Erin O'Toole

 From the CBC:

“Erin O'Toole wins Conservative leadership race, promises vision for more prosperous Canada”

Erin O'Toole has won the leadership for the Conservative Party after technical glitches caused significant delays in the results. On the third and final ballot, O'Toole took 57 per cent of the votes, compared to 43 per cent for second-place contender Peter MacKay. O'Toole claimed victory after taking support from Leslyn Lewis, who finished with a surprisingly strong performance but finished in third spot. Derek Sloan dropped off after the first ballot. In his acceptance speech, O'Toole promised to work to unite the party, champion Conservative values, and hold Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to account. "We must continue to point out Liberal failings and corruption, but we must also show Canadians our vision for a stronger, more prosperous and more united Canada," he said. "Canada can and must do better and Conservatives will work hard to earn the trust and confidence of Canadians in the next election." The results were delayed by several hours because the machine used to open ballot envelopes damaged several thousand voting cards. The technical glitch left the four candidates vying for the party's top job waiting in limbo throughout Sunday evening until the final result was announced shortly after 1 a.m. ET Monday. Former Conservative deputy leader and leadership campaign co-chair Lisa Raitt said the ballots, which were mailed in a sealed envelope inside another envelope, are being opened automatically. "What's been happening is the machine is ripping or cutting some of these ballots," she said. Up to 4,000 ballots that were damaged had to be either taped back together or manually remarked on a new ballot. Scrutineers from all camps view the ballot and agree on the result, so there is no risk of the integrity being compromised, Raitt said. Scrutineers spent all day Sunday tabulating the results. Nearly 175,000 ballots were cast in a mail-in system out of about 270,000 eligible members — the highest number of votes in the party's history. The envelopes were smaller than the last race, contributing to the tearing issue. The electric envelope opener is partially or totally ripping some ballots, requiring volunteers to tape the cards back before they were reviewed by scrutineers and fed into the counting machines. Kory Teneycke, who served as director of communications for former prime minister Stephen Harper, said the technical glitches could damage the brand of a party that prides itself on managerial competence. "It's an embarrassing lost opportunity to get a clear, clean message out and to profile whoever the next leader is going to be," he told the CBC's chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

Party in 'great shape': Scheer   Earlier Sunday evening, party members honoured outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in a video montage tribute.  In a farewell speech, Scheer urged party members to stand united, to reach out to new supporters and to challenge "leftist" figures. He took aim at big government, mainstream media "bias" and "establishment elites."   "In times like these, it is even more important for every single Conservative to stay united and do everything we can to work together to spread our message of hope," he said. "It doesn't matter what kind of Conservative you are. Our party needs all of you and we need you to go out and find more people who share our beliefs. Please stay involved. Be bold. Think. Challenge the mainstream media. Don't take the left-wing media narrative as fact." The challenge ahead is to find new ways to connect with people and attract new supporters, he said. "Millions of Canadians share our Conservative values, they just don't all know it yet," Scheer said.

^ I have to say I had never heard of O’Toole before this Conservative Leadership Race. I have since looked into him, his background and his political stance and think he is a much stronger and out-going person to lead the Conservatives and to face-off against Trudeau and that’s what Canada needs right now. ^

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-party-leadership-results-1.5695925