A Saskatoon member of Parliament (MP) believes he can form a coalition of cultural and fiscal conservatives that would unseat the Liberals in the next federal election if he’s chosen as the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
“I don’t think that fundamental coalition should change, now for some of the other candidates, they’re saying we should only concentration on the fiscal side,” Saskatoon-University MP Brad Trost said in an interview Tuesday.
“If you try to replace elements of the coalition with new elements by taking an opposing position, that will cause a problem, I am not trying to do that, some of the other candidates are.”
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In August, news broke that Trost intended to seek the party’s leadership next May. The 12-year MP was on vacation in Mongolia at the time, but has since returned and was in his constituency office for the first time Tuesday.
Trost said he decided to seek leadership after considering the candidates who are vying for the position.
“There’s politicians who are weathervanes and there’s politicians who are compasses, and looking at our leadership race, we have a mixture of both,” Trost said.
“The ones who are compasses, I respect them, how they’re pointed and where they’re going, but I want to point the country in a slightly different direction.”
Trost is known as an unapologetic social conservative who is vocal in his stances against issues like gay marriage and abortion. However, he said economic policy ideas that will roll out from his campaign in the coming weeks would unite the party.
“I have people who disagree with me on a wide range of issues, I still want to work with them, I still want to deliver,” Trost said.
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Trost added that he “definitely would be a different leader” than Stephen Harper, in part due to his experience as a backbencher and being one of the most likely Conservative MP’s to break rank with his party over the years.
Trost admitted that he initially hoped his bid would push right-wing issues into the spotlight; however; he has since decided that his goal is to be leader.
“I realized if I am going to be fair to my supporters, the only reason I can run is if I am running one hundred per cent,” Trost said.
“We’re not running to place fourth, we’re not running to place third, we’re not running to place second, we can win.”
However, University of Saskatchewan political scientist Charles Smith said he believed Trost was still mainly trying to push social issues into a leadership discussion that seemed to be heading in the other direction.
“I think Mr. Trost is on the fringe of his own party,” Smith said.
“I think if you look at Mr. Trost’s candidacy, that’s what it’s about, it’s about [highlighting] issues that the party doesn’t really want to talk about.”
There are currently eight people, including Trost, who have either registered or declared their intentions to seek the leadership position. By the time the party votes next year, that number will likely be much higher, as other prominent politicians are expected to eventually join the race.
Trost has not officially registered to seek the leadership position, but said he would sometime in the future. He said the decision to delay is partly because “some other candidates … are basically openly campaigning and they are not registered,” pointing specifically to former Nova Scotia MP Peter MacKay.
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