New Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer seems to embrace the notion he is 鈥淪tephen Harper with a smile鈥� but says Canadians will see a much different style from him as he leads his party into the next election more than two years down the road.
鈥淢y approach will be different and I can connect with Canadians in a different way and bring out the positive aspects of Conservative policies,鈥� Scheer told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning Monday.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the things that has frustrated me in the past with conservatives of different levels at various times. We have such a great story to tell. What鈥檚 better for low-income Canadians than a Conservative Party that鈥檚 always focusing on increasing prosperity, attracting investment, making it easier for businesses to hire and expand? What鈥檚 worse than a Liberal government that鈥檚 driving away investment, raising taxes and making it harder for those families to make ends meet to get to the end of the month?鈥�
Scheer will be tasked with taking on Justin Trudeau鈥檚 Liberals in 2019. He faces big challenges, including being relatively unknown to the electorate and trying to unite a divided party, which saw a leader chosen by the slimmest of margins and infighting following the vote. The Conservatives are also now faced with a new pro-libertarian group launched by a former aide to leadership candidate Maxime Bernier.
Scheer is now on a cross-Canada tour aimed at raising his profile among Canadians.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got two years to make a case to Canadians about how the Conservative party can make Canada鈥檚 economy more dynamic and restore some sanity for taxpayers,鈥� said Scheer, 38, the surprise winner in the May 27 leadership vote.
Bernier was long considered the front-runner in a crowded race that at its peak included 14 candidates. Scheer eked out the narrowest of victories.
Though he may not be a household name, Scheer has held some high-profile posts and is among one of the longest-serving Conservative MPs. He was elected in 2004 to his Regina riding at the age of 25 and named Speaker of the House in 2011, making him the youngest to hold that post in Canadian history.
He鈥檚 also been chair of the powerful Board of Internal Economy, which oversees the operations of Parliament and was named Conservative House leader by interim Tory leader Rona Ambrose in 2015. Scheer, a father of five, is generally thought of as a nice guy, even in the heat of politics, who is able to connect with ordinary Canadians.
He鈥檚 also socially conservative. He was raised in Ottawa by his Catholic parents; his mother, a nurse and his father, a librarian in the Ottawa Citizen鈥檚 newsroom. Despite his own personal views on the issues, Scheer has vowed he will not reopen debate on abortion, same-sex marriage or granting human rights protection to transgender people if he became prime minister.
He did not attend Toronto鈥檚 Pride parade, carrying on the tradition of Harper. Trudeau was the first sitting PM to march in the parade in 2016. When asked whether marching in the parade might have been a smart symbolic move, he said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of different ways to show our support for fundamental human rights and making sure that Canada鈥檚 society treats everyone equally. The Pride parade is one that many people choose to use to express their support. There are others way to do that.鈥�
Scheer says he will demand all MPs stand up in the House of Commons when it resumes sitting to publicly express their stance on the controversial $10.5-million payout to Omar Khadr.
鈥淐onservatives will be expressing our sympathy for the real victims in this whole tragic ordeal and that鈥檚 the Speer family, the family of Christopher Speer, the medic who was killed on the battlefield. And Omar Khadr has confessed to doing that.鈥�
He also believes it鈥檚 time Canada鈥檚 indigenous and northern affairs minister decides whether a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women requires a 鈥渃omplete reset.鈥� Some families have called for a reboot of the process after the resignation of one of the five commissioners and a number of staff.
鈥淭here has been a lot of money spent so far,鈥� said Scheer. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of emotional engagement by the First Nations community. We don鈥檛 want to have to restart that process if we don鈥檛 have to.鈥�
He says his riding includes 12 First Nations reserves, making him well aware of concerns for those living both on and off reserves.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where a lot of the conversation, I think, needs to focus on. What is causing people to lose contact or go missing? How can the community, both on and off reserve, better support these families and what kind of strategies can be employed by our police services and things like that.鈥�
