Tory hopefuls pull out stops

Photo: The Canadian Press

Conservative leadership hopefuls made some last-ditch pitches for support Monday in advance of a key campaign deadline — and stanching the flow of illegal migrants across the Canada-U.S. border played a prominent role.

Candidates only have until Tuesday to sign up new party members in order to buttress support for their leadership bids, so several — Kevin O'Leary, Maxime Bernier and Steven Blaney were doing their best to grab some Tory-friendly headlines.

In an early email blast, businessman and reality-TV star Kevin O'Leary suggested using the Constitution's veto power, known as the notwithstanding clause, to block refugee claims from people who enter Canada illegally.

Earlier Monday, former cabinet minister Bernier sent a basic solicitation, urging would-be supporters to sign up before 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.

But he later doubled down on O'Leary's message, saying not only would he use the notwithstanding clause, but he'd deploy the military as a "temporary" measure to backstop existing police and border resources.

Steven Blaney sent out an eyebrow-raising fundraising email of his own on the weekend, denouncing alleged anti-Semitic remarks by some Muslim leaders.

The email, containing the subject line "Should Allah kill all the Jews?", referenced individuals including an imam and former Ryerson University teaching assistant who was recently removed from his position over alleged anti-Jewish remarks.

As the deadline loomed, other would-be Tory leaders opted for the straightforward approach, highlighting the support they've already drummed up through new memberships or from within the party's office holder ranks.