Andrew Scheer Leader of the Conservative Party

Andrew Scheer
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Andrew Scheer
MP
Andrew Scheer.jpg
Leader of the Official Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 27, 2017
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Preceded by Rona Ambrose
Leader of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 27, 2017
Deputy Denis Lebel
Preceded by Rona Ambrose (interim)
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons
In office
November 18, 2015 – September 13, 2016
Leader Rona Ambrose
Preceded by Peter Julian
Succeeded by Candice Bergen
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office
June 2, 2011 – December 3, 2015
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Preceded by Peter Milliken
Succeeded by Geoff Regan
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Regina-Qu'Appelle
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 28, 2004
Preceded by Lorne Nystrom
Personal details
Born Andrew James Scheer
May 20, 1979 (age 38)
Ottawa, Canada
Political party Canadian Alliance (Before 2003)
Conservative (2003–present)
Spouse(s) Jill Ryan
Relations Jon Ryan (brother-in-law)
Children 5
Residence Stornoway
Education University of Ottawa
University of Regina (BA)
Website Party website
Campaign website
Andrew James Scheer, MP (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politican who is leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition. He has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004 and served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015.[1][2] At age 32, he was the youngest Speaker in Canadian parliamentary history.[3] On September 28, 2016, Scheer announced his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party.[4] On May 27, 2017, he became the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on the 13th and final ballot of the leadership election,[5] with 50.95% of the vote.[6]


1 Early life and career
2 Political career
2.1 First years in the House of Commons
2.2 Speaker of the House of Commons
2.3 Opposition (second time)
2.4 2017 leadership election
3 Political positions
3.1 Abortion
3.2 Family support
3.3 Freedom of speech
3.4 Marijuana legalization
3.5 Medically assisted suicide
3.6 Refugees
3.7 Same-sex marriage
4 Family
5 References
6 External links
Early life and career
Scheer was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Mary Gerarda Therese (Enright), a nurse, and James Scheer, a librarian and proofreader, who is a deacon of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa.[7][8][9] He has two sisters. Scheer graduated from Immaculata High School, and then studied history and politics at the University of Ottawa. While attending university, Scheer worked in the correspondence department of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition (OLO). He moved to Regina after meeting his future wife Jill Ryan at university and finished his BA at the University of Regina. Instead of returning to Ottawa, Scheer worked at Shenher Insurance before joining the constituency office of a Canadian Alliance MP, Larry Spencer in Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre.

Political career
First years in the House of Commons
Scheer was elected as a Conservative candidate in the federal election of 2004 in the riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle, beating New Democratic Party MP Lorne Nystrom by 861 votes.[10] At the time Nystrom had been the longest-serving member of the House of Commons. Scheer was re-elected in the federal election of 2006, once again defeating Nystrom, this time by a margin of 2,740 votes.[11]

In April 2006, Scheer was named Assistant Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole, one of three deputy speakers and one of the youngest Members of Parliament to serve in that role in Commonwealth history. On November 21, 2008, he was named Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons and Chairman of Committees of the Whole,[12] succeeding New Democrat MP Bill Blaikie.

Speaker of the House of Commons
When the Conservative Party won a majority at the federal election in 2011, Scheer's experience as Deputy Speaker led many to consider him the front-runner to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons.[13][14] On June 2, 2011, Scheer defeated Denise Savoie in the sixth round of balloting; he was the last of five Conservative candidates, with Savoie the lone opposition candidate and the only woman. Scheer became the youngest House Speaker in Canadian history[3] and the first speaker to represent a Saskatchewan riding.

