ANDREW SCHEER: His life, politics and the juicy tidbits about the Conservative leader
Can his average, family-guy conservatism win with voters?
Second in a series of ive articles looking at the life and politics of the leaders of the major federal political parties seeking your vote in the Oct. 21 election. WHO Andrew Scheer, Conservative Party of Canada
• Born May 20, 1979, in Ottawa.
Fully bilingual. Studied history and political science at the University of Ottawa.
• Moved to Saskatchewan to study at the University of Regina.
After university became an insurance broker.
• Married his wife, Jill, in 2003. They have five children.
THE RESUME
• Worked in the correspondence unit for former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day. Elected Conservative MP for Regina-qu’appelle in 2004.
• Voted against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005.
• Became assistant deputy speaker of the House of Commons in 2006.
• Named deputy speaker of the House in 2008. Re-elected MP and named speaker of the House in 2011 — the youngest person to ever hold that post. Re-elected MP in 2015. Elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada with 50.95 per cent of the vote in May 2017.
THE CONTEXT
During his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party, Scheer said he would not introduce government-sponsored legislation to change Canada’s abortion laws. He did campaign on a promise to allow backbench MPS to introduce private member’s bills on the issue.
In a May 2019 feature story, CTV reported that in a 2017 “Statement on Life Issues” published by his leadership campaign, Scheer said, “I have always voted in favour of prolife legislation.” But the Conservative leader has said since then that he would not reopen the debate on abortion.
Scheer has also drawn criticism over the past year for declining invitations to participate in Gay Pride parades in Toronto and Vancouver. However, he recently said if his party formed the next government, he would not reopen the debate on samesex marriage. He made the comments at a Toronto speaking engagement in August, a week after the Liberals revealed a 2005 video in which Scheer stated his opposition to samesex marriage.
Asked point-blank on Sept. 18, 2019, whether he would ever attend a Pride celebration, Scheer replied, “There are a lot of ways to show support to the LGBT community. And I have supported motions in the House of Commons to actually propose a motion in the House of Commons to call on this government to do more to help people who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation in other countries to be able to come to Canada. I also represented our party, the Conservative party, during the historic apology to LGBT Canadians who were persecuted in the civil service who lost their job because of their sexual orientation.
“There is more than one way to support the community and I’ll continue to look for opportunities to do so.”
WHY YOU MAY/MAY NOT KNOW THIS PERSON
Scheer is a self-described “popcorn addict.”
In a 2017 interview, he told Chatelaine magazine, “I have a bit of a popcorn problem — I can’t stop once I start. I love it. I love lots of it. If there was popcorn here right now, it’d be all over me. I’ve been known to drive to the movie theatre, walk in and buy a bag of popcorn and leave with it.”
JUICY TIDBITS/YOU MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN
Scheer was caught in the proverbial trap of “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” in 2017 when he criticized Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau for proposing changes to the small business tax regime to “protect wealthy millionaires” and for Morneau’s failure to disclose the fact he used a numbered offshore company to hold shares in his company Morneau Sheppell.
In question period on Oct. 18, 2017, Scheer declared that if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “truly wanted to find a wealthy Canadian who was using the system to avoid paying higher taxes, all he had to do was turn slightly to the right.”
That had at least one MP crying “hypocrisy.”
Liberal MP Raj Grewal, a former corporate lawyer, said it was a “bit rich” for Scheer to target Morneau, when the Conservative leader had himself parked money in a niche investment vehicle designed to offer tax relief.
In his conflict of interest filings with the Parliamentary Ethics Commissioner, Scheer had declared his partnerships in real estate holdings in Saskatchewan. Real estate limited partnerships (RELPS) allow investors to write off up to 50 per cent of their initial investment. And income earned on the investment can later be treated as a capital gain, drawing a much lower tax burden than regular income.
2019 POLICIES: ENVIRONMENT
The Conservative party proposes several measures on the environment.
Among them is a “Green Homes” tax credit, a two-year plan to encourage Canadians to try new energy-saving products and technologies by providing a 20 per cent refundable credit on their income tax for green improvements to their homes, up to $20,000.
The cost of this would be about $900 million per year, according to the Conservatives.
The Conservatives say they also want to make it easier for contractors to build green homes.
“Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) is a relatively new concept that has had success in other jurisdictions. It works by using investment capital upfront and then having the building owner pay back the investor through energy savings. The Green Home Retrofit Code will form part of the regulatory backing required for a new ESPC market to be established,” the party states on its website.
TAXATION AND FAMILIES
The Conservatives propose to help Canadian families by introducing new tax measures.
A children’s fitness tax credit would allow parents to claim up to $1,000 per child for expenses related to fitness or sports activities. A children’s arts and learning tax credit would allow parents to claim up to $500 per child for expenses related to art and educational activities.
The Conservatives also say they would support young families by making employment insurance (EI) maternity and parental benefits tax-free.
BOTTOM-LINE ME
Andrew Sheer just turned 40. He has five children. Before political life, he was an insurance broker. His business connections include real estate holdings in Saskatchewan. He’s an experienced member of parliament with 15 years in the House of Commons, including a stint in the speaker’s chair, and two years as leader of the Conservative party. He has a pro-life view on abortion, but says he would not reopen the abortion debate. He says he supports the LGBTQ community, but he has declined invitations to participate in Pride events.