OTTAWA, Ont. — Andrew Scheer will step down as leader of the Conservative party once a new leader is chosen.
Scheer, MP for the Saskatchewan riding of Regina-Qu'Appelle and former Speaker of the House of Commons, rose on a point of personal privilege Thursday to announce his decision. He had told his caucus earlier in the day.
He said he has asked the party’s national council to immediately begin organizing a leadership election. He will stay on as party leader and leader of the official opposition until the process has been completed.
“Serving as leader of the party that I love so much has been the opportunity and challenge of a lifetime,” Scheer told his colleagues.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly, this is a decision I came to after many long, hard conversations with friends and family over the past two months since the election campaign.”
Scheer ended his speech with a call for unity.
“Our party is not a cult of personality. It's not shaped by whoever’s name is on the masthead but by the hundreds and thousands of Conservatives who have pounded lawn signs, sit on their riding associations and donate a few dollars every month,” he said.
“As our party begins on this exciting opportunity of electing a new leader, my only ask to my fellow Conservatives is this: let’s stay united.”
Scheer’s resignation announcement was met with applause from all sides of the House. Following his speech, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet all stood to offer their best wishes.
This was the most difficult decision I have ever had to make. I have announced my intention to step down as the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada once a new Leader is elected. I am putting my party first and my family first. WATCH LIVE: En direct: ce fut la decision la plus difficile que j’ai eu à prendre. J’ai annoncé mon intention de quitter la direction du Parti conservateur du Canada suite à l’élection du prochain chef. Je mets les intérêts de ma famille et mon parti en priorité.
Posted by Andrew Scheer on Thursday, December 12, 2019
Allegations during exit
What many have called a disappointing performance in the October election led to a lot of speculation about Scheer’s future as leader. He was already set for a mandatory leadership review in April.
In his seven-minute speech to the House of Commons, Scheer said he believed the decision was best for the party, but also that it was time to put his wife and five children first.
“This has been an incredible challenge for our family to keep up with the pace that is required to lead a caucus and a party into a general election, and my wife, Jill, has been absolutely heroic,” he said.
“But in order to chart the course ahead, this party, this movement, needs someone who can give 100 per cent to the effort. I felt it was time to put my family first.”
But by early Thursday afternoon, media outlets were reporting a different reason for the resignation.
Global’s Mercedes Stephenson first reported that several Conservative sources had revealed Scheer had been using Conservative party money to pay for his children's private school education.
Sources told Global that expenditures were made without the knowledge or approval of the fund board, prompting calls for his immediate resignation.
As of Thursday afternoon, Scheer had not commented on the allegations, but Conservative Party of Canada executive director Dustin van Vugt dismissed any wrongdoing in a statement.
“As is the normal practice for political parties, the party offered to reimburse some of the costs associated with being a national leader and relocating the family to Ottawa. Shortly after Mr. Scheer was elected leader, we had a meeting where I made a standard offer to cover costs associated with moving his family from Regina to Ottawa. This includes a differential in schooling costs between Regina and Ottawa,” van Vugt stated.
“All proper procedures were followed and signed off on by the appropriate people.”
Dalhousie political sociologist Howard Ramos said while it’s too early to tell if any misappropriation of funds occurred, the fact the story was leaked to the media is proof of deep internal divisions in the Conservative party, and that insiders were working to push Scheer out of the leadership.
“It's surprising to see that he is accused of using party funds to send his kids to private school. At the same time, there's a lot of ambiguity over how expenses are covered by parties and it's not uncommon to have these kinds of scandals. The lines can often be blurred,” he said.
Chris d’Entremont, newly elected Conservative MP for the Nova Scotia riding of West Nova, did not comment on the allegations, but said the resignation came as a shock.
“The guy has given a lot over the last number of years. He aspired as a young elected official to be a leader, to be a prime minister, and he came so close,” d’Entremont said.
Finding a replacement
Social media was quickly rife with speculation Thursday on who might replace Scheer. Former interim leader Rona Ambrose, longtime MP Pierre Poilievre, Stephen Harper, former CPC leadership hopeful Maxime Bernier and even Don Cherry and Jordan Peterson were among the names swirling around.
Longtime Central Nova MP and former Tory cabinet minister Peter MacKay has long been a favourite to lead the party. Speculation about a MacKay leadership bid has been in the air since he announced before the 2015 election that he was stepping away from politics.
Rumours came to a head in October when several media outlets reported he was organizing a leadership bid. During a post-election interview with SaltWire, MacKay dismissed those rumours, however, saying he was happy practising law and spending time with his young family.
"My life is very full and I’m not pining away for politics,” he said at that time.
MacKay was also forced to clarify comments he made during a panel discussion where he said Scheer gave away votes during the election by failing to clarify his stance on same-sex marriage and abortion.
Those issues “hung around Andrew Scheer’s neck like a stinking albatross," he said, calling the party’s loss “like having a breakaway on an open net and missing the net.”
MacKay later backtracked on the comments and said he continued to support Scheer.
Ramos agreed that MacKay could be a possible contender to lead the party if he is interested in the job.
“I’m also curious what will happen with people like (Ontario Premier) Doug Ford or (Alberta Premier) Jason Kenney,” he said.
“Jason Kenney said he's not interested, but it's one thing to say that when there's not a position open versus when it is open,” Ramos said.
He also cited Ambrose and former leadership hopeful Lisa Raitt, who lost her seat in the October election, as names to watch.
“(They) might be able to bring in some of the Progressive Conservative voters and more centre voters and shift the party back to the middle way from where it was before,” he said.
At press time, there were reports the Conservative caucus was holding an emergency meeting Thursday night.
According to a Conservative member quoted on Twitter, caucus voted to keep Scheer as interim leader.
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