Former chair of Conservative leadership race says quick vote on leader possible

A senior Conservative instrumental in the party’s last leadership race says choosing a new leader at the upcoming convention in April is feasible, but would take a lot of work.

Dan Nowlan, who oversaw the 2017 leadership contest that ended in a photo-finish victory for Andrew Scheer, also says it’s disappointing that the party’s longtime executive director isn’t going to have a formal role to play in that process.

A new leadership race for the party informally started last week after Scheer announced his intention to resign. It was a move that wasn’t entirely unexpected, coming after months of both behind-the-scenes and very public pressure linked to his failure to win power in October.

But that all took a back seat to accusations that surfaced early last week that he’d used party funds to cover the costs of sending his kids to private school.

Caught up in the crossfire of that issue was the party’s executive director, Dustin Van Vugt, who has said he signed off on Scheer’s using the money in that way.

The overseers of the Conservative Fund, the party’s fundraising arm, apparently only learned of that decision last week and strenuously objected, leading to a fierce internal and ongoing fight.

Among the demands from the Fund are a line-by-line audit of Scheer’s expenses as leader that would include a deeper dive into contracts approved during his tenure, a source close to the Fund told The Canadian Press, on condition of anonymity so as to discuss internal Conservative party affairs.

The Canadian Press