Kenney pushed out for not being 'extreme enough' troubling trend: Boissonnault
A Liberal cabinet minister from Alberta says Jason Kenney is the latest conservative leader to be pushed out by party supporters for not being "extreme enough."
Federal Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, an Edmonton MP, was responding to Kenney's decision to resign as premier and leader of the United Conservative Party after narrowly winning a leadership review with just over 51 per cent of the votes.
Boissonnault says he disagreed with Kenney on many topics, but that it appears the former federal Conservative cabinet minister was pushed out for not being extreme enough on measures like COVID-19 restrictions.
He says a similar fate befell former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole and Ed Fast, who stepped down as the party's finance critic Wednesday after publicly criticizing leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre's proposal to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada.
Fast is also co-chairing the leadership campaign Jean Charest, and says he has no regrets about his remarks.
He says he had felt pressured to keep quiet about Poilievre's attacks against the central bank and that his resignation came from a mutual decision with interim leader Candice Bergen that his position as finance critic had become "untenable."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.