Erin O'Toole

During the 2020 leadership contest, O'Toole's team accused Peter MacKay's campaign of unlawfully obtaining Zoom recordings, and O'Toole publicly named organiser Jamie Lall. The RCMP subsequently charged two other people, not Lall. Lall sued O'Toole and several members of his team for $2 million, alleging defamation, threats and intimidation, among other matters.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Global News reported that the Leader of the Opposition's office had awarded nearly $240,000 in taxpayer-funded contracts to people connected with the Conservative Party, while Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Outhouse continued private consulting work connected with nominations.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

O'Toole unveiled a climate plan including a consumer carbon price of $20 per tonne and personal carbon savings accounts, although Conservatives had long campaigned against the Liberals' carbon pricing.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Directly implicated

During the leadership contest, O'Toole had pledged to protect healthcare professionals' freedom of conscience when refusing to refer patients for services such as abortion or medical assistance in dying. During the 2021 federal campaign, he emphasised guaranteed access to care, which some of his socially conservative supporters perceived as a retreat.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Conservative platform promised to repeal the Liberal ban affecting approximately 1,500 firearm models. Under pressure during the campaign, O'Toole stated that existing bans would remain in place during a review, and the party added a footnote to its platform.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Directly implicated

O'Toole opposed a general vaccination mandate for his candidates and proposed an alternative combining vaccination or daily rapid testing. After the election, the Conservatives also refused to publish the exact number of vaccinated MPs, unlike the other major parties.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Sources indicated that the sophisticated virtual studio used by O'Toole during the 2021 campaign had cost approximately one million dollars in Conservative Party funds, prompting internal criticism of strategy and spending after the defeat.

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Erin O'Toole's campaign was criticised after it emerged that a Canadian service provider had used a call centre in the United States for some calls during his Conservative Party leadership campaign.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

O'Toole provoked a strong reaction after telling students that the residential school system had been created to provide education, while criticising what he described as an excessively negative interpretation of Canadian history.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated