CPC = Cheating Party of Canada
Andrew Scheer has begun his stint as Conservative leader with a Howdy-Doody smile — and an epical face-plant.
Despite serious questions being raised about whether the vote that put him in Stornaway was rigged, the 38-year-old political lifer maintains it’s a party matter.
The logic behind that posture is seriously skewed. It goes something like this: since the CPC ran the convention, and the CPC has publicly stood behind the result, it’s none of his business to comment on the possibility that his victory may not only be tainted, but invalid. Pontius Pilate couldn’t have said it better.
Sadly for Scheer, nothing could be further from the truth. One of the reasons that Stephen Harper’s regime was turfed in 2015 was that the Canadians had had enough lies, corruption, and ideology imported from the U.S. Republican Party to last them a lifetime. Who will be more deeply forgotten in a few years than politicians like Kellie Leitch and Chris Alexander, and all that they say they stand for?
Scheer has seemingly missed the obvious. The most important thing for any new leader is to announce through his actions, not merely his words, that a fresh start is underway.
Paul Martin knew that when he called a public inquiry into the ad sponsorship scandal upon replacing Jean Chrétien as Liberal leader. Yes, it killed his prime ministership. But it also made party renewal — and a candidate like Justin Trudeau — possible. It did that by publicly bringing closure to the Liberals’ terrible abuses of power. Had Martin hidden, instead of faced those problems, the Grits would probably still be sitting on the other side of the House of Commons wondering if they would ever have chauffeurs again.
In Scheer’s case, showing that he represents a fresh start is already difficult. From a policy point of view, he presents as a social conservative. He will have nothing new to offer Canadians other than the Harper agenda delivered with a smile — tax cuts, a balanced budget within two years of his election, (hold the laughter), bombers back to Iraq and Syria, smaller government, and a Leave-it-to-Beaver vision of the world.
It should be noted, in fairness, that Scheer has proposed putting flags of origin on gas pumps. His supporters can only hope he will soon begin speaking in his Big Boy voice.
So let it be said: being a Harper acolyte will surely not help Scheer create the sense of a new policy beginning for a hopelessly out of touch party. But not caring enough about whether the recent convention was on the up and up could kill him.
No comments:
Post a Comment