A majority of Conservative MPs today voted to remove Erin O'Toole as party leader, paving the way for another leadership race only 18 months after the party finished the last one.
The result wasn't particularly close: 73 of the 118 MPs on hand the party's caucus chair, Scott Reid, did not cast a ballot voted to replace O'Toole with someone else.
O'Toole, a four-term Ontario MP who has fought only one federal election campaign as the party's leader, will be replaced by an interim leader later today after another caucus vote.
New Brunswick MP John Williamson, who was a senior staffer in former prime minister Stephen Harper's office, immediately put his name forward for that interim role, promising to ensure the party elects a permanent leader in a "fair and efficient contest."
O'Toole, who represents the riding of Durham in suburban Toronto, faced a barrage of criticism from his colleagues for shifting the party's positions on carbon taxation, balanced budgets and "assault-style" firearms during the election campaign.
Anti-O'Toole MPs were also frustrated that the Ontario Tory ran as a "true blue" Conservative in the party's leadership race only to shift the party to the centre when in the top job. In the end, enough MPs decided it was grounds for his dismissal.
O'Toole's warning that a vote against him and his more moderate vision of Canadian conservatism would put the party on the wrong path failed to rally enough MPs to his side.
In a statement after the vote, Matt Jeneroux, an Edmonton-area MP who backed the movement to fire O'Toole, said the party needs a leader who "clearly reflects our values."
"We must rebuild trust amongst Canadians and show them that we are strong and stable leaders who are rooted in our values while also understanding that we can evolve, learn and modernize our party to reflect all," he said. "This is an opportunity for the party."
Social conservative and anti-abortion activists celebrated O'Toole's decisive defeat. O'Toole's efforts to drag the party to the centre on social issues the party suppressed debate on abortion during the last Conservative policy convention, for example alienated some Conservative ground troops.
"O'Toole has time and again betrayed the party's socially conservative base with his support for abortion, LGBT ideology, oppressive lockdowns, and liberty-destroying passports for abortion-tainted vaccines," said Jeff Gunnarson, the president of the Campaign Life Coalition. "It's about time this fake conservative was given the boot."
Conservative MP Eric Duncan, an O'Toole ally and caucus secretary to the party, thanked the outgoing leader for his service while urging members to "unite" and "focus on defeating the Liberals in the next election."
"Leadership races can be a uniting process. We can be united. We need to get on the same page and we need to move in the same direction and I'm very confident there's a strong willingness to do that," he said.
This development will force the party brass to immediately begin organizing a leadership race on a very tight timeline. An election could be called at any time in this minority Parliament.
The Reform Act, the federal legislation that empowers Conservative MPs to remove their leader, does not specify how the next permanent leader will be elected, leaving that decision to the party itself.
The party's national council will meet as soon as possible to start planning for that race, a spokesperson for the party said. The first step for the council is to appoint a leadership election organizing committee to plan this contest.
These shitfucks are literally destroying themselves to own the Libs