
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007 ...
in the 2020 leadership election. After he assumed the leadership, O'Toole marketed his party to working-class Canadians. O'Toole lost the 2021 federal election while receiving a plurality of the popular vote, and also won re-election in his home riding of Durham. O'Toole stated he would stay on as party leader, but on February 2, 2022, he was ousted after losing a
leadership review
In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, ...
from sitting Conservative Party MPs.
O'Toole has been described as a moderate member of his party. On domestic policy issues, O'Toole supports gradually eliminating the federal deficit, simplifying federal taxes, a low
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
savings account, and pipeline construction. On foreign policy issues, O'Toole supports a agreement and getting "tough on China", considering its government to be a "bad actor" on the international stage. O'Toole's voting record on social issues has been mainly characterized as socially progressive.
Early life and career
O'Toole was born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, on January 22, 1973, the son of Mollie ( Hall) and
John O'Toole
John O'Toole (born ) is a retired politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014, representing the riding of Durham for the Progressive Conservative Party.
Background
O'Toole is the son ...
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
descent, and his mother was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England, and came to Canada after World War II. Following his mother's death when he was nine years old, his family moved to Port Perry, Ontario, where he attended elementary school. O'Toole and his family later moved to
Bowmanville, Ontario
Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a ...
, where he graduated from
Bowmanville High School
Bowmanville High School (also known as BHS) is a public secondary school located in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, within the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. The school includes Grades 9 – 12, and offers a French Immersion program. Th ...
.
In 1991, O'Toole joined the military, enrolling at the
Royal Military College of Canada
'')
, established = 1876
, type = Military academy
, chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister)
, principal = Harry Kowal
, head_label ...
in
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...
. He graduated with an
honours
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in history and political science in 1995.
Military career
Following his graduation, O'Toole was commissioned as an officer in the Canadian Forces Air Command. He was first posted to
Trenton, Ontario
Trenton (2001 population 16,770) is a large unincorporated community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues n ...
, where he was involved in search and rescue operations. O'Toole also spent time at 17 Wing in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
, Manitoba, where he completed his training as an air navigator.
In 1997, O'Toole was posted to 12 Wing in Shearwater, Nova Scotia. While serving at this post, O'Toole flew as a tactical navigator on a
CH-124
The Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King is a twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed for shipboard use by Canadian naval forces, based on the US Navy's Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King, SH-3. It served with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and ...
(Sea King) helicopter with 423 Squadron, conducted maritime surveillance, and performed search and rescue and naval support operations. While serving at 12 Wing, O'Toole was promoted to the rank of captain and was awarded the Sikorsky Helicopter Rescue Award for rescuing an injured fisherman at sea.
In 2000, O'Toole completed his active service in the military. He transferred to the reserves, working as a training officer running flight simulators, while he pursued a law degree. He received the
Canadian Forces' Decoration
The Canadian Forces' Decoration (post-nominal letters "CD") is a Canadian award bestowed upon members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have completed twelve years of military service, with certain conditions. By convention, it is also given to t ...
for 12 years of service to Canada.
Legal career
O'Toole graduated from the
Schulich School of Law
, mottoeng = "Law is the source of light"
, endowment =
, staff =
, faculty = 119
, dean = Camille Cameron
, head_label =
, head =
, doctoral =
, students = 500
, city ...
at Dalhousie University with a law degree in 2003. He returned to Ontario where he articled at, and later became a lawyer with, Stikeman Elliott, a business law firm in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. During this time, O'Toole primarily practised in the areas of product liability, insolvency, competition and general commercial law. Between 2006 and 2011, O'Toole served as Canadian in-house counsel for
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
. He acted as corporate counsel for Gillette, provided commercial and regulatory law advice, was counsel on issues relating to legislation, and investigated counterfeiting operations. In 2011, O'Toole joined the law firm
Heenan Blaikie
Heenan Blaikie LLP is a defunct Canadian law firm. It practiced in the areas of business, labour and employment, litigation, taxation, entertainment law and intellectual property law. The firm was founded in 1973 by Roy Heenan, Donald Johnston, a ...
, where he was a registered lobbyist for
Facebook, Inc.
Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebook, Instagra ...
