Tories rally as Scheer’s victory questioned

MP Marilyn Gladu blamed ‘sour grapes’ for complaints about voting process

OTTAWA— Conservatives are rallying around Andrew Scheer and the election that made him the new party leader, with one MP blaming “sour grapes” for internal complaints about the voting process. Tory MPs on Monday were keen to sidestep questions whether there might have been problems with the leadership vote — and the potential acrimony it might seed in Scheer’s early days as leader — and instead deferred the issue to the party.

“I expect that everything will be answered in time by the party and I know that as members of the caucus we’re behind the newly elected leader,” said Kelly Block, MP for the Saskatchewan riding of Carlton Trail — Eagle Creek. Scheer was elected leader of the Conservative party on May 27, an unexpected victory over front-runner Maxime Bernier.

But media reports since then have highlighted a discrepancy between the total number of votes cast in the Conservative leadership race and the final voter ID list provided to the 13 leadership campaigns.

In all, the party counted roughly 141,000 votes and determined that Scheer won a razor-thin majority of support ahead of Bernier. Unofficial lists provided to the campaigns however, listed approximately 133,000 voters, a large enough discrepancy to potentially alter the final outcome.

The party blames the discrepancy on human error and problems updating the central database.

Conservative insiders unhappy with the process say they aren’t looking for another vote, only the party’s assurance that it will investigate the concerns and ensure any problems are fixed for next time.

Yet Marilyn Gladu, MP for Sarnia-Lambton and a Scheer supporter, blamed “sour grapes” among some of the losing leadership camps for the complaints.

“All the losing teams all are having their say,” Gladu told reporters. “I’m sure that’s for the party to come and call them to account. It’s not helpful, obviously.”

Conservative MP Diane Watts said that each leadership camp had scrutineers to oversee the ballot counts.

Watts denied that the legitimacy of Scheer’s win was in question. “Not at all. I mean, you know, if there’s any questions to be answered, they’ll be answered,” she said.

Meanwhile Scheer faced off against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the first time as Conservative leader in question period Monday, a polite encounter that was overshadowed by the continuing fallout of the London terror attack that left a Canadian woman dead.

Trudeau offered his condolences to the family and friends of Christine Archibald, the Canadian who was killed. And he noted that he spoke with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to state that Canada stands “in solidarity with the British people.” With files from Alex Boutilier