Conservative shadow cabinet unveiled, MPs who questioned COVID left out
Posted Nov 9, 2021 7:58 am.
Last Updated Nov 9, 2021 12:58 pm.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has announced his shadow cabinet and has chosen to cut out a pair of former leadership contenders who have taken controversial stances about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marilyn Gladu and Leslyn Lewis, who have made comments about or promoted voices questioning the safety of vaccines or public health measures, have been left out.
NEW: Conservative Leader @erinotoole announces his party’s critic portfolios ahead of Parliament’s return November 22 #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/VJ4OsQykB6
— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) November 9, 2021
The official opposition shadow cabinet is tasked with holding cabinet ministers to account and an appointment to the group is the closest thing the opposition has to naming an inner circle.
RELATED: Erin O’Toole says COVID-19 vaccine comments by Tory MPs Gladu, Lewis are not helpful
Several other Conservatives have expressed similar views, but O’Toole says the party will address it internally and he expects his team to unite around the message that vaccines are safe and effective.
“We think to tackle hesitancy, you have to be straight, you have to take down the temperature. Our MPs have a role in that,” O’Toole said.
“Vaccines are safe and all of our MPs are talking about that responsibly. Where people are not, our caucus will be addressing that.”
Earlier this week, O’Toole said comments about COVID-19 vaccines by Gladu and Lewis are not helpful and are spreading uncertainty about immunization.
The Conservative leader has struggled for weeks to put a lid on questions about where he and his party stand on mandatory vaccinations. Some of his MPs are ardently against such policies, while others see them as less of a concern than other issues.
RELATED: Only fully vaccinated people to be allowed in House of Commons
O’Toole moved on Monday to distance himself from remarks by some of his caucus members, including those made by Gladu during an interview on CTV’s “Question Period.”
In the interview that aired Sunday, Gladu compared COVID-19 to polio when it spread during the early 20th century, but she claimed the novel coronavirus doesn’t pose the same “frequency of risk” in terms of deaths or disabilities.
“There’s a big difference between advocating for your constituents who may need reasonable accommodation,” said O’Toole.
“It’s very different to cause confusion with respect to the health and well-being of Canadians. Ms. Gladu’s interview did that yesterday and it’s not appropriate at a time we should be answering questions about vaccine hesitancy, not creating new questions.”
Moments after the shadow cabinet announcement, Gladu apologized and retracted misinformation she shared about COVID-19 and vaccines.
Gladu publicized late last week she belonged to a group of 15 to 30 Conservative MPs and senators planning to form a so-called mini-caucus within the larger Conservative cohort to discuss the negative impacts of vaccine mandates.
O’Toole’s Tories outliers in Canadian politics for keeping vaccination status secret
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is now apologizing and retracting comments she made that shared "misinformation about the severity of COVDI-19 and the safety and efficacy of vaccines."#cdnpoli https://t.co/QsCfkAVYh8
— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) November 9, 2021
Lewis has questioned the efficacy of vaccinating children.
Those who did make the cut for Conservative critic roles include familiar faces like Manitoba’s Candice Bergen as deputy leader, Ottawa’s Pierre Poilievre in Finance, and Toronto-area MP Michael Chong in Foreign Affairs. Calgary’s Michelle Rempel has been named critic of National Resources and B.C.’s Dan Albas has been assigned to Environment.
Parliament returns Nov. 22.
