Scheer not as much like Harper as some political watchers think
No, Andrew Scheer will not represent a radical policy shift from former Conservative leader Stephen Harper.
That’s not what Conservatives wanted.
And if one only skims the surface of who Scheer is, those wanting to see him as an entrenchment of Canada’s nasty Conservative right wing will find their reasons.
Scheer’s opposition to the Liberal carbon tax shouldn’t be seen as surprising or a negative to Saskatchewan’s struggling economy.
However, his other campaign pronouncements like supporting Brexit, calling for the CBC to get out of the news business (Scheer’s father was a former newspaper guy) and de-funding universities that choose not to book certain speakers seem bizarre.
Add to the mix Scheer’s campaign manager Hamish Marshall’s connection to unhinged alt-right-wing Rebel TV.
His House of Commons voting record will confirm his critics’ view he’s very much a social conservative (although that he sends his kids to a Regina Christian school is likely all the confirmation they really needed).
Moments after he captured the Conservative leadership with 50.95 per cent of vote on the 13th electronic ballot to edge out until-then front-runner Maxime Bernier (49.05 per cent), Campaign for Life Coalition issued a news release praising Scheer and vowing to make sure he keeps his commitments.
There is little doubt that what got him within striking distance of Bernier were the 12th-ballot votes he picked up from social conservative Saskatchewan MP Brad Trost, who did surprisingly well.
“Stephen Harper with a smile,” is how many are labelling Scheer, who also campaigned on $1,000 annual tax credits for those who home-school their children.
“We just need to do a better job of making our policies resonate with everyday Canadians on a more practical level,” Scheer told the Toronto Sun prior to Saturday’s vote.
This will further feed the caricature of Scheer as nothing more than a more pleasant Harper clone.
But if one is interested in how a smile and “a more practical” approach is actually a real and important thing in politics, take a look at why the Saskatchewan Party is ecstatic about Scheer’s victory.
Of course, Premier Brad Wall and the rest in the thinly veiled provincial wing of the federal Conservative party would be ecstatic to have any leader from this province at the best of times. There had also been plenty of gossip about Scheer being a potential successor to Wall. That won’t happen now.
However, Sask. Party insiders will privately tell how difficult it was working with an obstreperous Harper and those whom he appointed, like former agriculture minister Gerry Ritz ... or backbenchers like Trost who seemed to prefer to subscribe to their own agenda.
But there was never the same grumbling about Scheer, who was generally viewed as a nice, decent guy. Trite? Well, not when it comes working with others, which is what politics tends to be about.
Interestingly, Trost seems one of the few people Scheer has struggled to get along with. Maybe it’s because Scheer (who says he has no intention of reopening either the abortion or gay rights debate) actually views his role as less about advancing his own agenda and more about reflecting the views of those who elected him.
Going back to his days when he arrived in Regina in the early 2000s to serve as a constituency aide for Canadian Alliance MP Larry Spencer (who was left behind in the Conservative merger because of his radical beliefs on gay conspiracies), Scheer has demonstrated remarkable ability to avoid political messes and emerge with his reputation intact.
It served him well becoming the House of Commons’ youngest Speaker. Heck, it’s likely served Scheer well around the Ryan family dinner table. (While most know his brother-in-law Jon as the punter for the Seattle Seahawks, fewer know his other brother-in-law Steve ran provincially for the NDP).
No doubt, it will continue to serve him well as the new Conservative leader.