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    • MP Leslyn Lewis launches Conservative leadership bid for second time

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    Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis has formally announced that she will run to be the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, for a second time.

    Lewis tweeted the news on Tuesday, stating her campaign will focus on “hope, unity and compassion.â€

    The Ontario-based lawyer and now MP ran in the party’s 2020 leadership race, placing third behind Erin O’Toole and Peter MacKay. Her platform was notably socially conservative.

    Prospective candidates have until April 19 to declare their candidacy. As was the case in the 2020 leadership race, the entry fee stands at $200,000, in addition to a compliance deposit of $100,000.

    The deadline for applications is June 3, with the party slated to elect a new leader on Sept. 10.

    Longtime MP Pierre Poilievre is the only other formally declared candidate in the race, though former Quebec Premier Jean Charest is also expected to throw his name in the ring on Thursday in Calgary.

    “There is significant momentum building towards a launch on Thursday. Calgary will be the first stop on his tour. More to come in the next days,†reads an email from his press secretary.

    Other names being considered are MacKay, MP Michael Chong, and Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown.

    In mid-February, a source close to MacKay told CTVNews.ca that the former cabinet minister hadn’t yet made a decision and said there was “lots to consider†with family coming first.

    Chong, meanwhile, said he is taking time to reflect on how he can “best help†the party.

    MP Marilyn Gladu, who attempted a run in 2020, but failed to qualify as an authorized contestant, former interim leader Rona Ambrose, and political commentator and strategist Tasha Kheiriddin are all out.

    Former co-chair of the party's leadership organizing committee and deputy leader Lisa Raitt says Conservatives want to see “vision†in this race.

    “They want to see somebody who can sway the population and that’s what they’re going to be looking at,†she said, adding that the logistical challenges of the pandemic made the last contest challenging.

    “It was the beginning of the pandemic, everything had to be done online. It was short, it was chaotic…This one will have in-person debates, this one will have in-person speeches and meetings across the country.â€

    LEWIS’ POLITICAL CAREER

    Lewis made the transition from law to politics in 2015, running for the Scarborough – Rouge Park seat. She placed second behind Liberal candidate Gary Anandasangaree.

    Following the resignation of Andrew Scheer as Conservative leader, Lewis ran for the party’s top post.

    Notably, she dubbed herself as pro-life, said she would scrap the Liberal’s carbon tax, and pledged to implement “good common sense†fiscal policies. She also promised stricter penalties for politicians who break ethics law, and the upholding of individual freedom of speech.

    “Canadians will no longer be walking around on eggshells in fear of being punished for innocently saying the wrong thing in a conversation,†said Lewis in a 2020 campaign video.

    Despite losing the leadership, she won the Haldimand – Norfolk seat in the 2021 federal election, marking the first time Lewis had a voice in the House of Commons.

    Throughout the pandemic, she has come under fire for her skepticism on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for children.

    On her 2022 campaign website, Lewis says the past two years have seen the Liberal government “divide, discourage and refuse to listen to Canadians†and that Canada has moved away from the basic respect of human freedoms.

    As to whether Lewis will once again capture the social conservative vote as she did the last race, Raitt says it might prove more challenging given her competition.

    “What I have been seeing is some of the folks who you would put into that part of our party have come out to support Mr. Poilievre already,†she told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel’s Power Play.

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    • Lawyers representing the Ontario man accused of selling hundreds of suicide kits with deadly effect around the globe have filed to intervene in a case in Canada’s highest court, arguing there is no way he can be charged with murder under Canadian law.

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    Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.

    Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.

    Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.

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    From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.

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    • A man parked a minivan in front of Vancouver City Hall Sunday evening and set it ablaze, according to police.

    • A man stole a police car and drove it onto the field of an East Vancouver park Sunday morning, placing 'dozens of bystanders in harm’s way,' according to police.

    • All that was left of a downtown Langley restaurant Sunday was a pile of rubble behind a blue fence, after a massive fire tore through it the morning before.

    • Lawyers representing the Ontario man accused of selling hundreds of suicide kits with deadly effect around the globe have filed to intervene in a case in Canada’s highest court, arguing there is no way he can be charged with murder under Canadian law.

    • One person has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a crash in Etobicoke early Monday morning.

    • A man has died following a two-vehicle collision in North York on Sunday night.

    • Opponents to blanket rezoning in Calgary are inviting members of the public to learn more about the next steps in the fight against the controversial plan.

    • Lethbridge police are looking for a 32-year-old man they say escaped from a psychiatric ward at the Chinook Regional Hospital.

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    • A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.

    • The Ottawa Police Service says there were "no significant incidents to report," following the 55th Panda Game in Ottawa.

    • Alexandre Look, a 33-year-old Montreal native, was among the concertgoers who were murdered a year ago Monday at the Supernova music festival during a brutal assault on Israel carried out by Hamas militants. He is among at least eight people, either Canadian citizens or with ties to Canada, who died during the Oct. 7 attacks.

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    • The New Brunswick RCMP says a woman who went missing from Wards Creek over the weekend has been found safe.

    • Some Manitobans are cleaning up Sunday morning, after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province Saturday.

    • For the 52nd week, pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in Winnipeg, calling for peace in the Middle East amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

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    • As Saskatchewan's population grows, a number of new constituencies have been created to account for larger numbers in certain areas, including within Regina and Saskatoon.

    • Saturday was not an ideal fall day for the residents of southern Saskatchewan – as winds reaching highway speeds were reported.

    • According to police, officers responded to reports of a stabbing in the area of Victoria Street North and St. Leger Street around 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

    • The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall due to possible Listeria contamination for more than a dozen brands of beef jelly tongue products sold in Ontario.

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    • The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall due to possible Listeria contamination for more than a dozen brands of beef jelly tongue products sold in Ontario.

    • Emergency crews are on scene of a two-vehicle crash involving a dump truck in New Tecumseth.

    • Barrie residents are urged to take an online survey - or answer the phone when pollsters call - for an opinion on how tax dollars should be spent.

    • Fire crews are investigating a Saturday evening fire at a barn in Oro-Medonte.

    • Just before 7 a.m. Sunday, OPP responded to the scene where officers said a vehicle struck a pedestrian on County Road 18 near Britton Road in Essex.

    • Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.

    • NDP Leader David Eby promised Sunday to support police in British Columbia to keep illegal guns off the streets and protect communities, but accused B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad of planning to make the province less safe.

    • The calculus of predicting an election and identifying its key battlegrounds is complex enough in any race, but observers of the British Columbia poll this month are facing a pair of unknown quantities that make the math even more confounding.

    • Police on Vancouver Island have made an arrest in the case of a 78-year-old woman found dead in her home almost two years ago.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.

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    • A 33-year-old man was arrested Saturday for allegedly spraying bear mace at three individuals in northwestern Ontario.

    • A drug raid on a home on the Far North Attawapiskat First Nation last week resulted in two local residents being charged and more than $50,000 in suspected narcotics, including methamphetamine, being seized.

    N.L.

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