The new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada has many challenges right now but once of the most important is to bring his caucus together. That is the fundamental building block on which he can unite and grow the party.
There are many talented and experienced members in the CPC caucus whose unique abilities can be utilized to work towards the goal of putting a fresh face on the party and re-energizing the conservative base – and indeed the whole country.
The challenge is to provide an alternative to the Liberal tax-and-spend agenda, and yet still be empathetic to the needs of Canadians.
I believe Andrew Scheer and his team can do that. Of course the Liberals and media will nitpick and try to stoke fear. But the truth will be there for anyone to see.
Andrew Scheer will demonstrate that he and the party have a vision to improve life in Canada – rather than Justin Trudeau’s desperate ploys to cling onto power for his own glory. I have faith that Canadian voters will see through the sham that is this Liberal government.
Blue Like You2 
yes and the Liberals seem to think they can stoke fear with the abortion issue, which I don’t think has any place in Parliament. How many Liberals are against it too and we don’t hear about social Liberals all the time. I’m tired of that issue.
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I’m probably one of those social conservatives who feels uncomfortable with our complete lack of laws concerning abortion. However until the general public becomes more engaged with this issue it’s a non-starter. What I would like to see though is more transparency in statistics about late-term abortions. It’s very difficult to get accurate information.
Andrew Scheer has stated he will allow his pro-life MPs some latitude to express themselves which I think is good. If the CPC becomes government I doubt Scheer would support any reopening of the debate on an official level. It would be pointless unless and until Canadians become more vocal about it. And I doubt that will ever happen.
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Like you, I doubt that there will be a turnaround among the public on conscience issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia. To be frank, I was not aware that there are no restrictions on when an abortion can be performed until I started reading your blog, Jo — and probably most Canadians still don’t know that. Regardless — I don’t see a sudden groundswell to at least put in some limits, like on gender-selection abortions, so Mr. Scheer should steer clear of those unwinnable topics. However, he should definitely push back when the media & his opponents (is that redundant?) misrepresent his and the CPC’s position.
What I find laughable is how progressives point to the pope’s authoritative voice when he pronounces on climate change yet turn their backs on him when it comes to the conscience issues. Consistent, eh?
I give progressives full-marks, though, on their communications strategy (yes, I apologize — it’s my obsession). It’s “a woman’s right to choose” “equal marriage” “assisted dying” It all sounds so benign!
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A comment I left earlier seems to have disappeared, where I don’t know, so I’ll try again … but I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a double posting.
Like you, Joanne, I doubt that there will be a turnaround among the public on conscience issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia. To be frank, I was not aware that there are no restrictions on when an abortion can be performed until I started reading your blog, Jo — and probably most Canadians still don’t know that. Regardless — I don’t see a sudden groundswell to at least put in some limits, like on gender-selection abortions, so Mr. Scheer should steer clear of those unwinnable topics. However, he should definitely push back when the media & his opponents (is that redundant?) misrepresent his and the CPC’s position.
What I find laughable is how progressives point to the pope’s authoritative voice when he pronounces on climate change yet turn their backs on him when it comes to the conscience issues. Consistent, eh?
I give progressives full-marks, though, on their communications strategy (yes, I apologize — it’s my obsession). It’s “a woman’s right to choose” “equal marriage” “assisted dying” It all sounds so benign!
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While a bit off topic, things are looking interesting provincially. The PC’s just picked up Sault Ste. Marie in the by-election and this is riding we came in third the last two times and struggled to get 10%. Looks like Wynne’s desperation with things like minimum wage increase to $15/hour in 18 months isn’t working as the Liberals came a distant third. I thought Brown handled it quite well as I think this was a trap the Liberals were trying to throw him and so far unlike Hudak he seems to be good at avoiding every trap they’ve thrown him. Otherwise he said he was not against raising to $15/hour just felt it was done way too quickly for businesses to handle. Also out here on the Left Coast it looks like we are going to be getting an NDP-Green coalition so hang on to your wallets for BC residents. At least it is razor thin so hopefully it doesn’t last more than a year or two.
As for Scheer, I think there is no reason he cannot bring the party together whereas I think had someone like Leitch or Trost won or heck even Bernier it might have been a bit harder. My suggestions is to include as many of the candidates as possible in the shadow cabinet. Below would be my suggestions:
Maxime Bernier – Industry critic
Erin O’Toole – Defence critic
Brad Trost – Western diversification critic
Michael Chong – Democratic Reform critic
Kellie Leitch – Seniors issues critic
Lisa Raitt – Transport critic
Steve Blaney – Public safety critic
Deepak Obrhai – International development critic
I only included those in caucus and for finance which is the big one I think Gerald Detell is doing an outstanding job never mind he is from Quebec where we want to gain next election.
Finally in other news I was quite happy with how big the PC gains were in Nova Scotia in the recent provincial election. Yes we came up short, but unlike the Liberals and NDP who lost votes, we gained 9% so maybe there is hope things are turning in Atlantic Canada.
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Thanks for the info about the Soo by-election. Wow that is fantastic! So Wynne has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this and it’s still not working. And it’s almost too late for her to resign now. Interesting!
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Tried twice to post a comment but it didn’t get through. Did not show as being in moderation. Yet the “details” boxes recognize me, without my needing to write the details in.
