A party seeking increased respect for donor funds and public money surely wouldn’t turn next to one of two former premiers who took extra income from party funds while actually holding power. Nor a former cabinet minister notorious for using a search-and-rescue helicopter for a fishing trip, then enlisting the military in a cover-up. Or even a former prime minister currently leveraging his political connections into a consulting contract from Saskatchewan’s public purse.

Yet those have been among the first possibilities put forward to succeed Scheer, with little apparent pushback. And it’s hard to dispute that in some sense, their resumes — particularly when linked to the exercise of power in the interest of the privileged — are entirely suited to the position.

The Conservative Party of Canada fits neatly within the definition of a modern conservative provided by John Kenneth Galbraith: it’s dedicated to the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. (Or alternatively, the search for a political message which will induce the public to accept selfishness as the basis for governance.)

It then follows that Scheer was ousted not for betraying his party’s values, but for fully embodying them. And we shouldn’t let a moment of performative outrage in the course of an internal power struggle distract us from the form Canadian conservatism has taken.

Fingas: Scheer resignation came with some explanation

During the Conservatives’ leadership campaign, Scheer was identified as spending the most money to run his MP office of any candidate.

After this fall’s federal election failed to produce any clear winners or losers, it came as a surprise when Andrew Scheer resigned from the Conservative leadership this month.