In Andrew Scheer, Conservatives elect Stephen Harper 2.0 – with a smile
“Trudeau’s Liberals are so focused on photo ops, selfies, that they don’t care if their policies hurt, and not help, the middle class. Sunny ways don’t pay the bills.” Mr. Bernier never said it as well.
.. for anyone who believes that grassroots Conservatives are intolerant, poorly educated and out of touch: Saturday night, almost 50 per cent of them voted for a libertarian lawyer from Quebec.
.. Mr. Bernier’s proposed elimination of a federal role in health care, the planned savage spending cuts, his wish to eviscerate the CBC and CRTC, not to mention ending supply management, were too much. He simply could not attract enough second- or third-ballot support through the 13 rounds of voting.
.. a clean race that produced what, for most, will be a satisfying, or at least I-can-live-with-it, outcome. And they will head into the next election with a united front.
.. The social-conservative wing of the party, rallying to anti-abortion candidate Brad Trost, received a solid 14 per cent of the vote. That said, when it became a four-candidate race, he placed last. Socons will continue to demand a louder voice, and they will remain inside the party, but they will not control it.
Michael Chong, who called for a national carbon tax, placed fifth, affirming that the progressive wing of the Conservative Party is very much in eclipse. But he remains a committed Conservative. The PC wing of the party is still inside the tent.