Conservative candidate Scott Aitchison offers alternative to populist promises, but faces uphill battle

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Scott Aitchison is a solid, plain-spoken man, the sort of man who drives a pickup truck, the sort of man who might have been mayor of a small town.

And both those things are true. The member of Parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka is the former mayor of Huntsville, Ont. And a pickup truck featured prominently in a teaser video that presaged his launch for the leadership of the Conservative Party. That’s right. Although you might not have heard of him, Mr. Aitchison would like to be Conservative leader and prime minister.

That is unlikely to happen. As of Tuesday, he had not yet raised all of the $300,000 that candidates must submit by April 29 to qualify for the leadership campaign, though he told me he is “1,000 per cent certain” he will make Friday’s deadline.

Mr. Aitchison’s challenges go beyond fundraising. In a Conservative campaign marked by outlandish claims and populist promises, the two-term MP and former real estate agent is, quite simply, much too sensible.

“I’m just going to continue presenting reasonable ideas that I think Canadians want to hear,” he said in an interview.

That would be a refreshing change.

Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre has generated large crowds and huge enthusiasm by promoting cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation, by accusing the Bank of Canada of stoking that inflation, and by siding with truckers and their supporters who occupied downtown Ottawa this year, protesting against vaccine mandates.

Haldimand-Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis is the leading social conservative in this year’s race. She believes that a proposed convention to improve the World Health Organization’s response to future pandemics means that “Canada would essentially be surrendering our national health sovereignty to the WHO.” She also worries that “a major part of their funds now come from private donors, like the Gates Foundation.”

When you believe global organizations and Bill Gates are conspiring to subvert your freedom, you are more than halfway to a very strange place.

By comparison, Mr. Aitchison embraces the kind of sound thinking that is fatal to federal Conservatives, these days. He wants to eliminate supply management, which props up dairy farmers through quotas and import restrictions.

Maxime Bernier’s promise to eliminate supply management probably cost him the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2017. Mr. Poilievre won’t touch the issue. But supply management drives up prices, hurts lower-income families and damages foreign trade. Mr. Aitchison is right to oppose it.

An Aitchison government would increase defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP and fix the procurement boondoggle, both of which are vital if Canada is to protect its borders and contribute meaningfully to collective security.

Both Mr. Aitchison and Mr. Poilievre would make federal funds to municipalities contingent on those municipalities increasing the supply of housing by loosening restrictions on development.

The federal government should not, in this writer’s opinion, be interfering with municipal governments, which are under provincial jurisdiction. But at least this approach might lower housing costs, unlike Liberal supports for first-time buyers that could, perversely, increase prices.

Not all of Mr. Aitchison’s policies make sense. Like other Conservative candidates, he opposes a carbon price, which remains the simplest and most market-friendly way to fight climate change. He also wants an end to all mask mandates, even though some jurisdictions still have them in place in some situations.

But on the whole, the Muskoka MP offers a solid, if stolid, alternative to some of the more exotic theories floating around inside the Conservative Party.

Mr. Atchison’s strategy assumes that supporters of Mr. Poilievre and of former Quebec premier Jean Charest will both make him their second choice, allowing Mr. Aitchison to come up the middle when the ranked-ballot results are announced Sept. 10.

But though appearances could be deceiving, Mr. Poilievre appears to be running away with this thing. If so, then Mr. Aitchison’s campaign becomes even more important.

As leader, Mr. Poilievre would do well to surround himself with solid, sensible, well-qualified MPs. The sort of person who has experience running a town, who worked in a real job, who searches for reasonable positions to take. The Conservatives could use more of that right now.

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