Meet the five candidates vying to be the next Conservative leader

Conservative Party members will be electing their new leader in September. While six candidates had originally secured their place in the race after meeting all of the party’s eligibility requirements, on July 5 the leadership organizing committee announced Patrick Brown had been disqualified. Chair Ian Brodie announced the move, stating that the Brown campaign appears to have violated financing rules. Brown’s campaign is disputing the claims, accusing the party of undergoing a “fishing expedition.”

That leaves five candidates still currently in the running. Here’s a snapshot of who each contender is, their political histories, and what kind of campaign they’re running.

For more on where each stands on key issues, read our primer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCOTT AITCHISON

Ontario MP Scott Aitchison is seen in an undated handout photo. The Conservative Party of Canada is now up to six contenders who are officially in the running for Erin O'Toole's former job. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Scott Aitchison

Scott Aitchison, while a relatively new face on the federal scene, has decades of experience in public office. The 49-year-old has represented the Ontario riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka since 2019. Between 2014 and 2019, Aitchison was the mayor of Huntsville, Ont. where he grew up. Raised in the Jehovah’s Witness faith, Aitchison left home at age 15 to seek “a different path,” and was taken in by neighbours.

He was first elected at 21 to the Huntsville town council and then after spending time in the private sector — including working in sales with Coldwell Banker Thompson Real Estate and Fowler Construction Company — Aitchison returned to municipal politics as in 2010. Since entering the Conservative leadership race in March, he’s centred his campaign on the idea that “there is nothing wrong about Canada that cannot be fixed with everything that is right about it.”

ROMAN BABER

Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Roman Baber talks to CTV News Channel's Power Play host Evan Solomon in an interview that aired Monday, March 14, 2022.

Roman Baber is lesser known within the federal political scene but has been a member of Ontario’s provincial Parliament as the representative for York Centre since 2018. He was kicked out of Premier Doug Ford’s caucus in early January 2021, after penning a two-page letter stating pandemic lockdowns were “deadlier than COVID.” On top of booting him from the Progressive Conservative party, Ford said he would not be permitted to seek re-election under the party banner. Baber’s campaign website notes, since then, he’s been a “staunch advocate in favour of balanced covid response,” specifically as it relates to lockdown measures.

Barber was born and raised in the Soviet Union, moved to Israel at the age of nine, and immigrated to Canada at age 15. He obtained a law degree from the University of Western Ontario and practised civil and commercial litigation until entering provincial politics. He says he is running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada because he will not “sit back while Canadians are losing faith in Canada’s democracy and Canadian opportunity.” Baber resides in Toronto with his partner Nancy Marchese.

JEAN CHAREST

Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest formally launches his campaign for the Conservative leadership campaign at an event in Calgary, Alberta on Thursday, March 10, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley

Jean Charest first entered into the federal political ring during the 1984 election. The then-28-year-old lawyer won the Sherbrooke riding seat under the Progressive Conservative (PC) banner. He went on to serve as the Minister of State for Youth, Minister of Environment, Minister of Industry, and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. He was subsequently named interim PC leader and then permanent leader in 1995. Charest left federal politics three years later to lead the Quebec Liberal Party to victory in three consecutive elections starting in 2003.

After losing the 2012 election to the Parti Québécois under then-leader Pauline Marois, Charest exited politics and became a consultant at McCarthy Tétrault. He has drawn criticism from his fellow leadership rivals for his past work advising Huawei in Canada’s 5G rollout. Charest is viewed as a more moderate candidate, advocating for strong child care and climate change policies. He is running on the tagline “built to win” touting his experience “united and governing” a diverse Canada. The 63-year-old father of three, and grandfather of two, lives in Montreal with his partner Michèle Dionne.

LESLYN LEWIS

FILE - Conservative member of Parliament Leslyn Lewis rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Leslyn Lewis leapt on to the federal Conservative scene during the 2020 Conservative leadership race, in which she came in third and made history as the first ever Black woman to be in the running to lead the Conservative party. The 51-year old mother of two lives in Dunnville, Ont. with her family. Lewis was elected as the MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of Haldimand-Norfolk in the 2021 federal election. In 2015, she ran unsuccessfully, after being put into a race at the last moment when the previous candidate was dropped after a video surfaced of him urinating in a cup while working in someone's home.

Prior to politics, Lewis had a career on Bay Street in Toronto, and ran a business while completing her PhD in international law and teaching law at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she’s also received a Juris Doctorate and PhD in law. She also has a master’s degree in environmental studies from the Schulich School of Business. Her campaign is focused on the idea that “Canada is in desperate need of hope, unity, and compassion.”

PIERRE POILIEVRE

Federal Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre speaks at an anti-carbon tax rally in Ottawa on Thursday, March 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle

Pierre Poilievre has been the MP for an Ottawa-area riding since 2004. The 42-year-old long-time politician is married to his wife Anaida and together they have two children Valentina and Cruz. They currently live in the Eastern Ontario village of Greely. Poilievre, who was adopted by schoolteachers at a young age, grew up in Calgary and graduated from the University of Calgary with a degree in International Relations. He’s been connected to conservative politics from a young age, before entering federal politics nearly two decades ago.

Once Stephen Harper’s Conservative government came to power in 2006, Poilievre held a series of parliamentary secretary and junior minister roles. He then became a key critic of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, from his seat in the Official Opposition benches. One of the first candidates out of the gate, Poilievre has been attracting large crowds across the country with his affordability-focused and populist message of ‘taking back control’ from ‘gatekeepers.’ He had contemplated running in the party’s last leadership race, but ended up not throwing his hat into the ring citing family considerations. This time, he’s framing his race as a run for prime minister, one that would champion “personal freedom.”