Erin O'Toole's decision to issue a 595-word statement on Sunday about his political beliefs suggests he's at least a little worried about his public image.

And he might have good reasons to worry. But the question of what kind of conservative Erin O'Toole wants to be is still difficult to answer.

"If the Liberals want to label me as 'far right,' they are welcome to try," O'Toole said in a statement sent to reporters Sunday morning. "Canadians are smart and they will see this as an attempt to mislead people and import some of the fear and division we have witnessed in the United States."

The "extreme right" allegation was contained in a fundraising email the Liberal Party sent to its supporters last week. The message was part of a week-long effort by Liberals to link O'Toole's party with the Trumpian style of politics. The Conservative Party had, for example, previously accused the Liberals of "rigging" the last election. O'Toole, the Liberals noted, campaigned for the party leadership on a pledge to "take back Canada."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/erin-otoole-conservative-party-donald-trump-1.5878211


Federal Conservatives rule out working with right-wing Rebel News

The federal Conservatives decided to no longer engage with Rebel News, hours after an e-mailed interview exchange between Leader Erin O’Toole’s staff and the far-right outlet was published.

Mr. O’Toole’s office participated in an interview with Rebel News on Mr. O’Toole’s behalf. After it was published on Monday, Mr. O’Toole’s office said it would no longer respond to the controversial group and the Leader would not do interviews with them either.

The new policy revives one held by former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and is in-step with other major political parties. In the summer of 2017, Mr. Scheer said he would not do any more interviews with the Rebel until it changed its editorial direction. The tipping point was the Rebel’s sympathetic coverage of racist white-nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Va.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-conservatives-rule-out-working-with-right-wing-rebel-news/


MP Derek Sloan booted from Conservative caucus for ‘destructive behaviour’

Controversial MP Derek Sloan was kicked out of the Conservative caucus Wednesday, a move party leader Erin O'Toole said was due to a "pattern of destructive behaviour" that had become a distraction.

O'Toole's acknowledgment that Sloan's dismissal was not solely over a donation he'd taken from a white nationalist came after hours of heated debate within caucus that saw MPs castigate both Sloan for his record and O'Toole for how he'd handled the issue.

Sloan said he will now sit as an Independent and will continue to fight for conservatives voices.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/20/news/mp-derek-sloan-ejected-conservative-caucus-destructive-behaviour


Joe Biden’s ‘harmony’ is curiously divisive

It is a truism that while it takes much time and patience to build up a civilization, those achievements can all be undone in a moment.

The administration of Joe Biden seems bent on testing that proposition. On his first day in office, ‘C’mon Man’ Biden issued a spate of executive orders — 17 in all, if you are counting — aimed at undoing the legacy of President Trump. It was all ‘hello Paris Climate Accords, goodbye policing the borders.’

Two executive orders in particular caught my attention, one shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, the other shutting down the 1776 Commission and removing its report, issued just two days before America’s first armed-camp inauguration, from the White House website.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2021/01/joe-bidens-harmony-is-curiously-divisive/