Political career
Early political career
In May 2012, O'Toole announced his plans to run as the Conservative candidate in the by-election for
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
, following Bev Oda's resignation, winning the seat on November 26, 2012. In September 2013, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named O'Toole the parliamentary secretary to the minister of international trade, Ed Fast.
In 2014, O'Toole partnered with Senator
Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a Canadian humanitarian, author, retired senator and Canadian Forces lieutenant-general. Dallaire served as force commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda ...
to host the first Samuel Sharpe Memorial Breakfast, in honour of former soldier and MP
Samuel Simpson Sharpe
Lt-Col. Samuel Simpson Sharpe , M.P. (March 13, 1873 – May 25, 1918) was a lawyer, political figure, and soldier from Ontario, Canada. He represented Ontario North in the House of Commons of Canada from 1909 to 1917 as a Conservative a ...
. Sharpe committed suicide in 1918 following his return home from World War I. O'Toole and Dallaire started the memorial breakfast to bring issues of veterans' mental health to the forefront and to improve access to treatment and resources for soldiers suffering from operational stress injuries. In May 2018, O'Toole introduced a motion to install a plaque commemorating Sharpe on Parliament Hill, which passed unanimously.
On January 5, 2015, Harper appointed O'Toole as minister of veterans affairs, replacing
Julian Fantino
Julian Fantino, , ( it, Giuliano Fantino; born August 13, 1942) is a Canadian retired police official and former politician. He was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of Vaughan following a Nov ...
. O'Toole prioritized repairing relations with veterans and addressing the complaints Canadian veterans had with Fantino. During his time as veterans affairs minister, he convinced veterans who had sued the Canadian government to place a halt on their lawsuit while they entered into settlement negotiations. In the lawsuit, filed before O'Toole was named minister, the Canadian soldiers argued that the 2006 overhaul of veteran benefits was discriminatory.
In the 2015 election, O'Toole was re-elected as MP for Durham, receiving 45 per cent of the vote, followed by Liberal candidate Corinna Traill with 36 per cent.
2017 Conservative leadership campaign
Stephen Harper resigned as Conservative party leader after the Liberals won a majority in the 2015 federal election. O'Toole announced that he would seek the interim leadership of the Conservative Party.
Rona Ambrose
Ronalee Ambrose Veitch ( , Name at birth, née Chapchuk; born March 15, 1969) is a Canadian former politician who was Interim leader (Canada), interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party and the Leader of the Official ...
defeated him but named O'Toole the Official Opposition critic for public safety.
On October 14, 2016, O'Toole announced his candidacy for the
2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election
The 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held on May 27, 2017. Party members chose Andrew Scheer as leader, replacing Stephen Harper, who led the Conservative Party of Canada as its leader from 2004 following the merger of ...
. O'Toole ran a positive campaign and avoided personally attacking other candidates during the campaign, arguing that Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
does not own optimism. He received endorsements from 31 MPs, 12 former MPs, 17 provincial politicians, and CANZUK International. O'Toole finished in third place, behind
Maxime Bernier
Maxime Bernier (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 to form the PPC. He was the membe ...
and the eventual winner
Andrew Scheer
Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...
.
Foreign affairs critic and second reelection
In 2018, after Patrick Brown resigned over accusations of sexual misconduct, O'Toole considered entering the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race. He ultimately passed on the opportunity, instead supporting Christine Elliott. On August 31, 2017, Andrew Scheer appointed O'Toole the official opposition critic for foreign affairs.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was re-elected as prime minister in 2019, O'Toole won re-election in his riding, beating the Liberal candidate by about 10 per cent of the vote.
2020 Conservative leadership campaign
In December 2019, Andrew Scheer announced his resignation as Conservative Party leader after it was revealed that he had used party funds for his children's private schooling. Scheer remained leader until his successor was elected.
O'Toole announced that he would seek the leadership of the Conservative Party in late January 2020. During his campaign, he framed himself as a "true blue" conservative, implying that rivals like
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007 ...
were less conservative. It helped that Pierre Poilievre, who was expected to get support from the right of the party, decided not to run. O'Toole's tone was angrier this time than during his first leadership run, which he stated was due to his increasing worry about the country after five years under a Trudeau government. He believed that his status as an MP would allow him to hold Trudeau accountable as soon as he became leader. During the campaign, O'Toole alleged that MacKay's campaign obtained stolen internal campaign data from him. A former intern at
Calgary Centre
Calgary Centre (french: Calgary-Centre; formerly known as Calgary South Centre) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. The riding consists of many young ad ...
