First Coyne, Now Ibbitson. Warnings of a Party Committing Suicide.


 

Like Andrew Coyne, John Ibbitson is quaking with fear that his darling Tories are doing themselves in.


By forcing a vote of confidence in his leadership, dissident Conservative MPs have put the future of the party at risk. Its activist base has become so agitated, and so powerful, that either Mr. O’Toole will be crippled as Leader, or he will be replaced by a new leader who is unlikely ever to become prime minister.

The Conservatives could be evolving into an untenable contradiction, in which no one who could lead the party can win the country, and no one who could win the country can lead the party.

Mr. O’Toole is at risk of losing the leadership because he failed at the all-important task of preserving unity within the Conservative caucus. That’s on him. But many in that caucus espouse a view of conservatism that has no resonance among most Canadians.

Ibbitson scours the horizon for individuals capable of rescuing the party from its nosedive who might want the job - but he comes up empty.  The Conservatives are just too degraded to present a credible threat to the Trudeau Liberals.

If Mr. O’Toole is brought down, he will be the second consecutive Conservative leader forced out of the position in three years. The Conservative movement has fractured in the past ideologically and regionally. Unless the party can unify under a leader with the strength and moderation to lead the country, the movement could split again, into an ideologically pure successor to the Reform Party and a Red Tory rump.

What a glorious time to be a Liberal.

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