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TORONTO — A sudden burst of populism during the last Conservative leadership contest transformed the party and left a lasting mark on Canadian politics generally, former MP and leadership candidate Lisa Raitt suggested Wednesday.

Speaking at a University of Toronto conference on populism, Raitt said she was “shocked” by some of the radical ideas espoused by others vying for the federal Conservative crown two years ago.

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Those ideas did not ultimately hold sway within the party, but remain a part of the Conservative movement, she said. And they’ve influenced politics more widely, Raitt added, pointing to Quebec’s controversial religious-symbols legislation and Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party.

“The point I make is that through these kind of innocuous races, you do have a morphing of your party, a growth of your party, or a regress of your party, when these kinds of ideas make their way into the normal conversation,” said the former labour and transport minister. “Our party is not the same as it was before this last leadership race. You can’t undo what was said and done and heard, especially to the masses.”