MP Greg McLean's office later admitted to obtaining the data.
O'Toole won the leadership election after three rounds were counted, replacing Andrew Scheer. His victory was attributed partially to his pitch to
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
voters including supporters of candidates Derek Sloan and Leslyn Lewis to mark him as their second or third choice. He generally performed better in Conservative- and Bloc Québécois-held ridings, in rural areas, and in areas with fewer visible minorities. Despite representing a riding on the eastern edge of the Greater Toronto Area, O'Toole performed poorly there.People's Party leader
Maxime Bernier
Maxime Bernier (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 to form the PPC. He was the membe ...
criticized him in remarks dismissed by fellow leadership candidate Sloan, stating that he was not a real conservative.
Leadership of the Conservative Party
Shortly after becoming leader, O'Toole said that triggering a fall election was not his priority and he preferred to focus instead on the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
and finding jobs for the unemployed. He reaffirmed his position in December 2020, stating that an election should not take place until after the pandemic had ended. Still, he said the Conservative Party was prepared for another election if one was called. On September 2, 2020, he announced
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...
would serve as his deputy. O'Toole revealed his Shadow Cabinet the following week, with most roles changing from the previous Scheer-led one.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Toole criticized the Trudeau government for not approving rapid and at-home testing options, arguing that the economy would be unstable if they or a
vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.
were unavailable. O'Toole has praised Alberta's pandemic response for allowing testing at pharmacies and being less restrictive than other provinces. When distribution of a vaccine was near, he criticized the government for being unable to deliver doses as quickly as other countries like the US and the UK. He called for more transparency regarding the vaccine rollout plan and stated that Canada only focused on preordering vaccines from
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...
and
Moderna
Moderna, Inc. ( ) is an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that focuses on RNA therapeutics, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to pro ...
after a partnership with a Chinese company failed.
In response to the
WE Charity scandal
The WE Charity scandal was a Canadian political scandal regarding the awarding of a federal contract to WE Charity to administer the $912 million Canada Student Summer Grant program (CSSG) in 2020. The controversy arose when it was revealed t ...
, O'Toole proposed creating an anti-corruption committee tasked with releasing related details and other possible ethics violations made by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the defeat of the motion after Trudeau declared it a
confidence vote
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
, O'Toole proposed that these instead be done by the health committee.
During his leadership, O'Toole worked to attract working-class people to the Conservative Party, noting his experience of watching auto workers lose their jobs in his hometown of
Bowmanville
Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a to ...
, and his support for unions. Despite his support for unions, union leaders were skeptical given his previous parliamentary voting record and his pre-2015
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
-related work. O'Toole also softened his rhetoric, presenting himself as moderate to counter accusations from opponents that he was trying to market to the far-right.
Due to his shift from the "true blue" rhetoric of his leadership campaign to a more moderate approach, he has received some criticism from within the party and fears that he may drop certain Conservative priorities such as opposition to the carbon tax. O'Toole later acknowledged such party criticism, though he continued said approach, stating the party must have "the courage to change" and attract new voters in order to win against the Liberals.
2021 election
Following the start of the 2021 election campaign, O'Toole released a platform with the slogans "Secure the Future" in English and "Agir Pour L'Avenir" (English translation: Act for the Future) in French.
The opening paragraphs of the 160-page document include a statement that "It's time for Conservatives to take inequality seriously" The Conservatives described their platform as focusing on the economy, jobs, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the final days of the campaign, he attempted to convince People's Party voters that a vote for it would split the vote and allow a Trudeau victory. O'Toole lost the election to Trudeau, who won another minority government, though he won his riding of Durham and a plurality of the popular vote. O'Toole stated on election night that he would stay on as leader.
Removal as leader
=Early signs
=
Shortly after the election, the party became divided on whether or not O'Toole should stay on as leader of the party. On November 15, Conservative senator
Denise Batters
Denise Leanne Batters (born June 18, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as a senator from Saskatchewan since January 25, 2013. She was briefly ousted from the national Conservative Party of Canada caucus from November 2021 to Februa ...
called for a referendum on O'Toole's leadership, saying that O'Toole "flip-flopped on policies core to our party" including a carbon tax, firearm regulations and abortion. Conservative Party president Robert Batherson ruled that a referendum to call a leadership review was "not in order". Two days later, O'Toole responded by removing Denise Batters from the caucus, saying anyone "who's not putting the team and the country first, will not be part of this team."
