More than two years later, he is back in it.  But this time, the fight is taking place during what appears to be the end of Canadians living under government-imposed pandemic rules.
The events of the last 25 months, from the beginning of the health crisis until now, shape the competition for who will lead the Conservative party after September 10.
“The whole idea of ​​talking about freedom is definitely a direct result of the pandemic,” said Chris Chapin, director of the Upstream Strategy Group, which has worked on previous leadership campaigns for Ontario Progressive Conservatives.
Longtime lawmaker Pierre Poilievre is campaigning to make Canada the “freest nation on earth.”  The counter-orders for masks and vaccines were a big part of his message, which he delivered to crowds that at times have grown to thousands.
Last week, he addressed a crowd of more than 250 people without masks, gathered in a hotel meeting room in western Quebec, where the mask order was still in force.
Chapin said Poilievre had clearly taken advantage of the stress people felt living in the pandemic, including those on large platforms that arrived in Ottawa in the winter and refused to move from downtown streets for weeks, demanding an end to all COVID-19 rules.
Leslyn Lewis, third place in the 2020 race, has also fought against the orders.
It is also publicly opposed to Canada signing a World Health Organization treaty, which it suggested to its supporters in a recent email that it would threaten the country’s “national health sovereignty”.
The WHO governing body has begun a process of drafting and negotiating an international agreement to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
In another message, Lewis said she refused to disclose her vaccination status “in principle” and promised to introduce legislation to protect those who choose to remain unvaccinated from “discrimination” if they were to gain power.
Chapin added that the defense of religious freedom by Mayor Brampton of Ode.
For both Chapin and longtime Conservative general Melanie Paradis, who remain neutral in the fight, much of the meaning behind the anti-candidate messages is summed up in the sale of members.
The deadline for registering candidates as party members is June 3rd.
Paradis said focusing on commands is an effective way to gain traction in a leadership competition.  However, the party risks spending too much energy on pandemic policies that are no longer in force and have been advanced by wider Canadian society, at a time when the party needs to expand its electorate, he said.
“We are putting so much emphasis on these issues that they will not matter until we get to a general election,” he said.
“It’s actually completely counter-strategic.”
In addition to selling subscriptions, some candidates are also campaigning against COVID-19 for cash.
One example is Roman Baber, the Independent MPP from Ontario who became famous after he ousted Doug Ford’s progressive conservative group for speaking out against the COVID-19 lockdown.
Without much name recognition, Bamber, who was first elected to provincial politics in 2018, successfully raised $ 300,000 and collected the 500 signatures the party needed to be in the final ballot.
“Critics tell me I’m running COVID and it ‘s over,” Baber wrote on Twitter recently.  “Really? Millions of Canadians are still subject to unprecedented discrimination.”
Another outsider whose name could appear on the final ballot is Joseph Bourgault, a businessman from the province of Saskatchewan.  He traveled to Ottawa as part of “Freedom Convoy” and recently appeared in a photo with Chris Barber, one of the organizers now facing charges for his role in the protest.
Former NHL player Theo Fleury, whose social media is full of anti-vaccination statements, has campaigned for Bourgault.  The candidate proposes medically proven alternative therapies for COVID-19, such as ivermectin and zinc hydroxychloroquine.
“These are the messages I get out there and it resonates with Canadians,” Bourgault said earlier this week.
The Conservatives are electing a new leader because Erin O’Toole was fired in early February by a majority of lawmakers shortly after the escort arrived.
O’Toole’s confused response to the protest was for some in the parliamentary group – and members of the wider party – the drop that overflowed the glass in what they saw as his apparent reluctance to take a strong enough stance against vaccination orders.
O’Toole’s struggle with the issue emerged during last fall’s federal election, which he entered after spending most of his term as abbot of the party, largely due to lockdowns for COVID-19.
Even when the campaign began, he decided to abandon many of the traditional handshakes and personal virtual show events from a hotel ballroom, which the party transformed into a state-of-the-art show studio.
For John Aladin, a 22-year-old Haitian immigrant living in Quebec, it was Poilievre’s consistent message as a Conservative that drew him in after he called O’Toole’s stance on the pandemic.  .
“If (Poiliev) was the leader at the time, it would be clearer where the party stood.”
Aladin was among those waiting in line to speak with Poilievre at his event in western Quebec last week.
After doing so, he decided to make a contribution and offer his name to become a volunteer.
This Canadian Press report was first published on May 1, 2022.