A Rising Star Carries on Stephen Harper’s Conservative Legacy in Canada
MICHAEL TAUBE
38-year-old Andrew Scheer was just elected as the leader of the Conservative party, and has a chance to wield Harper’s small-government vision against Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau. When Canada’s Conservative party picked a new leader on May 27, most political observers believed that the libertarian-leaning Maxime Bernier, a sitting member of parliament and former cabinet minister, would win by a comfortable margin. Instead, the party chose Andrew Scheer, an MP and ex-House speaker whose views more closely align with former prime minister Stephen Harper. On the surface, this may seem like a puzzling decision. The common perception is that Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau won the 2015 federal election by presenting himself as a left-leaning alternative to Harper. And while Trudeau’s political honeymoon is over, he continues to hold solid personal approval ratings (46 percent, according to an April poll by Nanos Research) and remains a strong bet to win the next election in 2019.
Bernier, therefore, seemed to fit the growing international trend of new, dynamic political leaders with moderate fiscal sensibilities and social values. Scheer, a fiscal and social conservative by comparison, appeared to be a step backward in the eyes of some pundits, commentators, and columnists. Appearances can be deceiving, however.
Scheer has been an MP since 2004. At 38, he’s seven years younger than Trudeau, and as a husband and father of five he maintains the same youthful outlook on life as the current PM. His time as deputy speaker (2008–11) and then speaker of the House (2011–15) also worked to his political advantage during the leadership campaign. These are nonpartisan positions without voting privileges, meaning that the bulk of his political career has been spent developing relationships with politicians of different stripes. Most have described him as a thoughtful, pleasant, and intelligent individual. Meanwhile, Scheer’s conservative values are perceived to be the natural continuation of Harper’s political legacy. He’s been called “Stephen Harper with a smile,” and for good reason. Like his predecessor, he believes in small government, lower taxes, cracking down on crime, and greater individual liberty. He wants to reestablish a more muscular foreign policy, getting Canada back into the important fight against radical Islamic terrorism. He also wants to maintain a big-tent party, and recognizes that the Conservatives must continue to expand and broaden their base to ensure long-term political success. Finally, he is on the record as being pro-life and opposed to gay marriage. That being said, he’s also on the record as saying he respects the beliefs of all Canadians on these issues, and has no interest in reopening parliamentary debate on them. In other words, Scheer is willing and able to differentiate the personal from the political when it comes to governing, just as Harper did for nearly a decade as party leader and prime minister. Conservatives who appreciated Harper’s time in office would, therefore, have little reason to be concerned about the prospect of a Scheer government. (As one such Conservative, I was the only member of the Canadian media to endorse him.) And non-Conservative Canadians could find plenty to like about Scheer, too. While Harper didn’t quite achieve his ultimate political goal of breaking down the Liberal hegemony and creating a “conservative Canada,” he made small “c” conservative values more acceptable and politically viable to the general populace. Canadians began to understand that his political vision was positive, forward-thinking, and, above all, inclusive of all walks of life. Some became less fearful of right-leaning policies and more willing to support a right-leaning government. If Scheer continues to walk down this same path — and there’s no reason to think he won’t — he could have success in combating Trudeau’s progressive agenda. He might even prove that the Liberal prime minister’s victory had more to do with voters’ tiring of Harper as a national leader than their tiring of Harper’s political program — and validate the party’s surprise decision to hand him the reins in the process.
— Michael Taube, a Troy Media syndicated columnist and Washington Times contributor, was a speechwriter for former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.