Scheer was one of thirteen Canadians banned from travelling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by President Vladimir Putin in March 2014.[15]

Opposition (second time)
Scheer was re-elected in the 2015 federal election that defeated the Conservative government.[16] He was appointed Opposition House Leader by Leader of the Opposition Rona Ambrose. On September 13, 2016, he announced his resignation outside a party caucus meeting in Halifax in order to explore a bid for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party.[17]

2017 leadership election
See also: Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2017
On September 28, 2016, Scheer announced his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party,[4] and that he has the support of 32 members of the Conservative caucus.[18] On May 27, 2017, Scheer was elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, beating runner up Maxime Bernier and more than 12 others with 50.95% of the vote through 13 rounds.[5]

Political positions
Scheer's campaign for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership was run under the slogan: "Real conservative. Real leader." He avoided advocating the social conservative issues that some of the candidates championed, saying that he wanted to "reach a broader audience of Canadians." Positions he did take a strong stance on included scrapping the carbon tax and being "tough-on-crime".[19] Scheer's views have led him to be described as a Blue Tory.[20]

Abortion
Scheer is considered pro-life by the Campaign Life Coalition and has a "perfect" pro-life voting record in the House of Commons.[21][22] After Henry Morgentaler, a pioneering pro-choice doctor was named to the Order of Canada, Scheer stated that the appointment had "debased the Order of Canada."[23][24] Scheer has said[25] that despite his personal view, he will respect the Conservative Party's official policy on abortion, which currently states, "A Conservative government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion"[26] although the party allows free votes on the matter.[26]

Family support
Andrew Scheer says he wants to make maternity and parental leave less expensive for families. He has promised to make employment insurance for parental and maternity benefits tax-free. He wants to introduce tax credit to families who send their children to private schools. Scheer also proposes raising the limit on how much employment income a parent can earn each week while on leave.[27]

Freedom of speech
Scheer has promised that universities or colleges “that do not foster a culture of free speech and inquiry on campus” will not receive federal funding under his government.[28]

Marijuana legalization
When asked about his stance on Canada's potential legalization of marijuana, he said though he is not in favour of the motion, "I am very realistic, and once it's legal in a short period of time there's going to be a lot of people that work for companies that distribute it... so we have to be very realistic as a party."[29]

Medically assisted suicide
Scheer voted against Bill C-14, which allows practitioners to assist in the suicide of mentally competent adults with "enduring and intolerable suffering" in cases where death is "reasonably foreseeable."[30][21]

Refugees
Scheer wants to prioritize helping those he considers the most vulnerable refugees, namely religious minorities like Christians in the Middle East who face death for conversion away from Islam.[31] He prefers to help refugees integrate through private sponsorship instead of government sponsorship. He contends that the refugees who are are currently struggling to find housing, jobs and language training is because of the Liberal Party "using a devastating tragedy for political purposes".[32]

Same-sex marriage
During his 2004 election campaign Scheer opposed expanding marriage to same-sex couples, and stated that the Civil Marriage Act “is abhorrent to me … and to every member of every faith community”.[33][24] Scheer voted in favour of a 2006 motion to re-open debate on the definition of marriage, after same-sex marriage had been legalized across Canada.[21] Scheer has stated that, despite his personal beliefs, he will not try to reopen the debate on same-sex marriage.[25]

Family
Scheer and his wife Jill have five children: Thomas, Grace, Madeline, Henry and Mary.[34][35] Jill Scheer's younger brother is professional football player Jon Ryan.[36] Another of Jill Scheer's brothers, Steve Ryan, ran for the Saskatchewan NDP in the 2007 and 2011 provincial elections.[37] He and his family attend Sunday Mass at Canadian Martyrs or Good Samaritan parishes.[24]