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Mmm… OK Thanks for letting me know Gabby. Obviously there are a few bugs to work out. Thanks for being persistent.
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I feel more like a pest rather than “being persistent” ;-(
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Not at all. You were the one that alerted me to the security breach in the other blog and I thank you for that. Please let me know if you have anymore issues leaving a reply. Not sure if I can solve the problem but I do want to be made aware of it. Thanks Gabby.
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Don’t want to sound like a pest either, but noticed your blog wasn’t showing in Blogging Tories which I think would bring more traffic. Not sure if they are still adding blogs or is it only those added earlier.
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No problem Miles. I do appreciate you and Gabby pointing out issues that need to be addressed. If you look on the far left sidebar on the BT blogroll you’ll see BlueLikeYou listed but the aggregator isn’t picking up new posts. I think I know what the problem is there but I’ll have to wait until I have time to address it. Thanks.
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Thank you for your patience & your much appreciated welcoming stance. In my case, maybe I’ll try shorter comments to see if that helps. The ones that have disappeared were lengthier than this one, living up to my gab-gab-gab moniker.
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Oh boy. You know what happened? Three of your comments ended up in spam and I have no idea why! I’ll approve them now.
And don’t worry about the “gab” my friend. 😉
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OK I’ll have to remember to check the spam filter regularly. It is a tad over-conscientious. 😉
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Thanks, Joanne.
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Hi Joanne, it’s lovely to hear from you again. I like Twitter, but I find it very addictive and a real timewaster, so have given it up.
I realize most of you guys are easterners, but I would be interested in any comments about the recent fiasco that was the BC election. West coast politics are always wacky, but we seem to have outdone ourselves this time.
Currently the Liberals have the most seats with 43, although the NDP and Greens ( 41 + 3)have announced they will “work together” . Premier Clark will recall the Legislature later this month and force the opposition to defeat her before they can take power, so they are getting pretty frustrated with her as they are itching to get going and cancel all the pipelines, dam construction etc. as soon as possible. Meanwhile there is the small problem of a Speaker to be elected. The Liberals have said they will not put forward anyone, which means the Opposition will have to do so, which means there will be a tie in the House. The Speaker will have to break the tie, but convention dictates that he support the government, currently Christy Clark, and vote in favour of the status quo currently the Liberals. While the Speaker could possibly break with tradition on the odd occasion, it is not seen as a feasible, or in fact legitimate way of running a province. Add in the fact the Rachel Notley the NDP government in Alberta is spitting fire and venom at the thought that a fellow NDP government in BC might hold up her pipeline, and things are getting quite interesting here. And then of course there is the conundrum Justin now finds himself in. He has approved the pipeline and now has to pick a side between Alberta and BC, not to mention appeasing the Greens and the indigenous peoples. Lots of fun !
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I now live in BC and yeah it is a bit of a mess. My understanding on the speaker is one of two things will happen:
1. BC Liberals put up a speaker, but once defeated on the throne speech, the speaker resigns forcing the NDP to put up one.
2. The NDP puts up one on the condition they break tradition and vote down the throne speech.
Interesting times ahead, but with how shaky the alliance is, think the odds of them making the full four years is unlikely. Don’t like it one bit, but 2 years of NDP is not as bad as 4 years as its enough time to remind people why they don’t belong in government, but not long enough to do too much damage. I think the BC Liberals shouldn’t try to bring the government down in the first year as this would just lead to a backlash and an NDP majority, but after that don’t hesitate to try.
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Hi Jad! Good to hear from you too! I don’t know which province is worse off right now – Ontario or BC. Yikes!
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I would say Ontario is worse off as the Green-NDP alliance still hasn’t yet formed government although almost certainly will. In many ways BC is like Ontario in 2003 when the OLP came to office. Hopefully we won’t have to endure 15 years of them. That being said if Patrick Brown wins and does a good job Ontario might be 2020 look more attractive. Certainly in the 90s when Ontario had Harris and we had the NDP Ontario was better off. It looks like Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and maybe Quebec are the only one’s with some level of fiscal sanity. Any thoughts on how best to turn around the leftward trend we’ve seen over the past few years?
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Any thoughts on how best to turn around the leftward trend we’ve seen over the past few years?
Miles, I keep trusting the pendulum theory – that things eventually swing back to centre. We are so far left in this country that I can’t fathom it going any further.
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I agree with that, I guess the real question is how soon that will be. I am hopeful it is in the next couple of years. I think Alberta and Ontario elections will be the first real test is at the moment things like good to swing rightward, but don’t want to pop the champagne until it actually happens. I will admit the age gap is worrying too. Not sure how much you are following the election across the pond, but there the Conservatives are expected to win a larger majority, however Labour under hard core leftist Jeremy Corbyn has a massive lead amongst millennials. Hopefully our millennials when they see how the left fails to live up to its hype will swing back much like Baby Boomers did.
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Oh oh! Looks like trouble ahead for Andrew Scheer. Via a commenter at SDA:
The Conservatives are whipped to vote with the governing Liberals agreeing on a motion re: the Paris Accord.
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new site looks great hope to see lots of discussions I missed your input
fh
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Thanks fh. Well we’ll see how it goes and how much time I have to devote to this.
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