=Leadership review
=
On January 31, 2022, Conservative
Calgary Heritage
Calgary Heritage is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015.
Calgary Heritage was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally ...
MP
Bob Benzen
Bob Benzen (born March 3, 1959) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a by-election on April 3, 2017.
submitted a letter with signatures from 35 Conservative MPs calling for a
leadership review
In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, ...
on O'Toole's leadership to the Conservative caucus chair, Scott Reid. In the letter, Benzen criticized O'Toole's reversal on repealing Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
carbon tax
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...
and assault weapons ban.
On February 2, 2022, O'Toole was ousted as leader in a vote by Conservative MPs according to the terms of the ''
Reform Act
In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...
''. By secret ballot, O'Toole was removed as leader by a margin of 73 votes to 45. The vote forced his removal, which took effect immediately.
Post-leadership
In 2022, O'Toole expressed his belief that Chinese interference had played a role in the Conservative Party's loss during the 2021 Canadian federal election in an interview with Liberal MP
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith
Nathaniel B. Erskine-Smith (born June 15, 1984) is a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he is a Member of Parliament, representing Beaches-East York. Erskine-Smith became the youngest MP to be elected in the Greater Toronto Are ...
on Smith's ''UnCommons'' podcast. O'Toole opined that interference by
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
linked outfits could have cost the Conservatives up to "eight or nine seats."
Political positions
O'Toole has been described as tending to be one of the more moderate members of his party. He supports a more moderate Conservative Party and has denounced the far-right, stating that they do not belong in his party.
Domestic policy
O'Toole has stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government should only spend what is necessary to help Canadians and balance the budget gradually over the next decade. O'Toole is against a national childcare program, saying that he prefers giving families more childcare options rather than one federal one. In his 2021 platform, he proposed to replace the current child care funding with tax credits for parents. He also opposes a national pharmacare program, saying that the government should not replace billions already spent by insurance companies.
He also wants to reduce and simplify taxes, arguing that a complicated tax system benefits the wealthy, who can afford to find loopholes. He supports modifying Canada's equalization and fiscal stabilization systems, which he argues are presently unfair to
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. O'Toole supports a full review of government spending and a program in which all new spending must be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in spending elsewhere. He has called for an incentive to reduce employment insurance premiums that small and medium-sized businesses pay for new employees.
O'Toole supports reviewing the mandate for the CBC's English digital and television operations, possibly converting it into a PBS-style public interest model to ensure it does not compete with the private sector. He argues the current competition with the private sector hurts other media companies, which is why he believes the $600-million print media bailout package would no longer be needed. He previously supported defunding these, being a major part of his 2020 Conservative leadership platform and popular with Conservative voters. He would not modify
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
or its French language operations, stating they maintain their original public interest mandate. O'Toole previously supported modernizing the CBC without modifying funding.
To tackle Canada's housing crisis, O'Toole proposes to create one million new homes within three years, including converting at least 15 percent of federal buildings into housing space. He also supports banning foreign investors from buying Canadian homes for at least two years.
A "Canadian values" test, like the one proposed by
Kellie Leitch
Khristinn Kellie Leitch (born July 30, 1970) is a Canadian surgeon and former politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Simcoe—Grey from 2011 to 2019 as a member of the Conservative Party. She was first elected in t ...
, is not supported by O'Toole. During the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Toole has proposed increased immigration through family reunification to make up for a decreased number of economic immigrants. On illegal immigration, O'Toole supports creating a joint operation with the United States to stop asylum seekers from entering Canada illegally.
During the 2020 leadership election, O'Toole made a platform appealing specifically towards Quebec nationalists. O'Toole supports decentralizing the federal government's power in Quebec, having stated he is open to giving the province increased powers over immigration and opposing federal intervention to stop the
Quebec ban on religious symbols
The ''Act respecting the laicity of the State'' (), introduced and commonly referred to as Bill 21 or Law 21, is a statute passed by the National Assembly of Quebec in 2019 which asserts that Quebec is lay state (secular state). It prohibits th ...
