After several hours of delay due to ballot counting machine issues, the winner of Federal Conservative Party leadership race has been revealed.
Durham MP Erin O’Toole was finally chosen on the third ballot early this morning with 59 per cent of the vote, beating second place Peter Mackay.
It’s estimated about 175,000 ballots were sent in by mail.
O’Toole is a lawyer who spent 12 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a surveillance and rescue helicopter tactical navigator, working mainly on Canada’s East Coast.
He takes over the party, and the job of Official Opposition leader, a month before the minority Liberal government will deliver a throne speech laying out a post-pandemic recovery plan.
The vote for a new leader was supposed to take place in June, but was postponed due to the pandemic.