Erin O'Toole has support of millennial party members, says 1st-time Conservative MP

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The results were late arriving, but among Conservative MPs who backed Erin O'Toole in the party leadership race, there is early optimism.

The Ontario MP and former cabinet minister, who began the year as an underdog candidate, trounced front-runner Peter MacKay for the victory overnight Sunday.

Raquel Dancho, a first-time Conservative MP for the Winnipeg riding Kildonan-St. Paul, said that's in no small part because he ran the campaign that appealed most to millennial party members.

Dancho spoke to As It Happens guest host Helen Mann about a new generation of Conservatives and the future of the party. Here is part of their conversation.

How is Erin O'Toole going to help your party win the next federal election?

I think just the way that he has united our party and got the most support across the country and really in many of our jurisdictions that are very critical to winning an election; I think he's had the most uniting, consensus-building, moderate message, but also brought together parts of our party that absolutely need to be represented and respected.

So if he could thread that fine needle for the Conservative Party, I'm very confident that he could do the same on the national level with all Canadians.

He is well-known, of course, within the party, but perhaps not as well around the country to those who aren't direct supporters. What does it say that he felt he had to introduce himself this morning?

I think Canadians will get to know him very quickly. His acceptance speech early this morning was very well-received across the country on multiple media outlets. It had an exciting message. And he was also very firm in wanting to reach out and broaden the Conservative Party base, which I think is much needed and very exciting.

Quite frankly, I think people are looking for a legitimate alternative to [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau and his leadership style and what he stands for. I think they're looking for something new. And I think Erin is that new guy, and that they will be able to see what I've seen of him — his incredible collaboration, his leadership, his ability to inspire. I'm confident Canadians will see that and will think about voting Conservative in the next election very strongly. 

You've said that Mr. O'Toole had a moderate message and that he will unite the party. But during the campaign, he promised to "take back Canada," to defund the CBC, defend Canada's history and institution from attacks [by] the left, and defend the rule of law. That's a campaign message that would tend to play well with the Conservative base. How do you think it will play well more broadly during an election campaign? 

What I'm hearing across the country and across my own riding — and it's not just Conservative; there's Liberal, there's NDP, there's strong Green support — is that they are frustrated with Justin Trudeau. They want to see a legitimate alternative and I think, for the sake of our democracy, it's important that the Conservatives are strong and part of our contemporary dialogue.

I see these issues that Erin is discussing, and quite frankly, he does not shy away from a difficult conversation, but is able to talk about it, I believe, in a very respectful way that can really open people's minds to different policy alternatives. 

So what does "take back Canada" mean, though?

I think what we're seeing across the country is a lot of unrest. I think you'll remember before the pandemic hit there was a lot of unrest with blockades, people unable to work

We're seeing a threat from China that really seems to be going unmet.

Canadians want to feel proud that their country is strong, and can stand up for the rule of law and respect their democratic institutions, despite international players. I think Erin is speaking to that very much.

Some pundits and observers saw that as dog whistle to much more right-wing elements, to those who oppose immigration. 

I wouldn't agree. I've had those conversations with Erin about immigration. He recognizes it's incredibly important.

I recognize, and all Conservative MPs actually are very happy with the immigration system prior to Justin Trudeau's disrespect of it. We want to see secure borders and a strong immigration system well-respected across the world with adequate support for newcomers and refugees, and that's really not what we're seeing, in my opinion, from the Trudeau government. 

You said you think he'll reach out to millennials and broaden the base of support. So what do you think Mr. O'Toole offers to young people that the prime minister doesn't?

When I was debating who I was going to endorse, if anyone, I felt very much that Erin had a very useful and contemporary approach to doing politics essentially differently than others have done it before.

He moved online and did a fantastic social media campaign with a lot of really good quality video content. And that, as we know, is the future. Erin set the standard and rewrote the book on how to do that on social media as a political leader. And I think that will really attract the millennial vote.

That's … one of the reasons he got more millennial Conservative MP support than any other leadership candidate. He's really nailing it with his online presence, and I know that's going to continue.

The medium is one thing. The other is the message, of course. We're dealing with a time of great precariousness for young people. How would your party's message about eliminating spending resonate with young people who have been dealing with so many job losses during COVID-19?

We would have been in a better position to afford this pandemic had Justin Trudeau not spent $100 billion worth of deficits in the first four years of his mandate.

Conservatives believe in being fiscally responsible in the good times so that we're able to afford the bad times.

I've been hearing this message that he should have been better prepared, that he should have shown more economic responsibility prior. But the reality is you've got these challenges, these huge economic and health challenges of COVID-19. So what would your party's alternative be to keep people and businesses afloat at this time during the pandemic?

[Erin O'Toole's] looking to unleash the potential of Canada to develop our natural resources, to create jobs and really kickstart our economy again. And that's exactly the message I believe young people want to hear with an optimism for the future.

We're going to bring back jobs; we're going to create new opportunities for people. We're going to modernize; we're going to develop our natural resources.

These things take time. It will also take time to climb out of this economic disaster of a hole we're in right now. And I think Conservatives understand that we need to support Canadians at this time. 

You talk of natural resources development, but most polling tells us that younger voters are deeply concerned about climate change, and in fact, it may be the most important issue to them. Mr. O'Toole has said he wants to scrap the carbon tax. He briefly did say he backed ending fossil fuel subsidies, but the day after that showed up in his platform, he backed off on it. So what is the plan to address climate change? 

I think what Erin O'Toole's very extensive platform has shown that he is open. Nothing is off the table. He is open to discussing anything that will move this country forward.

And you're right. I think young people are concerned about climate change. In fact, everyone should be concerned about the environment and they should be equally concerned about the economic outlook of our country.

Is your party gearing up for a fall election? 

I think Erin is saying he's battle ready. He has a seat in the House of Commons. We're ready to go whenever the call is made.

Written by Brandie Weikle. Produced by Jeanne Armstrong. Q&A edited for length and clarity.