SWOT Analysis of Kellie Leitch’s Leadership Race
Strengths:
One of Dr. Leitch’s strength is that she plays well with the Conservative brand. According to Alex Marland, “the Conservatives know how to craft a message. Keep it simple. Keep it short. Reinforce everything all the time. Make the Party’s four themes lock together: a balanced budget, low taxes, smaller government, personal security” (2016, p.4). In her platform, the leadership race candidate explores in depth three of these four themes (a balanced budget, low taxes, and personal security) (Kellieworks, 2017e). Also, Leitch reinforces and repeats ideas constantly. For example, she always repeats that there are Canadian values often throughout her speeches and in her Facebook and Twitter posts. One of the values which she highlights the most often is the value of hard work. For example, her campaign website –on which was presented her platform— was named “kellieworks”(Kellieworks, 2017e). Furthermore, Dr. Leitch’s political experience as well as her knowledge of –and her loyalty to— the Conservative Party are some of her greatest assets. Indeed, as mentioned previously, Leitch joined the Conservative Party over thirty years ago and has been involved in it since then (Johnston, 2016). In general, one can affirm that Leitch has a profound knowledge of the decisions that have been made and the laws that have been passed by the Party in the last decades. Moreover, Leitch has more than ten years of experience in politics, from participating in panels to being at the head of two important ministries (Kellieworks, 2017c). Weaknesses: One of Kellie Leitch’s weaknesses is that, while she has a certain knowledge of the French language, her French is not strong enough for her to truly express herself well as the potential Prime Minister of a bilingual country (CTV News, 2016). …show more content…
Moreover, her website is exclusively in English; her tweets are in English as are most of her Facebook publications. It can, therefore, be difficult for her to get votes from French-speaking Canadians, especially Quebecers. In general, Leitch is not notorious for being a strong public speaker (Ferreras, 2017).
Moreover, some of her views seem to contradict one another, especially regarding social issues (Johnston, 2016). Indeed, an interviewer once commented that she is “a bit of a mixed bag” (Johnson, 2016). For instance, she is against the right to die and for same-sex marriage; she was the Minister for the Status of Women and thinks women should be allowed to protect themselves, yet she is pro-life –even if she does not wish to bring the issue back in the house of common (Johnston, 2016; Kellieworks, 2017j). Opportunities: Following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America last fall, Kellie Leitch took to Facebook and sent out emails proclaiming that Trump’s victory is “an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well” (The Canadian Press, 2016). Moreover, she stated that “[Trump’s] message [is the one she is] bringing with [her] campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada” (The Canadian Press, 2016). Donald Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Dr. Leitch to appeal to Canadians with her own populist approach. Indeed, like Trump, Leitch attempts to appeal to “less educated low- and middle income English Canadians experiencing civic alienation and social powerlessness” by emphasizing in her messages how the elites are not listening to everyday Canadians (Laycock, 2005, p.191). She is also against “special interests”. Like Trump, she is also against serving “special interests”— mainly, the interests of those who diverge from the “ordinary working people” (Laycock, 2005, p.182). For example, Leitch stated that the board of the Pride Toronto “should not succumb to the bullies at [Black Lives Matter]” …show more content…
Indeed, while Leitch repeats that her family “lived in a trailer for a year and had a regular modest home”, her current status somewhat negates the image she is trying to put up (Johnston, 2016). Her status as a surgeon, as a member of parliament, as a Minister, as the previous Chair of Paediatric Surgery at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario/Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and as the recipient of the Order of Ontario in 2010–“an honour bestowed upon remarkable Ontarians who effortlessly give back and support their communities”— can make her anti-elite views as inauthentic in the eyes of potential voters (Kellieworks,
Strengths:
One of Dr. Leitch’s strength is that she plays well with the Conservative brand. According to Alex Marland, “the Conservatives know how to craft a message. Keep it simple. Keep it short. Reinforce everything all the time. Make the Party’s four themes lock together: a balanced budget, low taxes, smaller government, personal security” (2016, p.4). In her platform, the leadership race candidate explores in depth three of these four themes (a balanced budget, low taxes, and personal security) (Kellieworks, 2017e). Also, Leitch reinforces and repeats ideas constantly. For example, she always repeats that there are Canadian values often throughout her speeches and in her Facebook and Twitter posts. One of the values which she highlights the most often is the value of hard work. For example, her campaign website –on which was presented her platform— was named “kellieworks”(Kellieworks, 2017e). Furthermore, Dr. Leitch’s political experience as well as her knowledge of –and her loyalty to— the Conservative Party are some of her greatest assets. Indeed, as mentioned previously, Leitch joined the Conservative Party over thirty years ago and has been involved in it since then (Johnston, 2016). In general, one can affirm that Leitch has a profound knowledge of the decisions that have been made and the laws that have been passed by the Party in the last decades. Moreover, Leitch has more than ten years of experience in politics, from participating in panels to being at the head of two important ministries (Kellieworks, 2017c). Weaknesses: One of Kellie Leitch’s weaknesses is that, while she has a certain knowledge of the French language, her French is not strong enough for her to truly express herself well as the potential Prime Minister of a bilingual country (CTV News, 2016). …show more content…
Moreover, her website is exclusively in English; her tweets are in English as are most of her Facebook publications. It can, therefore, be difficult for her to get votes from French-speaking Canadians, especially Quebecers. In general, Leitch is not notorious for being a strong public speaker (Ferreras, 2017).
Moreover, some of her views seem to contradict one another, especially regarding social issues (Johnston, 2016). Indeed, an interviewer once commented that she is “a bit of a mixed bag” (Johnson, 2016). For instance, she is against the right to die and for same-sex marriage; she was the Minister for the Status of Women and thinks women should be allowed to protect themselves, yet she is pro-life –even if she does not wish to bring the issue back in the house of common (Johnston, 2016; Kellieworks, 2017j). Opportunities: Following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America last fall, Kellie Leitch took to Facebook and sent out emails proclaiming that Trump’s victory is “an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well” (The Canadian Press, 2016). Moreover, she stated that “[Trump’s] message [is the one she is] bringing with [her] campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada” (The Canadian Press, 2016). Donald Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Dr. Leitch to appeal to Canadians with her own populist approach. Indeed, like Trump, Leitch attempts to appeal to “less educated low- and middle income English Canadians experiencing civic alienation and social powerlessness” by emphasizing in her messages how the elites are not listening to everyday Canadians (Laycock, 2005, p.191). She is also against “special interests”. Like Trump, she is also against serving “special interests”— mainly, the interests of those who diverge from the “ordinary working people” (Laycock, 2005, p.182). For example, Leitch stated that the board of the Pride Toronto “should not succumb to the bullies at [Black Lives Matter]” …show more content…
Indeed, while Leitch repeats that her family “lived in a trailer for a year and had a regular modest home”, her current status somewhat negates the image she is trying to put up (Johnston, 2016). Her status as a surgeon, as a member of parliament, as a Minister, as the previous Chair of Paediatric Surgery at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario/Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and as the recipient of the Order of Ontario in 2010–“an honour bestowed upon remarkable Ontarians who effortlessly give back and support their communities”— can make her anti-elite views as inauthentic in the eyes of potential voters (Kellieworks,