I hate to say it, but Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer has to go. And in light of the delicate nature of today’s minority government situation, he needs to depart the political scene very soon.
Yes, the Conservatives boosted their seat total, bested Justin Trudeau in the popular vote and reduced the federal Liberals to a minority government. But the party faithful had their minds and hearts set on a majority Conservative government.
In fact, there should be little doubt that the 2019 federal election was well within the party’s grasp from the outset. And given the many problems that plagued the Trudeau-led Liberals, the Grits were clearly ripe for the picking.
Indeed, the Conservatives may not have such a favourable alignment of the electoral stars the next time around. They certainly won’t be able to take advantage of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, the disturbing blackface and brownface photos or even the TMX pipeline issue.
The fact of the matter is that the Scheer-led Conservatives did not make a dent in the Liberal fortress in Toronto and the 905 area code region, garnered only a few more seats in British Columbia and did not make the expected gains in Atlantic Canada. Moreover, the party — even though it had recruited a large number of so-called “star candidates”— barely held on to their 10 seats in Quebec.
You have to believe that there are people within the party who are now asking themselves some very tough questions about Scheer’s political shelf life. Re-elected Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, who represents the southern Ontario riding of Sarnia-Lambton, put her finger on it: “If you can’t beat Justin Trudeau with those things so up front, I think that’s not great. I think we need to ask ourselves, ‘What happened in Ontario? Why did we not win the number of seats we wanted to win in the Atlantic provinces?’”
So, why didn’t the Conservatives win enough seats to form a government? And how did they squander this golden opportunity to displace the hapless Trudeau Liberals?
[…]
See Also:
(2) Scheer spoke to Harper after election loss, vows leadership review will proceed
(3) The Tories need a new leader
The professor of political science, author of this piece, should read this op-ed by former Finance Minister Joe Oliver:
https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/joe-oliver-liberals-have-a-lot-of-nerve-advising-conservatives-to-boot-out-andrew-scheer
“Liberals have a lot of nerve advising Conservatives to boot out Andrew Scheer
Tories shouldn’t care a whit about advice from opponents who should be thinking long and hard about their own leader after his rejection by two-thirds of the electorate …”
Admittedly, Andrew Scheer is not as strong a leader as Stephen Harper was. Probably, the same critics who accused Stephen Harper of being too much of a control freak are now lamenting the fact Scheer doesn’t have an equally tight grasp on his caucus. And all the rumours swirling around about the need for a new leader could be “progressives” (like the political science professor) posing as conservatives who would like to see the Conservative Party relegated to third party status, leaving the field unhindered to implementing the “progressive” ideology that favours shutting down Canada’s resource sector. Add to those factions some disgruntled Maxime Bernier supporters still sore that Scheer won the leadership by a whisker, and you’ve got a recipe for a dysfunctional party.
So, why didn’t Scheer manage to win a majority? A possible explanation: Previous to his becoming leader, Scheer was Deputy Speaker and eventually became Speaker of the House. That position entails being on reasonably good terms with all sides of the aisle — even though he was accused of pro-Conservative decisions, according to the Wiki article on him. That prior conciliatory demeanor, with his dimpled smile, initially did not create an image of a resolute leader. In addition, what IMO was a tepid defence of his personal religious beliefs — with the media’s obsession demanding he prove how his views had “evolved” — made him look misleading, if not unconvincing. On the other hand, the aggressive approach he adopted in his opening salvo of the English debate “Mr Trudeau you are a phoney and you are a fraud and you do not deserve to govern this country” did not produce the desired effect.
As I’ve commented before elsewhere, despite some of my disagreements with Mr. Scheer’s position, I would much rather have him in the PMO than the failed teacher/thespian sitting there now. Mr. Scheer should be given a chance to grow into the role of PM.