References
Jump up ^ "Profile". Parliament of Canada. July 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Speaker of the House of Commons". Parliament of Canada. July 17, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Fitzpatrick, Meagan (June 2, 2011). "MPs elect youngest Speaker". CBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Ex-Commons Speaker Scheer declares candidacy for Conservative leadership". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Harris, Kathleen (May 27, 2017). "Andrew Scheer elected new Conservative leader". CBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Results - CPC Leadership". Intvoting.com. Dominion Voting. May 27, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ Brent Mattson. "The B.C. Catholic Paper - New Speaker of the House has never hidden his faith". rcav.org.
Jump up ^ Raj, Althia (May 25, 2017). "Andrew Scheer, 'Consensus Candidate,' Hopes The Nice Guy Finishes First In Tory Leadership". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Mary Scheer Obituary". legacy.com. Ottawa Citizen. March 11, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Elections Canada, Official Voting Results, June 28, 2004.
Jump up ^ Elections Canada, Official Voting Results, January 23, 2006.
Jump up ^ Journal of the House of Commons of Canada, November 21, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Health Care Talks with Provinces Should Top Harper’s List, Poll Finds". The Globe and Mail. June 2, 2011. Others on that list [of candidates for Speaker] – Saskatchewan Tory MP and perceived frontrunner Andrew Scheer [...]
Jump up ^ "NDP MP Aims to Be Second Female Speaker in History". National Post. May 21, 2011. It's widely speculated, however, that a Conservative is going to get the position, and Andrew Scheer, who has served as Assistant Deputy Speaker and Deputy Speaker for more than five years, is considered the frontrunner.
Jump up ^ Mas, Susana (March 24, 2013). "Russian Sanctions Against Canadians a 'Badge of Honour'". CBC News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
Jump up ^ Elections Canada, Official Voting Results, October 19, 2015.
Jump up ^ "With MacKay out, Scheer steps down as House leader to explore Tory leadership run". Retrieved September 22, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Andrew Scheer announces support of 20 members of Conservative caucus as he makes leadership bid official". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
Jump up ^ Payton, Laura (January 10, 2017). "Andrew Scheer's Conservative leadership plans: moving beyond 'debate club'". CTV News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ Krayden, David (May 21, 2017). "As Conservative leadership race wraps, the party's in good hands". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b c Dehaas, Josh (February 1, 2017). "Where 14 Conservative leadership candidates stand on social issues". CTV News. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Campaign Life Coalition. "MP Andrew Scheer". Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Scheer has an impeccable voting record on life & family issues during his long career as a federal MP.
Jump up ^ "Henry Morgentaler named to Order of Canada". CTV News. July 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. I can't believe that this was done on Canada Day, a day we should be coming together," Regina MP Andrew Scheer told CTV.ca on Tuesday afternoon. "I think this actually debased the Order of Canada." Scheer, a Tory who describes himself as "pro-life," said he's planning to call members of the advisory panel that suggested the appointment and ask, "Why did you do this?
^ Jump up to: a b c Tuns, Paul (October 23, 2009). "Saskatchewan Tory MP Andrew Scheer values family". The Interim. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Andrew Scheer's path to leadership of the Conservative Party - Macleans.ca". 27 May 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Andrew Scheer's path to leadership of the Conservative Party - Macleans.ca". 27 May 2017.
Jump up ^ McGregor, Janyce (February 7, 2017). "'Andrew Scheer proposes tax-free maternity and parental benefits". CBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ "'Who is Andrew Scheer?". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ Scotti, Monique (April 16, 2017). "'I think I have the best chance of winning' says Tory leadership hopeful Andrew Scheer". Global News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Doctor-assisted dying bill restricted to adults facing 'foreseeable' death". CBC News. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017.
Jump up ^ Scotti, Monique (May 27, 2017). "Who is Andrew Scheer?". Global News. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Ibbitson, John (January 6, 2017). "Conservative Party's fortunes hinge on immigration policy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
Jump up ^ Gyapong, Deborah (June 7, 2011). "New Speaker of the House has never hidden his faith". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. Retrieved May 28, 2017. About the bill to change the definition of marriage, he told the House, “(The bill) is abhorrent to me, to other Catholics and to every member of every faith community.”
Jump up ^ MacCharles, Tonda (September 28, 2016). "Ex-speaker Andrew Scheer announces bid for Conservative leadership". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
Jump up ^ Stone, Laura (January 13, 2017). "Why Andrew Scheer could be the next Conservative Party leader". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
Jump up ^ Vieira, Paul (January 31, 2014). "Canada’s Speaker Has Stake in Seahawks Super Bowl Victory". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Regina Qu'Appelle Valley - Steve Ryan Seeking NDP Nomination".
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Andrew Scheer
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew Scheer.
Andrew Scheer – Parliament of Canada biography
Official website

Patrick Brown (politician) 2017 03 31

Patrick Walter Brown, (politician)



