Pierre Poilievre is skipping the third official federal Conservative leadership debate, which was announced Thursday by the party in response to a positive vote by members on whether to hold such an event. Leslyn Lewis, another candidate in the race to lead the Conservatives, is expressing reservations about the debate, which is scheduled for sometime next month, because she would rather spend time meeting with members. Asked about Mr. Poilievre’s refusal to attend, party spokesman Yaroslav Baran pointed to a section of the party’s leadership campaign rules that says failure to attend a party-sanctioned debate will result in an automatic $50,000 penalty. – or any amount deemed appropriate by the party’s leadership debate committee. Mr. Poilievre’s campaign made its position clear Thursday afternoon in a statement posted on Twitter, saying the Ottawa-area MP’s only goal is to ask new and existing members to fill out their ballots and send them. “Pierre will be on the road again, non-stop, to help make this happen,” Jenny Byrne, a senior adviser to the Poilievre campaign, said in a statement posted on Twitter. The new leader will be announced on September 10, ending a race that began when Erin O’Toole was kicked out of his caucus in February. In a statement, Ms Lewis said she has planned a packed schedule to maximize the number of Conservative members she can meet in person. “I’m not sure what value we place on participation through a hastily scheduled debate right now,” the Ontario MP said. He added that past debates can be viewed online along with several video speeches and presentations the candidates have made to convey their vision. Asked if Ms Lewis would attend, campaign manager Steve Outhouse said they were in discussions with the party about the matter. There have been two previous official debates organized by the party’s election organizing committee (LEOC). One was held on May 11 in Edmonton in English. A debate in French was held in Laval, north of Montreal, on May 25. Last week, a statement released to party members by LEOC chairman Ian Brodie asked them to vote on whether to hold a third debate aimed at younger Conservatives among the 675,000 members the party says it now has. Mr Brodie said the third debate would be held in a private studio without an audience, streamed live on the internet and allow the candidates to make their final arguments to members. On Thursday morning, the Conservative Party tweeted that 65 per cent of members who voted on whether to hold a third debate had backed the idea, and also noted that a total of 24,000 members had voted in the survey. There are five candidates in the race, including Ontario MP Scott Aitchison, former Quebec premier Jean Charest and Roman Baber, a former Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario legislature. Mr Charest, Mr Aitchison and Mr Baber had called for the third debate, as had Patrick Brown, who has been barred from the leadership race amid allegations of financial improprieties. Poilievre’s campaign statement Thursday slammed the May 11 Edmonton debate, decrying the “stupid rules, game-show format” and “pointless questions” by moderator and former broadcaster Tom Clark, who described as a “liberal media personality of the Laurentian elite”. He also criticizes Mr Charest for wanting another debate “to use Pierre’s popularity with members to develop an audience he cannot get on his own”. In response, Mr Charest’s campaign said in a statement that Mr Poilievre’s decision “is an act of disrespect and humiliation to the party leadership in which he simply says, ‘I will buy my way out of a debate.’ “ “Jean was always committed to being accountable to members. Our campaign fully supports the LEOC’s decision to proceed with this discussion.” For subscribers: Get exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to Political information.
