Andrew Scheer was elected last Saturday as the new leader of the Conservative Party, Canada’s Official Opposition, in a membership vote. His victory, largely thanks to appeals to social conservatives and a brazen defence of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s hard-right record, brings an end to a campaign which saw the Conservatives move still further right.
Scheer, a Saskatchewan MP and former House of Commons Speaker, has cast himself as “Harper with a smile.” On the 13th ballot he secured 51 percent support, in an electoral system that gave each constituency equal weight irrespective of the number of Conservative voters. He defeated Maxime Bernier, a self-avowed libertarian and Harper cabinet minister who had led on all previous 12 ballots.
Scheer’s campaign drew on the militarism, xenophobia and low tax policies espoused by Harper during his decade in power.
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Although Scheer laid claim to Harper’s mantle, his victory does not mean the Conservatives are simply following Harper’s agenda, as right-wing as that was. The leadership campaign saw the Conservatives shift still further to the right and even openly flirt with extreme right-wing and fascistic forces.
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