Candidate Erin O'Toole and the Monarchy Revisited

Recent events have necessitated a re-visiting
of Conservative Leadership Candidate Erin
O'Toole's views on the monarchy. This is
due to Mr. O'Toole objecting to my
characterization of his views in my last post.
This situation has been quite distressing as,
while not a journalist, I do try to be accurate
in reporting the views of others. Accuracy is
important in an era of 'fake news' and casual
regard for the truth. As such I took the
charge of misrepresentation very seriously.

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In my previous post I stated that Mr. O'Toole 'refused' to
answer my questions regarding the monarchy. As a result
several people have interpreted this to mean that Mr. O'Toole
doesn't support the monarchy. It was not my intention at all!
While I might be disappointed in such refusals to reply to
questions I have always viewed a refusal as being an
essentially neutral response. However, I understand why
people might not read it that way and for that I apologize.
Further, Mr. O'Toole has stated that the idea he 'refused' to answer my question is simply false. I have more to say on this
but first I would like to go over the events that led to this
point.

I would like to quickly review the process I used to contact
Mr. O'Toole (and the other candidates). My primary method
of communication has been email for a couple of reasons:
-Its often the primary means of contacting the candidate.
-It creates a written record that I can refer back to.
-Searching for an email is easier than most social media posts.

However, as the months started ticking down I did start also
contacting candidates via Facebook. This did yield results and
I did not perceive of it as being a potential problem. The
following is the private message I sent to Mr. O'Toole's
campaign through Facebook on January 30th:

"Greetings Mr. O'Toole,
NOTE: I have previously contacted the candidate at least twice over the last few months and have not received a response.
My name is James Wilson and I am looking to get a better idea of the views of the Conservative Party leadership candidates so I may cast an informed vote. Could I get your views on the following?
1. What are your views on the monarchy?
2. What are your views on intellectual property?
3. What are your views on Basic Income/Mincome?
4. Do you support Canada joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my message.
Best Regards,
[Named Redacted]"

As you may notice I actually polled Mr. O'Toole on various
areas of policy. This format is consistent across all of the
​candidates I contacted. On February 27th I received the
following reply:

"Hi [Named Redacted]. Sorry for the delay in response. I appreciate you sending me a message!
While I don't have these detailed policy positions right now, I am working on it. At
this time I am putting forward a number of policy papers on how I would govern
Canada. I am reaching out to hear what Conservatives are thinking because I am
running a campaign of ideas and innovation that reflects where our country is
going and what we need to do to succeed. I intend to release my policy proposals in
the near future. These are intended to provoke discussion amongst members. They
will not be top-down policies, nor will there be two dozen of them. They will
represent key priorities that I want all Conservatives to consider as we build the
winning team for the next election. So far I have created policies for immigration,
jobs, farming, firearms and Veterans which you can read about on my website
www.erinotoole.ca If you would like to join the mission please send an email to
volunteer@erinotoole.ca. I would love to have you on my team for CPC leadership
and our victory in 2019!"

At the time I interpreted this reply
as a brush-off and a failure to
answer the questions I had asked.
However, in hindsight 'refusal' was
too strong of a word to have used. I
will concede this was a poor word
choice and I would like to apologize
to Mr. O'Toole for the mis-
characterization of his stance, no matter how unintentional. I
would also like to apologize to the Monarchist League of
Canada as I inadvertently put them in a difficult situation.

If any good came out of this situation it is that Mr. O'Toole
has released a statement to the League outlining his views on
​the monarchy:

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"I was very proud to have received The Queen's Commission in the Canadian
Armed Forces, and it hangs in my office. I have worked indirectly with the Royal
Family on the True Patriot Love Foundation - a military charity I co-founded - and
for which I received Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee medal. The photo book of
Prince Harry's visit to Canada House for this charity sits on the coffee table in my
Hill office. And it was this organization that successfully bid for Canada to host this
year's Invictus Games, led by Prince Harry. There is nobody in the race who has
more of a direct association with the monarchy, nor, I believe, is there anyone in
the race who has been more publicly supportive of the monarchy than I. One of my
most widely reported policies during this race is all about working closer with our
Commonwealth allies. I have raised the monarchy and its strengths in my many
discussions about the CANZUK policy, which would create a trade and security
pact for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The above is a snapshot to
give you a flavour of my track record and consistent and steadfast support for the
monarchy as a foundational element of our parliamentary democracy and a
positive force in our society."

I have added a note to the original post directing readers here
as well as updated the Five Crown Scoreboard to reflect new
information I have learned. I will also be reviewing the
processes I use in contacting public figures to see if there is
room for improvement.

Apologetically Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour