EDITORIAL: Kudos due to Andrew Scheer
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During the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race some of the presumed front-runners opted not to run. They felt, rumour had it, that there was no point, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau couldn’t be beat, he was going to get two terms or more, and so a few big names decided to sit it out.
Enter Andrew Scheer. He wasn’t a front-runner. In fact, the former speaker of the House of Commons was a relative unknown outside of the Ottawa bubble. But he scrapped it out in the leadership race and prevailed on the final ballot.
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On Thursday morning, Scheer announced his planned resignation from the party as leader. This happened after a considerable effort on the part of some operatives to oust him. Grassroots members were divided, with some backing Scheer and others wanting him gone.
The idea of a mandated leadership review is a good one as it formalizes the process and takes some of the backstabbing out of the whole process. That was supposed to happen in April but now we’ll never know.
The Conservatives will soon embark on a leadership campaign with Scheer remaining as interim leader until that time. We will have more to say soon about the qualities and policy views we’d like to see in the next leader.
But first, it’s important Canadians take a moment to offer Andrew Scheer kudos. He was far from a total disaster. He won the popular vote, brought the Liberals down to a minority standing and improved his party’s seat count.
Scheer’s personal warmth did not translate well on camera, where he appeared wooden. His inability to answer straightforward questions about his views alienated voters.
He was right on important policy issues, though.
Canadian politics needs a leader who will speak out against the reckless carbon tax. It needs a leader who will argue the importance of fiscal responsibility. And it needs someone who will stand up to China, which we all know Trudeau isn’t doing. Scheer responsibly did all of these things.
Canadians who wanted a responsible voice to challenge Justin Trudeau were well-served by Scheer holding the PM to account, both in the House of Commons and on the campaign trail.
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