Peter Blaikie, a prominent Tory who once served as president of the Progressive Conservatives, voted NDP on Oct. 19 — a move he says was prompted in part by his discomfort with the policies of the Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper.

The retired Montreal lawyer spoke to Mike Finnerty, the host of CBC Montreal's Daybreak about the election and what Canada's federal Conservatives should be looking for in a new leader.

Here are some highlights from their conversation:

On voting NDP

I voted for my local NDP candidate, Jim Hughes. I know him well, he's a wonderful guy. I would have been comfortable voting for [Liberal candidate] Marc Garneau, but not the Conservative candidate.

I've been exceedingly distressed by the way the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper has governed for many years. Things that don't necessarily play well in campaigns, on the democratic process, I was very unhappy about.

On Conservative prospects

Canadians want a government that at least appears to speak broadly for all Canadians, not just those who supported it. Stephen Harper, for a long time, was essentially pandering to the base of his party — roughly 30 per cent of voters — and there was very little attempt to reach out beyond that.

If the Conservative Party is going to return to power in the short-term future, the rethinking better go far beyond Stephen Harper, his personality, his approach. Obviously, that has to be part of it, but it goes way beyond that.

On the niqab issue

Whether Canadians agreed with the substantive position specifically focused on the citizenship issue, I think they reacted very negatively to the ugly way in which it was used. I think what it really did was trigger the memory of the ugly things the Conservative Party has done in the past.

On a new leader

There are two things to consider: We now have presidential politics, so you clearly need someone who people are going to feel comfortable with. I don't think anyone really felt comfortable at a personal level with Stephen Harper. They respected his intelligence, his competence, but I don't think they felt comfortable.

The second thing is, they have to have someone who is going to play well over the long term. We're looking for someone who can pull the country together, who creates a positive sense of where he wants to go. In that sense, Justin Trudeau is a modern political leader — he's telegenic and he's easy with people.