March 4 I had the opportunity to listen to one of the frontrunners in the ridiculously overpopulated race for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Andrew Scheer.
Scheer is one of the frontrunners in the 14-candidate race, and has substantial support of those in the Conservative caucus. He spoke to party faithful in Estevan.
The turnout, at a little over 100, wasn’t what you might expect for someone, who, if he wins, could potentially be the next prime minister in two years time. You have to remember, large- and small-c conservatives dominate the region, and the seat is routinely won at both provincial and federal levels with some of the highest pluralities around. Someone once told me an empty Coke can, running for the Conservatives, has a better chance of getting elected here than a Liberal (or was it the rump of the Progressive Conservatives?). The can might have been running for the Sask. Party, but there’s really not much difference. Either way, Estevan is about as fertile ground as one can get for a conservative politician.
I understand that a substantial number of supporters couldn’t make it due to their businesses being run ragged before the imposition of spring road bans. That makes sense. But I would still think the room could have been filled.
Now, if leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary had been there, I don’t think there’s a question there would have been standing room only, if only to satisfy people’s curiosity to see if this guy is for real.
What was apparent is that Scheer is for real. He’s authentic, and has real policies as near as I could tell. Speaking to the Energy City, he talked a fair bit about carbon taxes, clean coal and carbon capture. He also spoke about the need for Conservatives to offer positive alternatives instead of simply bashing the other parties. (He did, however, take some of his own jabs at the lefties in Canadian politics, both the Liberals and NDP.)
As far as politicians go, he’s young, at 37. When he was first elected in 2004, he was incredibly young. He was speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, again, at an incredibly young age. He’s got the youth, and, while maybe not as good as Trudeau’s, he’s got the hair, too.
But don’t let that youth fool you. He knows his issues. Having sat through pretty much every debate in the Commons as speaker will do that for you. He’s probably heard every argument, and knows its counter.
A very important consideration in the rest of Canada, if not the West, is the fact Scheer is fluently bilingual in French. He grew up in Ottawa, but chose to move to Saskatchewan. Who did that, in 2003? Pretty much no one, except Andrew Scheer.
The French fluency issue is a big consideration, because, for years, many people in this province have strongly suggested Saskatchewan Party Premier Brad Wall should take a run at the federal Conservative leadership. The biggest impediment in that regard is Wall’s lack of French capability.
That’s not stopping O’Leary, however, who says he speaks the language of jobs.
While Scheer didn’t bring it up, and none of the questions from the audience referred to it, the elephant in the room occupying the empty space was O’Leary. No matter what, Scheer has to beat O’Leary to become leader.
It was easy to get the impression that Scheer is a nice guy, maybe a tremendously nice guy. In other words, the antithesis of Keven O’Leary, who has spent the last decade or so filling our living rooms (on CBC, oddly enough for a Conservative), with his vitriol.
O’Leary’s not playing nice. He’s playing the Trump game. Calling himself “Mr. Wonderful” in dripping irony, O’Leary is Donald Trump with less hair, less money and even less charm. He’s in it to shake the system to its core.
Can Mr. Nice beat Mr. Wonderful? Can anyone else beat Mr. Wonderful? And can the winner of that contest beat Mr. Hair?
In a few months, we shall soon see.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.
