Andrew Scheer presented the façade of party unity when he emerged from a marathon caucus meeting on Wednesday.
“The whole team knows that Conservatives only succeed when they work together and remain united,” he said.
It’s true that the caucus was unified behind the idea that the party’s membership, not its elected members, should hold the leader to account. But that was where consensus ended.
The meeting didn’t last seven hours because MPs were lauding the leader and his team.
There are very real concerns among MPs from Ontario in particular, that the party will be reduced to a rump in Canada’s largest province, if major changes are not introduced by Scheer – or possibly his successor. The loss of Milton, a riding formerly held by Lisa Raitt, is seen as a harbinger by MPs with commuter belt constituencies who have seen their vote share dip in successive elections since 2011.
Sources said just about every MP took to the microphone and there was widespread dissatisfaction with Scheer’s suggestion, expressed in his press conference, that the problem with the election campaign was simply a failure to communicate. “Sometimes our message didn’t resonate with Canadians,” he told reporters.
One MP said he came out of the meeting less confident that when he went in. “The leader and his team are doubling down and at this early stage there are no signs he’s going to change,” he said.
[…]
See Also:
(1) Scheer missed obvious opportunities to gain votes
(2) Right Now: Conservatism in Canada is on the edge. We need bold new ideas
(3) Asking a politician about sin takes us to new and dangerous territory
(4) Alberta Plans Law to Shield People Using Force for Home Defence
