Liberals quick to draw target on Scheer’s back
Forty-two minutes after Andrew Scheer’s come-from-behind victory over Maxime Bernier Saturday evening made him the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberals sent out a fundraising email accusing him of being “out of touch.”
“He has opposed equal marriage and a woman’s right to choose, and has no plan to grow the economy,” it reads.
Though Scheer’s leadership campaign relied less on proposing policy than did the campaigns of some of his rivals, the Liberals and NDP are using those he did promote to paint his election as a victory for the far right.
Liberal MP Adam Vaughan, in attendance Saturday at the CPC’s Toronto convention to begin the work of trying to respond to Scheer’s victory, said the Saskatchewan MP’s win “tells you very clearly that this is a party that’s turning the clocks back.”
The sections of Scheer’s campaign website that outlined his policies were removed immediately after his victory Saturday. During the race he had positioned himself as a conservative, though one not given to the social and economic libertarianism of Bernier.
Like Bernier, Scheer has promised to balance the budget within two years. But he supports supply management, the system that controls dairy, egg and chicken prices to provide stability for farmers, which Bernier had promised to scrap.
Scheer told reporters that Quebec dairy farmers “absolutely” helped him to win the leadership on Saturday; he beat Bernier in the Quebec MP’s own riding of Beauce, with its large farming community.
Like most Conservative leadership candidates, Scheer is vehemently opposed to carbon pricing. He also voted against Bill C-16, which would expand the Canadian Human Rights Act to protect against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.
Scheer has also promised a $1,000 tax credit for home-schooled children, and to make up to $4,000 of independent school tuition tax-deductible.
Perhaps Scheer’s most notable policy to date has been his pledge that universities won’t receive federal funding if they don’t defend free speech, a response to recent incidents like the cancellation of a pro-life group’s event at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Scheer was likely bolstered by social conservative voters on Saturday. Pro-life candidates Brad Trost and Pierre Lemieux performed better than expected overall, with Trost landing in fourth place; when Trost fell off the ballot, Scheer closed the gap with Bernier.
Scheer has said he doesn’t want to reopen debates on “divisive issues” like abortion and samesex marriage. On Saturday, his focus was clearly on the unity of the party.
Vaughan claimed the results show the Conservative Party is “split right down the middle” between social conservatives and those who favour libertarian policies such as Bernier’s.
“From my point of view, Andrew Scheer is Stephen Harper with a better smile,” said NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice. “And younger.”
Scheer’s victory came as a surprise to the Liberals and NDP.
On Friday evening at the convention, the Liberal Party was already handing out gift bags with a pair of scissors to illustrate Bernier’s planned cuts to federal program spending, and a wedge of Oka cheese in reference to his promise to dismantle supply management.