Scheer eyes Tory leadership bid
Opposition House leader’s prospects grow
OTTAWA • A growing number of MPs and influential Conservative organizers is urging Andrew Scheer to jump into the Tory leadership race.
Scheer, 37, has been working the phones and travelling around Canada gauging support in caucus — trying to ensure he would have the backing of Conservative MPs. He has also been measuring potential financial support for a run that looks more likely by the day.
The former speaker of the Commons, now the Official Opposition House leader, has been discussing his candidacy with his family and is expected to make a decision within days.
The MP for Regina-Qu’Appelle only has a few weeks to announce his intentions because he would have to resign as House leader before the Commons begins its fall sitting Sept. 19. He had no comment Thursday.
Supporters say Scheer has an ideal mix of attributes needed for the next Conservative leader: he’s young, but experienced, affable, married with children, fluently bilingual in English and French, and strongly supports fundamental conservative values.
Just as important, they say, is he’s not carrying baggage from unpopular decisions of Stephen Harper’s government because of his time as speaker in 2011-15.
“There has been many of us in caucus that have been hopeful he’ll throw his hat in the ring. Obviously, he’s the next generation caucus member,” said one Conservative MP who supports him.
“Some of the people who’ve thrown their hats in the ring are from the previous generation. He checks off the essential boxes … he’s kind of that different face … there’s definitely an expectation within the public that we move on and put a different face on the party, and I think Andrew does that without compromising the fundamental values of conservatism.”
Scheer has won the backing of about a dozen Conservative MPs from several provinces, with supporters saying many more are likely to line up behind him, but are waiting for the list of candidates to be finalized.
Guy Giorno, Harper’s former chief of staff, is a big supporter and could prove to be a huge asset, especially in Ontario, where he was chief of staff to Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris.
Also in Scheer’s corner is Conservative campaigner Hamish Marshall, a pollster and former manager of strategic planning in Harper’s Prime Minister’s Office.
For many current and former Conservative MPs, Scheer represents the traditional “family values” that remain fundamental to the party and many supporters.
Critics worry Scheer’s backers are looking for him to champion the social conservative positions the party is trying to move past, like opposing abortion and supporting the traditional definition of marriage, that could be divisive in the leadership race and turn off voters in a general election.