Canada’s Conservatives Choose Andrew Scheer as Their New Leader
By IAN AUSTENMAY 28, 2017
OTTAWA — Canada’s Conservative Party on Saturday chose a 38-year-old social conservative
and opponent of carbon taxes to lead its campaign against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the next election.
"I don’t like the fact Conservatives have that negative connotation —
that we’re always against things, always ‘tackling’ something, ‘cracking down’ on something, or ‘getting tough’ on something else," he told The National Post, a Toronto newspaper.
With the candidates speaking to the party’s base rather than the general electorate, much of the campaign focused on testing would-be immigrants for "Canadian values," the threat from terrorism
and conservative social issues, rather than broader subjects like the economy.
Speaking to party supporters after Saturday’s victory, Mr. Sheer largely avoided social issues, apart from a promise to end federal grants to universities "that shut down debate
and can’t stand different points of view." He repeated his pledge to repeal Mr. Trudeau’s plan to implement carbon pricing nationwide.
He said the party must accept that same-sex marriage is the law in Canada,
and while he said he would not reopen the abortion debate, he dodged questions about whether he would let other Conservatives introduce anti-abortion bills.