The Conservative leadership thingy

#cpc #cdnpoli

It's been about three months since we looked at the Conservative Party leadership race thingy.  You could say there isn't much happening other than feelers, and to be honest, I'm not feeling much here.

Let's review where the potential candidates are.

Previous cabinet ministers and current MPs (in alphabetical order):

• Rona Ambrose - Alberta -- She's the current interim leader and doing a good job as opposition leader, but has declined to run.
• Michael Chong - Ontario -- Not hearing much here.
• Tony Clement - Ontario -- Hearing a little more from this guy.
• Jason Kenney - Alberta -- I'm not hearing anything, but I'm not really paying attention to him.
• Kellie Leitch - Ontario -- Nope. Nothing.
• Rob Nicholson - Ontario -- Yeah, I dunno.  
• Pierre Poilievre - Ontario -- Haven't really heard anything.
• Lisa Raitt - Ontario -- A little bit, but not much.
• Michelle Rempel - Alberta -- I'm hearing a lot from her and she's currently impressing me with her social media communication and outreach

Past cabinet ministers and past MPs:

• John Baird - Ontario -- He looked like he was about to hop in, but then he didn't.
• Maxime Bernier - Quebec -- This guy is definitely running and could win. He's currently on a speaking tour everywhere.
• Peter MacKay - Nova Scotia -- There are rumblings and it seems likely he'll jump back in.
• James Moore - British Columbia -- I'm not sure.  I think he'll try, but he won't get too far.
• Brian Pallister - Manitoba -- He's busy provincially.
• Preston Manning - Alberta -- Some have mentioned to me that he could make a come back.  I don't think he really wants to.

Past premiers / past federal leaders:

• Jean Charest - Quebec -- Declined.
• Bernard Lord - New Brunswick -- Declined.

Current premiers:

• Christy Clark - British Columbia -- Too busy in B.C.
• Brad Wall - Saskatchewan -- Says he's too busy in Sask, but he could declare after the upcoming Sask election, which he'll win, so that doesn't look good jumping out of there unless he's made out to be some sort of saviour.

Others:

• Doug Ford - Toronto city councillor -- Please don't.

Mulroney's children:

• Ben -- ?
• Caroline -- declined
• Mark -- declined

Outsiders:

• Kevin O'Leary - Ontario businessman -- There are now very strong rumblings all over that he's going to "trump" all the others.  Please.

To re-list the likely contenders in the order I think they would garner support over time.

1. Peter Mackay - he currently leads the few polls out there by a wide margin. 
2. Jason Kenney
3. Maxime Bernier
4. Michelle Rempel
5. Lisa Raitt
6. Tony Clement
7. Kevin O'Leary
8. Doug Ford
9. Kellie Leitch

For me, the three candidates I would consider are:

• Peter Mackay - he helped create the party, was a good minister, is smart, capable, charismatic, well-known, deep party roots
• Maxime Bernier - a bit of an outsider, but has a solid libertarian-conservative vision, is charismatic
• Michelle Rempel - well-liked, capable, charismatic, and becoming more and more well-known 

Some of the ideas I want to hear:

• Energy:  Energy East Pipeline needs to happen.  The East needs to depend less on foreign oil and more on Alberta/Sask.  The U.S. is doing it under Obama. Why aren't we?
• Economy:  Make Canada a friendly place to invest for business and individuals again, especially for Canadians within the country.
• Taxes:  Restore TFSA limit to $10k as it actually does help lower and middle class folks invest for the future.  Continue to reduce the income tax rates.
• Transportation:  HIGH-SPEED RAIL.  People said the trans-national railway in the late 19th century couldn't be built but it was, and it united the country coast to coast.  No reason we can't do it again and make travelling this great country affordable without flying over most parts of it.

That's all for now.  Who do you think of the folks I listed above would be the best choice as leader and prime minister?