In 2017, O’Toole tried unsuccessfully to replace Harper as party leader, posing as a moderate. Last year, he imposed himself with a right-wing approach, operating as a “true conservative blue” (blue is the color of the party) that promised to “reclaim” Canada. Once he won, however, Mr. O’Toole rejected much of it: he appealed to union members, a group that has rarely been tried by conservatives in the past, making it clear that no would reopen the debate on abortion.
In preparation for next week’s vote, O’Toole and his aides have studied the efforts of David Cameron, the former British prime minister, to modernize the country’s Conservative party. And, as Mr. Trudeau did in 2015, they have tried to target voters who don’t normally show up on election day.
For Mr. Trudeau, they were younger people. For Mr. O’Toole, they are blue-collar workers anxious for the future of their jobs and annoyed, even angry, at what they consider Mr. Trudeau’s political correctness.
Lori Turnbull, a professor of political science at Dalhousie University, said the experience of British Conservatives shows the idea has merit, but it also poses a challenge to the party’s electoral party machinery.
“The question, then, is: will they actually go out for him?” she said.
O’Toole has also worked to improve his diet and increase his exercise levels, losing 40 pounds over the last year or so.
Above all, however, it has focused on its new moderated campaign platform, which is available as a glossy 160-page magazine. O’Toole has replaced his “Take Back Canada” slogan of his leadership campaign with “We have a Plan.”