MPs Weigh In on New Tory Leader
Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer was elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on Saturday.
Prince George, B.C. – The Conservative Party of Canada has chosen a 38-year-old parliamentarian representing the Saskatchewan riding of Regina-QU’Appelle as its new leader, the first MP from that province to hold the position since John Diefenbaker led the party from 1956 through 1967.
Social conservative Andrew Scheer was elected leader at the party’s convention in Toronto on Saturday, coming through on the 13th and final ballot to edge Quebec MP Maxime Bernier by a margin of 50.95 percent to 49.05. Bernier had led on every ballot from the first with Scheer holding a firm grip in second spot throughout. It was not until that final ballot, after third-placed Erin O’Toole dropped off, that his 21.26 percent support was carried to the two remaining contenders and pushed Scheer over the top.
Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer had backed Scheer, former
Speaker of the House. Zimmer says “we always were confident that Andrew would be the leader of the Conservative Party and be the best choice. It’s a great pleasure to be part of that team. To see him slowly close the lead and then on the final ballot to actually win was an incredible thing to watch.”
“I’m more than happy for Andrew and what Rona (Ambrose) has done up til now, too, as that compassionate conservative and Andrew will continue along that same line of compassionate conservatism.”
Zimmer calls Scheer, who was born in Ottawa but now represents a Saskatchewan riding, “a bit of a mix. He’s got a really good understanding of the French language and he’s a perfect mix of Ontario and the west that I think we’re looking for in Ottawa. You need to understand the whole country.”
Zimmer sees Scheer’s youthful 38 years as a strength heading toward an election in 2019. “He’s younger than Trudeau (and his family) are just down-to-earth people. I always say we need more normal people in Ottawa and Andrew definitely fits that bill.”
Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty backed third-place finisher Erin O’Toole in the race.
Coming out of the convention he says “we’ve got a united caucus that’s strong, and Justin better watch out for Monday because we’re coming at him. We’ve got our leader in place, Rona Ambrose has done a great job (as interim leader) and now Andrew is going to lead us through to 2019 and will be the next Prime Minister of Canada.”
Doherty says the new leader’s message is that regardless of who you are and what your beliefs are, there’s room in the party for everyone. “We need to move forward as a unified team and welcome to all, our doors are open.”
And he thinks Scheer has a full understanding of western concerns. “Oh absolutely, here’s a guy from Regina-Qu’Appelle, he is for all intents and purposes a western MP, and let’s not forget that after the loss in 2015 Andrew was a part of our leadership team, getting us ready to go and moving us forward.”
“I’m pretty sure that with the right mix, the right balance in terms of our caucus he’s going to be very well aware of all the issues and challenges, not just in western Canada but clear across Canada.”
Where does Doherty see himself fitting into Scheer’s plans? “Well, I hope that the work that we’ve done over the last 18, 19 months has proven that we’re a strong voice in our caucus, that we’re not afraid to do heavy lifting. Whether I stay on as critic for Fisheries and as the national voice for softwood, I’m hoping that that’s the case, I guess we’ll see.”
“I’m looking forward to our first caucus meeting Monday morning.”
Comments
Lives in Ottawa but his riding is in Saskatchewan? Bet ya that costs us tens of thousand in travel expenses a yr..
Then my fav. ” he is younger than Trudeau… yet during the entire election the cons where saying he. Wasn’t ready etc etc.. and so they bring in a younger guy..lol.. pathetic
Trudeau was never the Speaker of the House of Commons, and if that’s not a job that would make an MP ‘ready’ to go on to be Prime Minister, what is?
Speaker of the house.. a lump of wood can do that job.. lol..but then again, most cons seems to be lumps of coal..so it works for them I guess ;)
As long as he wants to invade our privacy, take away our rights he will fit perfectly with harpers goals.
So tell me, socredible, how many of the 36 speakers of the house we have had to date went on to become one of the 23 PMs of Canada?
Not a single one …….
I rest my case …….
Obviously the facts of history to not agree with your opinion based on what rationale, exactly?
;-)
Well，gopg2015, one of the great (and, in my humble opinion, unjustified) criticisms of former PM Harper was that he wouldn’t listen to opposing viewpoints, that he was a ‘control freak’, that with him it was ‘my way or the highway’. So here the Conservatives now have a new leader in Scheer who HAD TO listen to opposing viewpoints impartially as Speaker, and often make unbiased rulings on them. And that would seem to me to indicate a difference those that were so against Harper might appreciate, once he becomes our next PM.
“Born in Ottawa” does not translate into “lives in Ottawa”. Lots of us don’t live anywhere near our place of birth.
Especially not in Canada.
Canadians are nomads …. :-)
As a Green , he is the perfect choice . His back ground and his consistent voting in the house on the Wrong side of history will swell the green party with the small c conservatives that will have no home in his party of NO . It’ll be a repeat of BCelex17 . I can hardly wait . The bc greens didn’t take votes from the ndp . They got the bump from BC small C conservatives in the libcons party .
As for Scheer.. I hope he enjoys all the butt kissing.. we see it here already from Zimmer and Doherty..
We will have to wait to see how Scheer comes across. Harper will be a hard act to follow.
He certainly was a hard act to follow.
Trump will be a hard act to follow as well.
;-)
Yeah.. to breach our privacy, drive hugely deep in debt, take away women’s rights.. ignore the missing , murdered women, ignore the problems on reserves.. etc etc
It’s not hard being that incompetent… trumps doing it easily.
“he is for all intents and purposes a western MP”
No he is not …. he is a prairie MP ….. that is a far cry from a West Coast MP.
That is like saying that an MLA from the Interior of BC is the same as a GVRD and Island MP. Totally different solitudes.
This is a large country. Too many of our MPs as well as MLAs forget that.
No one can be all things to all people. Trudeau is a Quebec MP who might have some appreciation of the thinking of some of the people of BC, particularly of the Lower Mainland, since he once lived there for awhile. Scheer grew up in Ontario, and is now a resident of more rural Saskatchewan.
He wouldn’t have any less a ‘solitudinous’ attitude than Trudeau, and if he follows Harper’s lead in trying to keep the Federal government out of Provincial affairs and minding the business of the nation as a whole as intended constitutionally, he’ll build a very unified and prosperous country.
It’s with sheer delight that I see Scheer as the Conservative Leader and potential Prime Minister. I thought he did a good job on his acceptance speech, great to see such a young man willing to step into the political arena and help build a better Canada. Obviously from some of the negative comments above, he is doing a good job from the get go. One thing about politics, you can never make everyone happy.
One thing about politics, you can never make everyone happy.
Interestingly, neither can authors, film directors, artists, singers, musicians …..
Come to think if it, is there anyone in the world who can make everyone happy.
Even Robin Williams could not do that, but he sure had a good go at it. :-)
P Val cant seem to understand that Trudeau and his MP’s voted for Bill C-51.
During the election he said that he would make some changes to C-51. Canadians are still waiting.
The Liberals were going to scrap the F-35 fighter jet program, I see that last week they quietly put another $35 Million into the F-35 program.
There are many other promises made by the Liberals that they have yet to keep, however it seems they are now well on their way to sell off the assets of the Country to their buddies. ie; Airports, Ports, Infrastructure etc;
And we’ll get to pay again for that which has already been paid for. Just like we’d still be paying a toll to drive over the Coquihalla, for the next four decades, if Campbell had sold, er, leased the road to a private operator. A road that former Premier Bill Bennett mentioned in a rare public interview , back during the ‘decade of despair’ of the ’90’s, that the tolls had already paid for! But then that’s Liberal Parties for you, the party of the debt dealers.
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