If browbeaten New Brunswick Tories were looking for some daylight in the political wilderness, they may have found it in the affable, perpetually smiling, slightly pudgy visage of 38-year-old Andrew Scheer.
Last weekend, the youthful Member of Parliament for Regina – Qu’Appelle and former Speaker of the House of Commons between 2011 and 2015, squeaked out what most pundits believed was impossible: He became leader of the Conservative Party of Canada at a convention in Mississauga.
The chattering classes were aflutter (or, perhaps, the correct word is ‘atwitter’) about the result as they slipped all over their tongues to confirm that, of course, they actually saw it coming.
Wrote esteemed Globe and Mail political columnist John Ibbitson during the hangover of a long political night of short knives: “Yowser. Conservative voters concluded, by the narrowest of margins, that Andrew Scheer’s sensible conservatism was a safer choice than the dogmatic libertarianism of Maxime Bernier. They are probably right. The genial former Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a seasoning of socially conservative policies, is likely to be more saleable against Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in the next election – much more a Stephen Harper 2.0, but with a smile. Common sense won out over ideology, organization and fundraising. In a mature party, it usually does.”
Naturally, the question is whether this is a mature party. It wasn’t that long ago when Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay shook hands and effectively sacrificed the Progressive Conservative traditions of Eastern Canada’s Red Tory machine (Robert Stanfield, Brian Mulroney) at the alter of the hard-right social predilections of Western Canada’s Reform movement (Preston Manning, Stockwell Day).
By every account (including the one that issues from Mr. Scheer’s own mouth), nothing has changed to alter that agenda. In his victory speech on Saturday, the new kid in town had this to say: “We all know what it looks like when Conservatives are divided; we will not let that happen again. . .I’m here to tell you that the pain and hardship that the Trudeau liberals are causing Canadians is just temporary. . .We are and always will be the party of prosperity not envy, the party that always represents taxpayers not connected Ottawa insiders. . .One of the things that has motivated me is the belief that I cannot allow Justin Trudeau to do the same thing to my five children that his father did to my generation.”
For heaven’s sake, young fellow, you got the job. Let’s start hearing about substantive matters of policy that truly differentiate you and your ostensibly ‘unified’ party from Stephen Harper’s past and Justin Trudeau’s present.
Still, for his part, New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs couldn’t be happier about the outcome.
“His (Scheer’s) views aligned with issues we have,” he told The Telegraph-Journal earlier this week. “I think he resonated with the province. I think he’s recognizing the importance of different industries within the Atlantic region and how devastating massive changes can be. We can’t take the status quo as the only solution but I think he demonstrated a real willingness and desire to make sure that New Brunswick was looked after.”
Oh, sure. I am indefatigably certain that this province’s best economic and social issues figured prominently in this young man’s startlingly successful rise to power. Indeed, I believe I heard the fine, family-oriented fellow mention “New Brunswick” exactly. . .oh, I don’t know. . .zero times.
Brian Gallant has his Justin Trudeau. Now, it appears, Blaine Higgs has his Andrew Scheer.
How’s it all working out for the rest of us?
The Bruce Scribes 