, arguing that the independence of Quebec's legislature should be protected. He believes that large, federally regulated companies should be required to adhere to Quebec's ''
Charter of the French Language
The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the Provinces and territories of ...
''.
Indigenous policy
O'Toole opposes the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or DOTROIP) is a legally non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations in 2007. It delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including th ...
, and said the Supreme Court of Canada has "set a higher bar on the so-called duty to consult." After statues of
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, Canada's first prime minister, were toppled in protests against systemic racism, O'Toole said that it would be "dooming Canada to forget its history" and that he preferred adding plaques to monuments describing a "more balanced look" of Canada's history instead of tearing them down. He had previously opposed the removal of a statue of Macdonald from
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
's City Hall.
In November 2020, O'Toole made a speech to Ryerson Conservatives defending university's namesake Egerton Ryerson where he said the
Canadian Indian residential school system
In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school s ...
was "created to provide education". In December 2020 he retracted his comments and stated Indigenous reconciliation is a priority for him.
Economic policy
During the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Toole released a post-pandemic recovery plan. He promised to launch a royal commission on the issue within 100 days of taking office and said the "big government" strategy failed Canadians. He has proposed converting the existing child care expense deduction to a refundable tax credit. He supported extending
Employment Insurance
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compu ...
for workers after the
Canada Emergency Response Benefit
The Government of Canada introduced multiple temporary social security and financial aid programs in response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The initial CA$82-billion aid package was announced on March 18, 2020 by Jus ...
(CERB) ran out in summer 2021. O'Toole believes the CERB should have been used more effectively by the government and focused on sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. He proposes expanding the emergency loan program for businesses and temporarily amend bankruptcy laws to make company restructuring easier.
O'Toole supports unions, calling them "an essential part of the balance between what was good for business and what was good for employees". He believes a lack of unions gives too much power to corporate elites, who he has said would be "too happy to outsource jobs abroad".
After an anti-pipeline movement sparked rail blockades across Canada, O'Toole promised to make it a specific criminal offence to block them as well as entrances to businesses, airports, and seaports, though some opponents believe it unfairly targets them. He also plans on introducing a law to ensure free trade between Canada's provinces.
Environmental policy
On
carbon pricing
Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the co ...
, O'Toole would create an alternative system in addition to the current federal carbon tax for consumers which would put a surcharge on carbon into a "low carbon savings account", a tax-free savings account to be used on purchases to make consumers more environmentally friendly. Provincial governments would be allowed to choose between the two systems. The surcharge O'Toole proposes is lower than that of the Trudeau government and O'Toole plans to offset that by other measures such as requiring 30 percent of light vehicles to be free of pollutants by 2030.
O'Toole's climate plan proposes to continue taxing industry and does plan to raise the tax on industry as much as Trudeau intends to. He has said
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
is a global problem which requires a global solution. O'Toole has committed to meeting Canada's Paris Agreement targets and has said he will partner with the provinces to do so. He supports net-zero emissions legislation as long as he considers it to "support Canadian industry" and has stated that he would like to partner with and pressure organizations to lower their emissions, including helping oil companies become
carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
. During his 2021 election campaign, O'Toole stated he would revert back to earlier emissions targets, stating Trudeau has no plan to bring emissions down to more recent targets.
O'Toole supports ending Canada's energy imports from outside North America. He supports pipeline construction, arguing they "ignite" Canada's economy, though he has said that the proposed Energy East pipeline will not be constructed. He opposes the ''Oil Tanker Moratorium Act'', the ''Impact Assessment Act'' and the ''Canadian Energy Regulator Act''. He would introduce a National Strategic Pipelines Act to speed up approvals of pipelines deemed to be in Canada's national interest and repeal the related legislation introduced by the Trudeau government.
On March 20, 2021, O'Toole attempted to convince members to support a more serious agenda aimed at curbing climate change, saying that he did not want his candidates to be labelled as climate change deniers. Despite this, the party's base rejected a motion adding "we recognize that climate change is real. The Conservative Party is willing to act", with 54% of delegates voting against it.
