Federal Conservatives look at August 21 for leadership vote

OTTAWA-The Conservative Party is eyeing Aug. 21 as a possible date to select their next leader, the Star has learned.

The party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) suspended the race to replace Andrew Scheer indefinitely on March 26. At the time, the committee said the vote, originally scheduled for June 27, was made impossible by the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.

LEOC is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss restarting the leadership race and setting a new date for the vote. But two sources, who spoke on the condition they not be named, told the Star Wednesday that Aug. 21 is a possibility.

That would line up with the wishes of some Conservative MPs, who are anxious to have a new leader in place by the end of summer.

Four candidates are vying for the leadership - former cabinet ministers Erin O'Toole and Peter MacKay, Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis, and rookie MP Derek Sloan. But most observers view it as a contest between MacKay and O'Toole, with social conservatives Lewis and Sloan jockeying for third place.