In a move pollster calls ‘a direct challenge’ to O’Toole’s leadership, 15 to 30 Tory MPs and Senators starting new caucus to speak up for anti-vaxxers losing jobs

By Abbas Rana      November 4, 2021

But three-term Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu says the ‘Civil Liberties Caucus’ is not aimed to undermine Erin O’Toole’s leadership, only to represent constituents’ concerns.

Three-term Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu and a group of 15 to 30 Conservative MPs and Senators are starting a caucus called the ‘Civil Liberties Caucus’ to advocate for ‘reasonable accommodation’ for anti-vaxxers who are losing their jobs. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Erin O’Toole’s stance on COVID-19 vaccinations hurt the Conservative Party’s recent election campaign and remains a divisive internal issue as a group of 15 to 30 Conservative MPs and Senators is set to start a new intra-party caucus on Nov. 8 called the “Civil Liberties Caucus” that Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu says will speak up for anti-vaxxers who are losing their jobs for refusing to get the shot.

The idea to start this caucus came at a social gathering of Parliamentarians early last month in Ottawa, after the first post-election caucus meeting, Ms. Gladu (Sarnia-Lambton, Ont.) told The Hill Times. At the time, a number of caucus members expressed concerns about some of their constituents losing their jobs in a variety of professions for refusing to get vaccinated. With House committees seeming unlikely to meet until February, the three-term MP said there’s no parliamentary forum in the interim where MPs can have a serious discussion on this issue. Ms. Gladu said this is the reason “like-minded” MPs and Senators decided to start this caucus.

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Since that meeting, Ms. Gladu said some Conservatives MPs and Senators have had four Zoom meetings to discuss the path forward to highlight this issue and what they can do to encourage employers to find a “reasonable accommodation” for these workers. In her own Ontario riding, she said, 18 nurses lost their jobs early this  week for refusing to get vaccinated. Ms. Gladu suggested rather than firing people from their jobs, employers can use rapid tests to determine whether staff are COVID-19 positive, or transfer them to positions that do not involve contact with patients. On Nov. 8, in the evening, she said some Conservative MPs and Senators are meeting online to finalize the nuts and bolts of how they want to run this caucus.

Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole is facing an uphill internal battle over the divisive issue of vaccinations. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Ms. Gladu said the House committee approach is under consideration as a model to follow, whereby the caucus could invite experts to guide members about possible solutions. The caucus is considering launching a Facebook page to provide updates to their constituents about the caucus’ work and may invite them to participate, she said. She said the group has not formally informed Mr. O’Toole or the opposition leader’s office about this caucus as it’s an informal group and it’s not unusual for Parliamentarians to start caucuses on issues of interest. She also said that it’s highly unlikely that the leadership would try to shut it down as there are other caucuses on “controversial” issues, such as the pro-life caucus that has been in existence for years.

Canadians’ rights ‘are being encroached’ on: Gladu

Ms. Gladu denied the “Civil Liberties Caucus” is aimed to undermine or challenge Mr. O’Toole’s leadership and said she hoped other federal parties don’t exploit this issue as the caucus members are only trying to help their constituents. The group chose “civil liberties” as a name, she explained, because they believe Canadians who don’t want to be vaccinated are not getting fair treatment, and losing their jobs is a violation of their rights.

“I would really encourage every MP to listen to constituents in their ridings, because across the country, people are concerned about these things,” said Ms. Gladu, who declined to share the names of other caucus members until next week.

“Our job as MPs is to raise the issues that our constituents are bringing, and ask the important questions and get the experts in on it, and set a path to take action to make sure that people’s rights and freedoms are protected. And that’s why we’re sort of looking at the name of civil liberties. I mean, it’s basically these are the areas where we feel people’s [rights] are being encroached.”

However, she conceded that being a member of this group could also affect an MPs’ prospects of promotion in the party’s shadow cabinet, noting it’s a possibility that every member has to consider before joining the group. Ms. Gladu said that the membership of this caucus could grow beyond 30.

“That is possible, and people will have to choose what their priorities are,” said Ms. Gladu, adding that the only reason this caucus started is to help out constituents. “No, I don’t think that this is very controversial. Honestly, these are issues that are being raised by our constituents, and we were put here to basically represent their needs and make sure that those issues are raising in government, and that’s what we’re doing.”

According to the recently announced new rules of the House Board of Internal Economy, anyone who is not vaccinated cannot enter parliamentary buildings or the Chamber. The Liberal, NDP. and Bloc Québécois have publicly announced that their caucus members are fully vaccinated. But, on the Conservative side, there are some MPs who are not vaccinated. The number however is unknown. According to a survey by CBC of all Conservative MPs, 81 said they are fully vaccinated, three declined to share their vaccination status and 35 did not respond.

The Conservative Party’s official position is that it will follow the House rules, but plan to challenge the edict as a point of privilege in the House on the grounds that MPs should be making these rules, not the nine-member all-party Board of Internal Economy.

Some Conservative caucus sources told The Hill Times this week that these unvaccinated MPs will try to enter the building and it will become an issue that will yet again highlight the party’s internal divisions on the topic. And if that happens, that could result in caucus expulsions.

“I’ll tell you this: Nov. 22, can be a very interesting day,” said one Conservative MP who spoke to The Hill Times on not for attribution basis to offer their candid opinion. “Because I believe there are Conservative Members of Parliament who are unvaccinated who are going to try and get into the Parliament buildings anyways. So, they’re not going to follow the rules, despite what we’ve decided as a caucus. And what happens after that? I think they’re going to be kicked out of caucus.”

Election performance review end date up in the air

After this, Conservative sources said the next date to watch for is former Conservative MP James Cumming review report of the party’s election performance. At the first caucus meeting after the election, all caucus members were told that Mr. Cumming, who lost his seat in the Sept. 20 election, will conduct a comprehensive review of the last election and present his report to the leader by Dec. 31 and the leader will share this report with the caucus.

Former Alberta Conservative MP James Cumming is conducting a comprehensive review of the party’s election performance. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Mr. Cumming told The Hill Times that he is trying to complete his report as soon as he can. But, considering that the holiday season is starting next month, he was not sure if he would be able to complete the report by Dec. 31. Mr. Cumming declined to say when he would submit his report. For his review, Mr. Cumming said that so far he has talked to about 50 people, including candidates, MPs, campaign managers, staff who were directly involved in the campaign and some who were not. These conversations involve both in-person and phone conversations. He said that he has one staffer who is helping him with co-ordination and documentation of these meetings. Mr. Cumming said that he might be reimbursed for his expenses but said that it’s not decided whether he would get paid for his time spent on this report.

“I haven’t picked an end date yet,” said Mr. Cumming. “But I would tell you that again, my drive is to make sure that it’s comprehensive and that it’s based upon I’ve received enough information, be able to prepare a good report?”

New group makes O’Toole ‘look weak,’ says pollster

The vaccination issue was one of the key reasons the Conservatives failed to unseat the Liberal government in the last election, according to Greg Lyle, president of Innovative Research. Even now, the party is divided, and he said a new caucus speaking up for Canadians who don’t want to get vaccinated will be seen as a challenge to Mr. O’Toole’s leadership. He said that a clear majority of Canadians are in support of vaccination and Conservative Party is divided, so it portrays Mr. O’Toole as a weak leader. It appears Mr. O’Toole is trying to downplay the issue, he said, while some of the caucus members are highlighting it, making it difficult for the party to win next time.

“It’s pretty much a direct leadership challenge to Erin O’Toole,” said Mr. Lyle, a prominent pollster. “Which makes him look weak, which doesn’t help him in his competition if he stays on as leader. And No. 2, it’s offside with the vast majority of Canadians. … Given that O’Toole said he is going to respect the ruling, it’s a direct attack on his leadership, there’s just no other way to look at it.”

Conservative sources said that there are a lot of conversations happening within the caucus as to the possibility of holding a caucus review of Mr. O’Toole. At this time, they said, it appears a third of the caucus is on the leader’s side, a third is against the leader, and a third is in wait and see mode. They said that one reason some caucus members are undecided is because they don’t seen a prominent person willing to run for the party leadership who could succeed Mr. O’Toole and win the next election. But others say, right now, the leader’s position is not open, and no one knows who the potential candidates are. Once the position opens up, they said, there will be candidates who can win the next election for the party.

“The ballot question cannot be who’s in the wings,” said a senior Conservative. “The ballot question has to be, can O’Toole win or not? That’s got to be the ballot question. If that seat [leader’s position] becomes available, then there’ll be plenty of people stepping forward.”

The Hill Times

CLARIFICATION: This story was updated on Nov. 4 to clarify that the quote in the original headline calling the new intra-party caucus “a direct challenge” to Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s leadership was from pollster Greg Lyle, not a member of the new caucus. As noted in the piece, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu has said it is not meant as a challenge to Mr. O’Toole’s leadership. The Hill Times apologizes for any confusion.