Canada’s Stephen Harper to resign as party leader

The party hasn’t had to elect a leader since 2003, when the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada selected Harper to take its helm.

It was about Harper and a man repudiated by Canadians who knew, better than him that he had come to them once too often.

“The instant response was, ‘Well who am I voting for then?”

“The feeling from Jenni as the campaign manager is that this was lost from the get go”, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. They also badly underestimated Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. However, what the party wasn’t prepared for was a collapse of NDP support that would see the Liberal tide rise and drown Conservative hopes across the country.

Instead, the Conservative Party seemed to content itself with the messaging that the election was really about the economy, and that no other party could possibly handle economic matters as they could.

Byrne was yanked off Harper’s plane and dispatched back to headquarters.

That forced them to “secure the core”, confided another insider. “We should have been talking about pocketbook issues not jihadists”, complained the Conservative operative.

In addition, while they mocked his “barbaric cultural practices” bill, the only substantive aspect of it that they objected to in the Commons was the name. Calls for Senate reform, which Harper once championed, grew louder as the upper chamber was engulfed in a spending scandal sparked by Harper appointees. If the party moves more quickly, it is harder for the trio to justify jumping back in after bolting before the campaign.

But the last-ditch Ford rally Saturday got the go-ahead – Harper even posed for photographs, widely circulated on social media, with Ford and his brother, Doug Ford, who was the runner-up to Toronto Mayor John Tory in last October’s municipal election. A few point to failings in the nuts-and-bolts organization of the campaign, while others believe the problems centered on the leader himself and his choice of message – factors no local candidate could control.

Third, the Conservatives did not foresee the ability of Justin Trudeau’s senior team – Katie Telford and Gerry Butts – to run a “near ideal campaign” that effectively countered the main Conservative message.

On Monday night, it all unfolded as the Conservatives’ campaign feared it would.

As results come in from eastern Canada, Guy Giorno, National Campaign Chair of the Conservative chair told 660 NEWS that this has been one of the closest races in a generation.

“We have to take collective responsibility for that”.

It wasn’t clear why Harper declined to speak about his intention to step down in his remarks. They must be small-“c” conservatives.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper makes a campaign stop in Ottawa on Sunday, August 9, 2015.

In the final analysis, I want to suggest that there are at least two positive things to emerge from this election. You did nothing wrong. I’m not taking French lessons. Political commentator and Chronicle Herald columnist Dan Leger said the Tories had it coming since day one. With Mr. Trudeau’s promise to do politics differently, to be less divisive and autocratic than his predecessor, I fervently hope that this is a signal to all Canadians that politics matters, and that a government’s success is defined by its ability to be inclusive and to engage with citizens, all citizens, and not just corporate stakeholders.

“Unfortunately, people forgot that going into this election”.

The long campaign took a toll at times. For a more detailed look at his anti-Harper sentiments, check out the singer’s prolific Twitter profile. Two of the party’s most prominent legislators, outgoing cabinet ministers Jason Kenney and Michelle Rempel, deflected questions on Monday about whether they would seek the top job. Now he loves it, and the idea of building a new property there is one of his next long-term projects.

Laureen, his wife, long ago talked him into buying a second property in Alberta in addition to their Calgary home.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess.