OTTAWA -- The battle to lead the new Conservative Party of Canada is shaping up to be a three-way contest between a stolid right-wing ideologue, a plucky Ontario Tory and the heiress to a billion-dollar business empire. The field narrowed yesterday as Canadian Alliance MP Chuck Strahl, who had been seriously considering a run, announced he will take a pass.
He's the latest in a line of potential contenders who have opted to avoid the race, including Tory caucus leader Peter MacKay, Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord and former Ontario premier Mike Harris.
The only two declared candidates are former Alliance leader Stephen Harper and former Ontario health minister Tony Clement.
Belinda Stronach, head of auto-parts giant Magna International, is expected to enter the race next week.
Strahl, best known for leading the coup that led to the demise of Stockwell Day as Alliance leader in 2001, said he hasn't been able to raise the money and resources.
"Unfortunately, while I have received generous support from many people, I have not been able to reach all of my benchmarks in time to launch and maintain a leadership bid," Strahl said in a release.
Clement, 42, joined the race Thursday on a thinly veiled anybody-but-Harper platform.
Both he and Stronach are far behind Harper in organizational strength. The campaign rules, however, go a long way to offset Harper's Alliance foundation in the West.
Conservative members in every federal riding will vote for their leader of choice in the March 19-21 vote, with each riding worth 100 points and the spoils divided proportionately. A riding in Quebec with 50 party members carries as much weight as one in Alberta with 2,000 -- and Quebec has more ridings than Alberta and British Columbia combined.
Clement, who lost his provincial seat in last fall's Ontario election, cites work in two Tory governments, including his handling of last year's SARS crisis. He said experience gave him personal reason for wanting to fight Prime Minister Paul Martin, who as finance minister cut health transfers to provinces.
