Sask. political expert not surprised by Sen. Batters' removal by O'Toole
A Saskatchewan political expert is not surprised by Sen. Denise Batters' removal from the Conservative Party caucus.
The Saskatchewan senator launched a petition calling for a review of Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole’s leadership before the scheduled confidence vote in 2023. Erin O'Toole kicked Batters out of the caucus Tuesday.
“One of the realities of Canadian party politics is leaders run the show and so when you challenge the ‘king’ as it were, you get booted,” Jim Farney said.
He said it’s common to see leaders kick members out over principal issues, but not necessarily in leadership challenges.
In an official statement posted on Batters’ Twitter on Wednesday, she said O’Toole’s move to expel her from the caucus is ironic.
“I started a petition, as any member of the Conservative Party may do under our party’s constitution,” she said. “If Mr. O’Toole is certain that the members of our party support the new direction in which he is taking our party, he should have nothing to fear by facing our members democratically in an expedited confidence vote.”
The Conservative MP for Regina-Wascana said in the spirit of national unity, he will not sign Batters’ petition.
“There is a process in place for reviewing leadership of a party, and for myself, I don’t see any reason to deviate from that process,” Michael Kram said.
But Farney thinks it’s fair to suspect that Batters is acting as the voice of other members inside the party.
“I think she’s the voice of a broader national splinter in the party,” Farney said. “This is a story that’s unfolding pretty quickly. It may turn out that there is some sort of Saskatchewan group that’s particularly unhappy with O’Toole or a prairie group.”
He said it will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the coming days.
“I think given the Reform Act and rules around who gets to stay in caucus, what we’re likely to see is a quiet drip, drip, drip inside the party with these occasional eruptions,” Farney said.
“The really interesting story and reporting is what’s the state of play inside? What are people talking about inside? We just haven’t seen much of that yet.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, O’Toole said the decision to remove Batters from the party was not easy. While heading into parliament he said all members need to be focused on the Tories’ key topics including monthly inflation rates, national unity and overcoming the pandemic.
“You don't want to make that decision, but really she made it for herself,” O’Toole said Wednesday, on his way into a caucus meeting focused on preparing for the return of Parliament.
“We have to have all members of the team focused at that, and it was a necessary decision to make for the well-being of our caucus, of our Parliament, and of the country,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.