Political views




Brown characterizes himself as a 'pragmatic conservative' and has noted his limited support from labour unions.[citation needed]

During his Ontario PC Party leadership campaign, Brown was noted for his social conservatism,[3][4] and his criticism of Ontario's sex education in schools.[5] However, since his victory, he has been successful in pushing the Ontario PC Party towards the "political centre." [6] Patrick Brown would go on to become the first Ontario PC Leader to march in the Toronto Pride Parade.[7] At his first Ontario PC Convention as Leader, Brown confirmed his belief in anthropogenic climate change and announced his support for a revenue-neutral price on carbon.[8]

His new progressivism stands in contrast to his voting record from a decade ago. In December 2006, as an MP, Brown voted to repeal same-sex marriage in Canada.[3][9] Brown also voted against several bills between 2011 and 2013, which were aimed at amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender expression and identity, and the Criminal Code, to prevent discrimination.[10] On September 26, 2012, Brown voted in favour of Stephen Woodworth's private member's bill to create a special committee to examine the legal definition of when a fetus becomes a human being,[11] which many argued would reopen the abortion debate in Canada. Brown did so, even though then Prime Minister Stephen Harper voted against the bill and said that Canadians did not want to reopen the abortion debate.[12][13] Since becoming Ontario's Progressive Conservative party leader, Brown has stated that it's not a provincial issue, and doesn't intend to revisit it in the Ontario Legislature.[14]

Patrick Brown's first Private Member's Bill in the Ontario Legislature, Bill 151 the Estate Administration Tax Abolition Act, was an attempt to eliminate the death tax.[15] His bill was voted down at Second Reading by the Liberal Government's majority.

His critics have called him 'policy-lite' since he made no policy statements during the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign.[16] Since winning the leadership race, he has focused his plan on four main issues which he suggests will lead to a more "prosperous province": less red tape, improved transportation corridors, affordable energy, and addressing Ontario's growing skills gap.[17]




Federal politics




In the 2004 federal election, Brown ran as the Conservative Party candidate in the riding of Barrie. He lost to incumbent Aileen Carroll by 1,295 votes.[19] Brown ran again in 2006 this time defeating Carroll by 1,523 votes.[20] He was re-elected in the 2008 election by 15,295 votes over Liberal candidate Rick Jones.[21]

In November 2010, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation expressed concern about how Patrick Brown used his Canadian House of Commons account. He sent flyers to his riding which included a letter of support and a flyer from Barrie City Councillor Michael Prowse. Brown used his House of Commons account to pay for the mailing because Michael Prowse could not afford to send the flyer out himself.[22]

In the 2011 election, Brown was elected to his third term in office.[23]

On September 28, 2014, he announced his intention to run in the 2015 Ontario party leadership election. He registered as a leadership candidate on November 20, 2014. He said that, unlike the other candidates, he was not involved in the four consecutive losses that have kept the Ontario PCs out of power since 2003.[24] At the time of his jump to provincial politics, he chaired the Conservative Party of Canada's Greater Toronto Area caucus and the Canada-India Parliamentary Association.[2]







Provincial politics



In September 2014, Brown announced his intention to run in the contest to replace PC Party Leader, Tim Hudak. From the outset of his campaign, Brown positioned himself as an outsider, challenging the leadership of the PC Party, which had been defeated in the last four provincial elections. In the most recent election campaign, in 2014, the party election platform included a commitment to "cut 100,000 government jobs". As the only one of the original five leadership candidates who was not a member of the Ontario legislature, Brown claimed not to have been involved in the promise, which he considered "ill-advised",[24][25] despite attending the announcement in his home riding.[26] Brown's rivals attempted to use this same lack of previous involvement in provincial politics as an argument against his leadership bid.[27][28]

In March, Brown emerged as the front-runner in the leadership election, having sold over 40,000 of the 70,000 memberships in the party.[29][30][31][32] During the campaign, Brown was successful in bringing many new members to the party. The past four leadership contests had been won by those who sold the most memberships.[33]

