Tory leadership hopefuls square off in Vancouver, spar over environment, drugs
VANCOUVER — An unofficial Conservative leadership debate Sunday was a mostly cordial affair that only saw a few sharp exchanges, such as whether to scrap the Liberal government’s proposed carbon tax.
Michael Chong drew boos from a crowd of about 250 people for defending a revenue-neutral carbon tax as the cheapest and “most conservative” strategy to lower greenhouse gas emissions, warning about the political fallout to the Conservative party of not having a viable plan to tackle climate change.
“If we are going to win the next election we need to have a credible position to reduce emissions. If we do not have a credible plan to reduce emissions, we will lose,” he cautioned.
The debate was organized by a local riding association and hosted nine of the 14 people vying to lead the country’s official Opposition.