By Stanley Ugagbe

Canada’s main opposition party, Conservative has elected Erin O’Toole to be its new leader.

The new leader will be the main contender to challenge Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau in the next election after defeating three contestants.

The 47-year-old who was a former minister defeated his main opponent, former defence minister Peter MacKay, 54, who had strong support in his home province of Nova Scotia but failed to capture the more socially conservative base in the western provinces.

The contest comes after the resignation of Andrew Scheer in December, following the party’s defeat in last year’s election.

In his recent remarks, O’Toole made a pitch to Canadians who are not a part of the party’s base, to welcome them into the Conservative tent.

He succinctly averred that “To the millions of Canadians that are still up that I’m meeting for the first time, good morning, I’m Erin O’Toole”.

“I believe that whether you are black, white, brown or from any race or creed, whether you are LGBT or straight, whether you are an indigenous Canadian or have joined the Canadian family three weeks ago or three generations ago, whether you are doing well or barely getting by. Whether you worship on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday or not at all, you are an important part of Canada and you have a home in the Conservative Party of Canada.”

The race also included Leslyn Lewis, 49, a Toronto-area lawyer and political newcomer, the first black woman to run for the centre-right political party. She enjoyed a strong showing and finished third.

The fourth candidate, Member of Parliament Derek Sloan, 35, ran a campaign seeking to rally the party’s more socially conservative membership.

The Nigerian Canadian News gathered that O’Toole is a former Royal Canadian Air Force officer and corporate lawyer who joined parliament in 2012 for the constituency of Durham in Ontario.

He joined the cabinet of then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper as minister for veterans’ affairs in 2015.

He ran for the leadership in 2017 as well, finishing third.

According to official reports, the next opportunity for Canada to head into an election will be at the end of September, when Trudeau seeks parliament’s support for his social and environmental spending plan to help Canada’s pandemic-battered economy recover.

Multiple reports have it that Trudeau’s government in currently embroiled in a conflict-of-interest controversy related to a student volunteer grant programme.

O’Toole is the first leader of the Conservatives not from Western Canada since the 2003 unite-the-right movement brought the fractured wings of the party back into one. His staff are largely also drawn from eastern provinces.