Scheer’s faith itself is not Tories’ problem

Jagmeet Singh arguably had the best personal performance as a political leader in the federal election. Facing pundits who were betting that the party would lose its official status, a campaign war-chest half of what it had been a decade earlier and a very low recognition level among most Canadians, he campaigned boldly and with demonstrable joy.

That he was of a very different faith to that of most Canadians never entered any political comment by him or about him. Conservative leaders from Mulroney through Charest and Harper each had strong religious backgrounds, also not shared by a majority of Canadians. Liberal prime ministers from Trudeau père to Justin were challenged by Catholic activists to “abide by their faith” politically. Each avoided the trap.

Canada has an evolving conviction about faith and politics — and it runs in one direction: separation of church and state. Ironically, Americans have a constitutional sanction against muddling the two and their political drift is in the other direction.

But in Quebec, according to Angus Reid this week, a majority of all voters say a politician’s faith would repel them. This cannot be literally true since it would a very dim bulb voter to not be aware that Justin Trudeau was born and raised Catholic, including attending Catholic schools.

What a more carefully phrased question would probably have elicited is that a majority of Canadians will not support a candidate who makes their faith part of their political persona and agenda.

Our Parliament is made up of Catholics and Protestants, Muslims and Jews, Sikhs and atheists. Clearly, if having a faith was an obstacle to political appeal, none of them would be there. Rather, what Canadians appear to believe is something like: “Your faith is yours to hold. Please do not confuse its values or expectations of its believers, with your commitment to an inclusive, racially and religiously tolerant Canada.”

This creates an enormous dilemma for socially conservative activists of all types, whether Christian, Jewish or followers of political Islam. As Environics has demonstrated in its decadeslong tracking of Canadian values, we are still tending to cohere more closely to the tenets of a progressive liberal democracy. In the U.S., to their cost, differences in values are widening and conflict about them is rising.

So, what is Andrew Scheer to do? For him, it is probably too late, but any politician of his faith and convictions needs to offer this clear, believable assurance to Canadians: “We share political convictions and together we will build a successful government based on them. My faith guides my private life, not my political direction. Period.” If they cannot face a gruelling interview and offer that commitment persuasively, they simply do not have a future in Canadian politics.

Maxime Bernier’s disastrous campaign should be an object lesson to so-cons of all stripes. It won’t sell in Canada, no matter what mealymouthed rhetoric you use to conceal your racially and religiously prejudiced views.

Canadians have a great deal to be proud of in our journey to where we have landed today. In our parents’ lifetimes, open commitment to anti

Semitism, anti-Catholicism, even euphemistic forms of racism were tolerated, and rarely called out. Apart from the few thousand who supported Bernier’s desperate campaign, 99 per cent of Canadians lined up on the other side of the divide he attempted to create.

Shortly after the election, an old Scandinavian friend called to offer his congratulations. As a New Democrat, I observed that my reaction was somewhat less euphoric. His sharp reproach hit me like a brick, “Don’t be so stupid! You are a citizen of the only remaining country in the OECD that does not have a large and growing anti-immigration, anti-refugee party! Celebrate that. It is a national achievement of which to be proud!”

He was right, of course. My overly partisan grump about the outcome blinded me to that much more powerful victory for the future of Canada.

So Conservative activists plotting to kill the king had better ask themselves a deeper question. Can Canadian conservatism find a way back to mainstream values of tolerance and inclusion, and who will be that new conservatism’s best champion? And then move on to joining the 21st century on the climate crisis. To fail at either is to consign your tribe to many years in the wilderness. Robin V. Sears is a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group and was an NDP strategist for 20 years. He is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Twitter: @robinvsears