Roman Baber asks Conservative members to give him second look, not just mark him second
Roman Baber is asking Conservative party members to give him a second look — not just think of him as their second choice.
The former Ontario legislator — best known before the race for being removed from Ontario Premier Doug Ford's caucus over opposing COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2021 — released a policy document Wednesday highlighting the promises he's made around themes including democracy and natural resources.
Baber, who has broadened his fight of COVID-19 health measures to vaccine mandates, points to pledges such as cancelling agricultural supply management and federal equalization payments to the provinces as "material differences" between himself and the two candidates he may find himself trailing on the ballot.
One being Pierre Poilievre, the party's longtime Ottawa-area MP and the contest's perceived front-runner, whose campaign has been centred around the very word freedom.
Another is Leslyn Lewis, a social Conservative MP from Ontario, who also speaks against COVID-19 health measures and in support of last winter's convoy protests after placing third in the party's 2020 leadership race.
"A lot of Conservative members appreciate that I took a principled position in defence of Canadians over the last couple of years when it was unpopular," Baber said in a recent interview.
"But they're not prepared to mark me as their No. 1, as of yet."
He's now embarking on what he calls an "educational campaign" with party members on how the ranked balloting system works, telling them they don't need to worry about splitting the vote.
"If you mark me (second) after a more popular candidate, then I will not get your (second) vote. That's (because) I'll likely fall off the ballot before a more popular candidate," he tweeted Tuesday.
He went on to ask them to "switch" and pick him first.
As for his political future, Baber said he will make his decision once the race is over.
"We're focused on a strong finish."
His efforts to cajole members into his court comes as voting is already underway and other candidates seek to do the same.
With the party having mailed most of the more than 670,000 ballots out to members, it began the process this week of ensuring the ones that have been sent back are valid — checking, for example, that members sent in a copy of their driver's licence.
The results will be revealed in Ottawa on Sept. 10.
New Canadians are among the potential supporters some candidates have been reaching out to, a segment of the population Conservative insiders believe the party must do more to attract after the contest.
Questions hang over what will happen to the thousands of new party members Patrick Brown claimed to have signed up before he was disqualified from the race. He ran a campaign focused on finding Conservatives from racialized and immigrant communities, saying after he was ousted that he felt ex-Quebec premier Jean Charest was best suited to defeat Poilievre.
Lewis has also appealed to Brown's supporters.
A Black immigrant from Jamaica, she recently emailed party members railing against what she described as the categorization of people under the label of the so-called ethnic vote.
She said it's a problem when people, including those inside the party, see voters as belonging to a single block.
"Patrick Brown could not deliver the 'ethnic vote.' He was free, as all of us leadership candidates are, to make an appeal to the Conservative values that they have. But they did not belong to him," she wrote.
"Can I deliver the so-called ethnic vote to our party in the next election? I have done so in the past, and I can do it again. But not because I fit some checkbox. Because I treat people like everyone else."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2022
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Boy abducted from California in 1951 at age 6 found alive on East Coast more than 70 years later
Luis Armando Albino was six years old in 1951 when he was abducted while playing at an Oakland, Calif., park. Now, more than seven decades later, Albino has been found thanks to help from an online ancestry test, old photos and newspaper clippings.
'We have a responsibility:' Trudeau urges global leaders to support pact for future
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling world leaders to either bury their heads in the sand or put differences aside for the sake of future generations.
An Edmonton man says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was injured by members of the Edmonton Police Service last year.
BREAKING
The brother of a 27-year-old man who was fatally shot in Scarborough over the weekend has been arrested and charged in connection with his death, say police.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, makes first public appearance after cancer treatment
Kate, the Princess of Wales, made her first public appearance Sunday since she announced she had completed chemotherapy and would return to some public duties.
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn have second child, a daughter named Mei
Comedian John Mulaney and actor Olivia Munn now have a second child, a daughter named Mei June Mulaney.
Air Canada union head says she'll resign if pilots reject deal
The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she'll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain.
GM workers at CAMI auto plant ratify collective agreement, Unifor says
Unifor says workers at General Motors' CAMI assembly plant and battery facility in southwestern Ontario have ratified a new collective agreement.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.