Canadians aren’t looking for the next version of Scheer
You’d be forgiven if you haven’t thought about Andrew Scheer in a little while — or a long one.
Canada is in crisis mode: All eyes are on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he responds sufficiently or insufficiently (depending on who you ask) to the horrific airline disaster in which more than 50 Canadians perished. That or they’re fixed on lighter fare: Queen Elizabeth just gave Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Baby Archie the OK to move part time to Canada.
But though there are far more pressing things happening in our country, the fact remains that its long-term future depends in part on the outcome of a mostly dull affair: the leadership race for the Conservative Party of Canada.
The time has come to find Scheer’s replacement.
The race for CPC leader kicked off Monday; aspiring candidates have until late March to collect signatures and raise funds. Soon, we’ll learn exactly who those candidates are. Names thrown around a lot these days of who might helm the party include those of Rona Ambrose, Peter MacKay and Pierre Poilievre.
Words and terms unlikely to be thrown around a lot during the race itself? Abortion, family values, traditional marriage.
If you take seriously the results of a new Leger poll, conducted and published this month, one thing is clear: Canadians don’t appear to want a social conservative to lead the CPC. According to the web survey of 1,554 eligible voters in Canada, 53 per cent of all respondents would prefer a Conservative leader who is “in favour of same-sex marriage,” and 60 per cent would prefer a leader who is “pro-choice.” Among the subset of respondents with intentions to vote Conservative, only 22 per cent said they’d prefer a “pro-life” leader. Only 19 per cent said they’d prefer one “against same-sex marriage.”
Some, like Philippe J. Fournier, writing in Maclean’s Magazine, see these results as proof that if the CPC runs another social conservative like Scheer, it may put itself at risk. He’s right. You don’t have to be a religious follower of politics to observe that Scheer’s religiosity hurt him with voters during the federal election. (An Angus Reid poll from last November showed that 51 per cent of Canadians viewed Scheer negatively as a result of news coverage about his religious beliefs.)
The candidate failed to give reporters a clear answer about how exactly he’d handle challenges to abortion rights. And he neglected to apologize for an ugly speech he gave in opposition to same-sex marriage as a young leader in Ottawa.
There’s no question the Liberals unearthed that speech in a cynical move to make Scheer look bad and improve their own chances. But once it was out there, he ought to have shown remorse and humility. The fact he didn’t was evidence enough to modern, compassionate Canadians that though he would uphold the letter of the law he clearly did not believe in the spirit of the law.
Modern voters mistrust private leaders. And Canadians mistrust social conservative ones. This spring, candidates for the CPC leadership will do everything they can to avoid discussion about social issues.
But if and when such issues do arise, don’t be surprised if Conservative leaders sound a lot more like Justin Trudeau than like the guy who couldn’t beat him.