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WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER6,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO A
A
ndrew Scheer faces a cru-
cial test Wednesday as his
MPs consider adopting a
measure that would give them
the power to oust him as leader
of the Conservatives.
The new Conservative caucus
will meet for the first time since
a disappointing election result in
which the party increased its
seat count but fell short of form-
ing government. Since then, dis-
content with Mr. Scheer’s per-
formance in the election has
grown and some Conservatives
have mused about replacing
him.
Mr. Scheer will face a leader-
ship vote at the party’s April con-
vention in Toronto, but his cau-
cus could give itself the power to
oust him, without consulting
members, at a Wednesday vote
in Ottawa.
After each general election,
the Reform Act requires all party
caucuses to vote on whether to
give themselves the power to fire
their leader.
After the 2015 election, Con-
servatives voted against adopt-
ing that option but sources,
granted confidentiality to speak
about internal party matters, say
MPs are considering adding it to
their toolbox.
The caucus includes MPs and
senators, but only MPs will be
allowed to vote on the issue. The
law requires the vote to be re-
corded, which could be done by
holding an open vote or by hold-
ing a semi-private one, where
just the chair of the meeting
knows how each MP cast their
ballot.
Conservative MP Mark Strahl,
a senior member of Mr. Scheer’s
inner circle, said he hopes MPs
vote against adopting the power
to oust the leader because “our
membership should make deci-
sions on leadership, not 121 peo-
ple in Ottawa.”
“To have an elite group ofmembers of Parliament trying to
overturn a [leadership] decision,
I think, is ill-advised,” Mr. Strahl
said on Tuesday.
Mr. Strahl said he doesn’t see
any scenario where Mr. Scheer
would leave his post before the
April leadership vote from party
members.
He said Mr. Scheer will give a
“strong speech” to caucus on
Wednesday and he expects him
to keep his job and win the next
federal election.
If MPs decide to grant them-
selves this power, then Mr.
Scheer’s fate could be decided
before members vote on his po-
sition in April. The final process
for MPs to oust a leader would be
started by at least 20 per cent of
them requesting a leadership
vote. It would then be voted on
by all Conservative MPs in a se-
cret ballot.
Conservative MP Rachael Har-
der, who said she believes Mr.
Scheer has what it takes to be
prime minister, urged Conserva-
tives to avoid more infighting.
“Unity needs to be our top pri-
ority as we go into this session,”
Ms. Harder said.
Tory Senator Claude Carignan
avoided commenting on wheth-
er Mr. Scheer should stay on. He
told reporters on Tuesday the
Conservative Leader needs to
make changes to his staff and
failing to do so would “send a
bad message.”
“A good leader will surround
himself with very competent
staff,” he said, adding that Mr.
Scheer needs “communications
experts.”He said Mr. Scheer’s handling
of the abortion issue during the
election was “terrible” and his
“hesitation” meant the Tories
lost the campaign in Quebec
within a week of it starting.
While some Conservatives
have privately speculated about
replacing Mr. Scheer, few have
come to his defence in public.
Defeated Conservative MP
Lisa Raitt is an exception and has
been one of Mr. Scheer’s most
vocal supporters since the elec-
tion result of Oct. 21. She con-
demned the “whisper campaign”
that she said is hurting the party.
“I’m not happy with all of this
skulduggery,” Ms. Raitt said. “If
you’re going to say something,
say it and put your name behind
it.”
MP Garnett Genuis said he
thinks the internal unrest is be-
ing driven by people who are an-
gling for Mr. Scheer’s job.
“If you want to be the leader,
and somebody else is the leader,
then obviously you’re going to
be a bit dissatisfied,” Mr. Genuis
said.
As he navigates caucus disap-
pointment in the election, Mr.
Scheer will also embark on a
cross-Canada tour to hear from
the party’s grassroots, the Lead-
er’s office confirmed Tuesday.
The purpose of the meetings
is to understand the feedback
that local campaigns were get-
ting and identify what needs to
change for next time, his office
said.With reports from Janice Dickson,
Robert Fife and Daniel Leblanc.Scheer’sleadershipcouldbetestedincaucusmeeting
MPstovoteonwhether
tograntthemselves
thepowertooustleader,
withsourcessaying
somelawmakersare
consideringvotingyes
MARIEKEWALSHOTTAWA
Discontentwiththe
performanceof
ConservativeLeader
AndrewScheer,seenin
Reginalastmonth,has
increasedwithinthe
partysincetheToriesfell
shortofwinningthe
Octoberfederalelection.
ADRIAN WYLD/
THE CANADIAN PRESSConservative Senator Don Plett,
who is known for not shying away
from a political fight, was elected
the new Opposition Leader in the
Senate in an evening vote Tues-
day.
Mr. Plett, who previously
served officially as party whip,
said his priority is to ensure the
Senate Opposition stays relevant
as he took a shot at Prime Minis-
ter Justin Trudeau, accusing him
of trying to “fracture the Senate”
with his changes, such as ap-
pointing Independent senators.
“To keep the Opposition rele-
vant in this Parliament, to keep
the government’s feet to the fire,
to make sure that the six million
people who voted for the Conser-
vative Party in the last election
are represented from coast to
coast to coast, those I would say
are among my top priorities,” said
Mr. Plett, adding that working
with Conservative Leader
Andrew Scheer and his party are
also on that list.
Conservative senators held an
election for the role of Opposition
leader during their first meeting
since the federal election cam-
paign, which had triggered the
dissolution of key leadership po-
sitions on the Conservative side
of the Senate.
Senators had until last
Wednesday to indicate whether
they wanted to run for several po-
sitions and Mr. Plett and Senator
David Wells put their names for-
ward for the top position. Larry
Smith, former Opposition leader
in the Senate, said last week that
he would not seek re-election.
Mr. Plett acknowledged after
the vote that he may not have
been successful if it hadn’t been
for Mr. Smith, who allowed him to
take on many leadership roles
while he was serving as whip.
In an interview with The Globe
and Mail in June, Mr. Plett said he
met regularly on his own with the
Government Representative in
the Senate, Peter Harder, and
helped decide which senators sit
on committees – roles that would
typically be the responsibility of
the Opposition leader in the
Senate.
“I want to thank Senator Smith
for giving me the opportunity to
do what I did in the last Parlia-
ment. He could have chosen not
to give me that opportunity, and
who knows, today, things may
have been different as a result of
that. But he put his confidence in
me, he saw that there was certain
gifts and talents that I brought to
the table and he allowed me to
exercise those and indeed I tried
my best and I think some of that
paid off today,” he said.
The Senate leadership election
comes on the eve of the first Con-
servative national caucus meet-
ing since an election that many in
the party felt they should have
won.
When asked whether he feels
Mr. Scheer has the full support of
the Conservative caucus, Mr. Plett
wouldn’t answer directly, only
saying that his focus on Tuesday
was about electing a leader in the
Senate, and that Mr. Scheer has
his “personal support.”
Mr. Plett said that his advice for
Mr. Scheer ahead of Wednesday’s
meeting would be to “stay true to
himself,” and that “now isn’t a
time to do anything but to stay
true to your beliefs and move for-
ward.”
While Mr. Plett would not an-
swer questions about what he
thought went wrong for the Con-
servative campaign, he told re-
porters that the Tories’ election
results in some regions were “be-
cause of some of the folks in your
industry.”
Mr. Plett said the media were
not the Conservatives’ “best
friend” in the election and that
Conservatives have never been
shy about saying so.Conservativespicknew
OppositionLeaderinSenate
JANICEDICKSONOTTAWA
NEWS |