Brown was endorsed by the Campaign Life Coalition and the Ontario Landowners Association.[34][35] During Brown's leadership bid both special interest groups actively supported him by selling Ontario PC Party memberships amongst their members.[36][37]

Brown was criticized by his rivals and in the media for not resigning his federal seat during the leadership campaign.[38] Brown was frequently absent from the House of Commons for votes during the leadership campaign and had one of the worst voting attendance records in the Conservative Party caucus and of any MP between September to December 2014.[39] A spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed that members aren't expected to step down but are expected to "continue to fulfill their parliamentary responsibilities, including membership on committees and attendance at votes."[40]

The campaign started with five candidates including Vic Fedeli, Lisa MacLeod, and Monte McNaughton. All three withdrew in early 2015 citing membership recruitment or financial reasons. On May 9, 2015, Brown was elected leader, defeating his only remaining opponent, Christine Elliott, winning with 61.8% of the membership vote.[41][42]

Brown, who resigned his seat in the House of Commons on May 13, 2015, days after winning the provincial leadership, led the Progressive Conservative party from outside the legislature during most of the summer.[43] On July 22, 2015, Garfield Dunlop agreed to step down as MPP for Simcoe North on August 1 in order to open up a seat for Brown. A provincial by-election, called for September 3, 2015, was won by Brown.[44][45][46]

Khristinn Kellie Leitch, PC Ont MP controversy!

Canadian values controversy
As part of her leadership race campaign, Leitch sent out an email survey to subscribers making the suggestion of anti-Canadian value screening in order to gauge response from voters. In response, many Conservative Members of Parliament and strategists are criticizing Leitch for her position.[28] Michael Chong, a Conservative MP for Wellington-Halton Hills and an opponent of Leitch in the leadership race, spoke out against Leitch’s proposal, saying that it, “does not represent our Conservative Party or our Canada”.[28] Despite the censure, Leitch has stood by her proposal. In a September interview with the Canadian Press, Leitch made the following statement in response to the backlash she had been receiving: “I don’t think it’s intolerant to believe in a set of values that we expect everyone to share here and include those people who are coming to visit or immigrate to Canada”[29] Former staffers of Leitch have criticized the approach she has taken throughout the leadership campaign. Andrew McGrath, a former press secretary to Leitch when she was in cabinet, responded to her overnight pitch with disappointment on social media. "You were status of women minister,” McGrath posted to Leitch on Twitter. “Shame on you.”[30]

Leitch proposed screening visitors, refugees and immigrants for "Canadian values" initially not specifying what that would entail, but later detailed out what it would mean. This process would include face to face interviews by trained immigration officers with 100% of immigrants, rather than the 10% or so that happens now, with questions pertaining to their views on whether Canadian law should be only set of laws that applies to all Canadians, hate speech, violence, and equality between genders, sexual orientation, religious & political views.[31]

Leitch’s policy stances also faced similar controversy and criticism back in October 2015 during the federal election, where she and fellow Conservative MP and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander pledged support and funding to establish a tip-line for Canadians to call in regards to what they called “barbaric cultural practices".[32] Leitch has since made an effort to apologize for her role in the proposed legislation, saying that she regrets her decisions.[33] For many, including Conservative strategist Chad Rogers, Leitch’s proposed immigrant screening seemingly follows the same rhetoric, and Rogers goes as far as calling on Leitch to withdraw from the Conservative leadership race.[28]

In a November 9, 2016 interview with Toronto Life magazine, Leitch would not confirm nor deny that her proposed Canadian values test would apply to Catholic immigrants who opposed Canada's acceptance of same-sex marriage, and stated that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was "for Canadian citizens." In the same interview, she cited the belief that gays should not be sentenced to death as an example of one such Canadian value.

have a feeling the following clip will give us some idea what a President Trump White House press conference will be like. This clip is from The West Wing.

I have a feeling the following clip will give us some idea what a President Trump White House press conference will be like. This clip is from The West Wing. The issues are a bit dated however the techniques shown and the lack of finesse makes my point. If the Trump communications team had bothered to watch the clip, they would never have let him give that press conference last week. This is why you don't mess with the media.