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Hardeman Says Party Should Concentrate on Next Election Not Calling a Leadership Review

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says he has a job to do, and that's not to call a leadership review. Two members of the PC caucus have openly supported some grassroots Tories who have called for a leadership review during a policy conference in London next month. Local MPP Ernie Hardeman says after the general election loss last year, they had a leadership review, Hudak got nearly an 80 percent approval rating which Hardeman says should take him through to the next election. "Having an internal debate about what we should or shouldn't do about leadership, I think we all should be pulling together to get ready for and to win the next general election and I think all of our times are better spent doing that." Hardeman says there were some members in the London riding that put forward a request to amend the constitution to allow another leadership review following the results of the recent byelections. "Obviously when you do that and you want to change the constitution that's a reasonably large task to do and I think inappropriate to do at a time like this. Like I say, we have had our leadership review and I don't think we should be working so hard to have another one, we should be working hard to win the next general election." Hardeman tells Heart FM he doesn't think a different leader would have made a difference in the byelection results. "I spent a considerable amount of time knocking on doors during the election and the issues were not about necessarily the party leadership, they were much more local candidate issues." Hardeman says people need to recognize that in the byelection, the Conservatives won a riding in downtown Toronto which they haven't done since 1999, and it's the first time since 1994 that they have won a byelection that was previously held by another party. Hardeman says he believes they were fairly successful though not quite as successful as they would have liked.

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