Scheer takes humble approach as leader
SCHEER TAKES ‘FIRST AMONG EQUALS’ APPROACH IN HIS FIRST DAY AS TORY LEADER
There have been 19 Conservative Party leaders since Confederation, and 13 of them served as prime minister. The only leaders of a united Conservative party who held the job for any length of time and didn’t win the top job were John Bracken, George Drew and Robert Stanfield.
Against this backdrop, it was no surprise there was a sense of history in the making when Andrew Scheer met his caucus on Parliament Hill for the first time as leader.
The strains of Walking on Sunshine blasted over the PA system immediately preceding his arrival and there was a general feeling of optimism and relief on display.
As one senior Conservative put it, if the party had been toiling to raise donations or sign up members the demand for change would have been much greater and Maxime Bernier a more compelling choice. But as it is, the party feels good about itself and Scheer made it clear from the outset that he plans no radical deviations from the path followed by Stephen Harper and interim leader Rona Ambrose.
The Conservative Party is a grassroots organization and the focus is on “everyday Canadians and their families,” Scheer told his caucus.
“The Liberals can take their cues from the cocktail circuit. We’ll take ours from the minivans, soccer fields, legion halls and the grocery stores.”
Were it not for the fact that the caucus was asked to give the media a round of applause, this could have been Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party.
The difference is in the disposition of the leader. I interviewed Scheer, Pierre Poilievre and Jeremy Harrison (now Saskatchewan’s economy minister), just after the then-twentysomethings were first elected in 2004.
Poilievre, true to form, blustered he was “completely prepared” to do the job.
Scheer, who had just defeated Parliament’s longest-serving MP in a safe NDP riding, was much more circumspect.
“To step into that chamber and look around and imagine the people in Canadian history who have occupied that hall — John A. Macdonald, Mackenzie King, John Diefenbaker — and to think I’ll be participating in the same forum is awe-inspiring and humbling,” he said.
That same humility was on display Monday.
“It’s a great honour but an even greater responsibility,” he told caucus.
He made special mention of Maxime Bernier, whom he pipped for the leadership, thanking him for his “bold campaign.”
It was noticeable that Bernier and other leadership candidates Erin O’Toole, Kellie Leitch, Michael Chong, Stephen Blaney, Brad Trost and Lisa Raitt were at the forefront of Conservative assault on the government during Question Period.
There are risks in this for the new leader. His questions are often pointed and funny but he tends to read them, and he is less forceful than O’Toole or Raitt.
But Scheer campaigned as a unifier and he’s now obliged to lead as one.
This is very much a “first among equals” leader and, as such, he has to be assured enough to give his former rivals face time.
The advantage is that a unified caucus is less likely to splinter on divisive issues like abortion.
The focus of much of the post-leadership election commentary has been on how Scheer will repay his debt to the social conservatives who got him elected.
MPs like Michelle Rempel, who is fiercely pro-choice, claimed Monday that the new leader has put the issue to bed by saying he will not reopen the abortion debate.
But far from being put to bed, it is running around like an over-dextrosed toddler.
This is not just a media construct. It is a concern for voters, with polls consistently showing a clear majority endorsing a woman’s right to choose.
Harper was not openly pro-life and he did not owe his job to the so-cons. Yet the Liberals accused Harper of having a “hidden agenda” in four successive elections. Now, that agenda is not even being hidden by MPs who will likely be senior members of the shadow cabinet.
Reporters asked Trost whether he intends to push life issues in caucus. “I’ll just give Andrew some space and room and be as supportive as I can … By and large, most social conservatives are happy Andrew won the leadership,” he said.
If that means internal tensions over the issue haven’t gone away, it at least means they are not going to blow up anytime soon.
What nobody disputes is that the Conservatives will flourish or flounder with Scheer.
His speech to caucus gave some sense of where he sees Tory strengths and Liberal vulnerabilities.
“The Conservative Party is the party of prosperity, not the party of envy,” he said. “The great lie of the left is that they hurt the people they claim to help.”
It was a theme to which he returned in Question Period, criticizing the Trudeau government for hiking payroll taxes that kill jobs for young people.