Erin O’Toole dodges questions as Conservatives roll through the 905

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This article was published 19/09/2021 (1474 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MARKHAM–Erin O’Toole left a Markham campaign office through a side door and walked to a waiting SUV while reporters hurled questions his way Sunday.

The man who aspires to be Canada’s 24th prime minister has opted not to take any questions on the eve of the federal election, as he drives through the 905 in the dying days of the campaign.

It’s not that he doesn’t have questions to answer. Chief among them: What happens if he fails to deliver Ontario for the Conservatives, as he repeatedly promised he would?

Would he agree to tax the rich — a demand from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in exchange for the party’s support — if it meant a shot at governing a minority parliament?

And what happens to his leadership if he fails to secure a plurality of seats after the votes are counted this week?

“We will win,” O’Toole said simply to reporters after a photo-op in York Centre.

O’Toole’s message has shifted in recent days to a direct appeal to voters who are considering leaving the party to vote for the People’s Party. At campaign events and rallies in Ontario this week, O’Toole has attempted to drive home the message that he’s the only leader capable of defeating Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

“Justin Trudeau wants you to stay home on election day. He wants you to vote for smaller parties, he wants you to let him get away with it,” O’Toole told supporters at a rally in Kitchener, Ont., Saturday evening.

“For those who are tired of being lectured, tired of being let down time and time again, tired of being stuck with higher prices to pay for Justin Trudeau’s massive debt, you need to do the one thing that Justin Trudeau doesn’t want you to do, and that is to vote Conservative.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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O’Toole needs that message to resonate with voters in Ontario, a province likely to be decisive in Monday’s election.

According to The Signal, a poll tracker created by Vox Pop Labs for the Toronto Star, the Liberals are sitting at 38 per cent support in the province followed by the Conservatives at 33 per cent. That could result in between 64 and 76 seats for the Liberals, and between 37 and 46 seats for the Conservatives.

The People’s Party is polling at 6.6 per cent in the province, and is not projected to win a single seat in Ontario. But the concern in Conservative circles is that Maxime Bernier’s upstart party could siphon off enough support to dash O’Toole’s hopes.

The Conservative campaign spent Sunday hitting four Liberal-held ridings — Oakville, Markham Thornhill, York Centre, and Don Valley West — that they’d desperately like to flip to improve those numbers.

Alex Boutilier is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @alexboutilier