The MP of Foothills is not sure what his future is with the election of Erin O’Toole on Aug. 25 as Conservative Party leader, but two of his top priorities will remain — serving his constituents and helping the party win the next federal election.
Foothills MP John Barlow admitted his job as agricultural critic for the opposition Conservatives is in jeopardy.
“That is not up to me, that will be up to Erin and his leadership team as to who he puts in those roles,” said Barlow, who supported Peter MacKay for the leadership. “Realistically, it’s probably not likely. I would like to keep it, I enjoy that file. Myself and my team and the ag committee from other provinces have shown good results.
“But I am not naive. I didn’t support him (O’Toole) in the leadership and I suspect there will be changes.”
O’Toole, MP for Durham since 2012, won the mail-in vote on Aug. 24-25 in the third ballot, with 19,271 points (57 per cent). He finished ahead of MacKay, who had 14,528 points (47 per cent). Candidates Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan were eliminated after the second and first ballot, respectively.
Points were based on how candidates did in each of the 338 ridings.
O’Toole replaces Andrew Scheer as Conservative leader.
Barlow said he’s confident in O’Toole, a lawyer and former member of the Canadian military, and gives him his full support.
“I wasn’t supporting Erin for the leadership, but I would have been happy with either one,” Barlow said. “I think Erin embodies some of the same policies and vision that Peter had… What stood out for me is we had a record number of memberships sold, a record number of Canadians vote in the leadership.
“I think that is a good sign. People see us as the government in waiting.”
Barlow said a key factor was how strongly O’Toole did in Quebec, where he had 60.5 per cent of the points after the third ballot.
“What surprised me was how well he did in Quebec,” Barlow said. “He did well in Western Canada as well.”
O’Toole won all four of the western provinces.
“He had a vision that resonated across the country,” Barlow said. “His speech yesterday (Aug. 26) addressing western alienation and keeping the country united is going to be a focus. That is certainly critical for the MPs in Alberta and Saskatchewan specifically.”
O’Toole also addressed uniting the party during his acceptance speech on the early hours of Aug. 25.
Barlow said now is the time to focus on being the official opposition and keeping the Justin Trudeau led Liberal minority government to account.
“I am very worried about what the throne speech will be like in the fall,” Barlow said. “I think it will be full of tens of billions of dollars in more spending. The comments I heard from him (Trudeau) and (Finance Minister) Chrystia Freeland about decarbonizing our economy... It’s not going to be focused on a realistic economic recovery for Canada.”
He said when the budget is tabled later this year, the government may fall, and trigger an election for the spring.
For now, he will continue his top priority — serving the constituents of Foothills.
“No matter what happens, my focus is always here in the riding first,” Barlow said. “If I am not in shadow cabinet that gives me more of an opportunity to focus on things here at home.”