Social issues
O'Toole's voting record on social issues has been described by The National Post as socially progressive. He is
pro-choice
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...
on the matter of abortion, opposing legal restrictions on the practice, though he would hold free votes on bills related to abortion and other social issues. While he supports legislation which would allow health care practitioners to decline to offer treatment inconsistent with their philosophical views such as abortion stating they may be driven out of healthcare otherwise, he clarified that he believes they should be required to refer people to those services. O'Toole voted against bill C-14, which made euthanasia legal, saying he continued to have concerns about it and would prefer resources be focused on
palliative care
Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...
.
O'Toole supports
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
and has pledged to walk in
pride parades
A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events som ...
conversion therapy
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...
.
O'Toole initially pledged to repeal all gun law changes made by the Trudeau government, though he later stated that the firearms banned in May 2020 would remain banned. However, the current firearms classification system would undergo public review.
Before recreational cannabis use was
legalized
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...
, O'Toole supported its decriminalization and during his 2017 leadership campaign, he said that Trudeau's plan to legalize it would be impossible to reverse. O'Toole opposes harsh punishments for drug offences, instead supporting treating drug addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal issue. Law enforcement would focus more on traffickers under O'Toole's proposal and he plans on funding drug rehabilitation. Despite this, he does not support further drug legalization.
Foreign policy
According to
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
professor Peter McKenna, O'Toole's foreign policy, especially that towards dictatorships and the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
, is similar to that of former-prime minister Stephen Harper. He has criticized Liberals for being too friendly with dictatorships and paying too much attention to the UN. McKenna has noted that O'Toole wants Canada to advocate for human rights internationally and will remove funding from UN agencies which he believes have failed from a corruption and human rights standpoint. He supports harsher punishments for Canadians participating in human rights abuses and proposes the creation of an international human rights committee.
O'Toole opposes cutting Canada's foreign aid budget though he has said he would look to fund programs leading to measurable outcomes similar to prior Conservative policies. He supports a agreement, a political and economic union between Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, stating it will create more jobs for Canadians and help distance Canada from China. He supports a "Canada First" strategy to promote domestic production of goods and economic self-sufficiency but says he is not as much of a
protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
as the former
US president
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
,
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. He supports meeting Canada's
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
commitments. On Israel, he supports recognition of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
as the country's capital and plans to move Canada's Israeli embassy there from
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
.
China
O'Toole has spoken out against the Chinese government multiple times, singling it out as a bad actor on the international stage. He says there is a "growing influence of Chinese agents" in Canada meant to push Chinese propaganda and to intimidate Canadians. He supports passing a law similar to the Australian foreign interference law. He has proposed tightening up foreign investment groups to deter state-owned companies from non-free countries from buying Canadian resources and companies unless there is a compelling reason to approve. He supports a tougher stance on China and imposing sanctions on
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
owing to concerns that the
Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...
is committing
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
against
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
. He has come out in support of the Trump administration's hard-line approach to China.
O'Toole supports banning
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
from Canada's 5G networks, stating China controls the company and has stolen technology from
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in Montreal, Quebec, ...
, a defunct Canadian company. He would give other providers tax credits to replace their infrastructure and apply pressure to other countries to stop allowing Chinese state-owned companies from accessing their markets and has called on the Trudeau government to expedite entry of political refugees fleeing Hong Kong.
Because of Canada's issues with the Chinese government, O'Toole seeks to improve relations with
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and put "caveats" on the
One-China policy
The term One China may refer to one of the following:
* The One China principle is the position held by the People's Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legit ...
. After Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu made remarks against Canada granting political asylum to
pro-democracy
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
protestors in Hong Kong, O'Toole said that it was a threat on Canadians and that he should be removed if he does not apologize for them.
Personal life
O'Toole met his wife Rebecca in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1998, and they married in 2000. He has a daughter and a son. O'Toole is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. He founded True Patriot Love, a nonprofit supporting veterans, members of the military, and their families. In September 2020, O'Toole tested positive for COVID‑19, after a staffer in his office tested positive. His wife also later tested positive for COVID-19, after initially testing negative. They were in self-isolation until September 30, at which point O'Toole returned to Parliament.
Awards and recognition
In 2012, O'Toole was awarded the Christopher J. Coulter Young Alumnus Award by Dalhousie University, for his achievements and dedication to community service.
Also in 2012, O'Toole received the
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...