Andrew Scheer steps down as Conservative leader, urges party to 'stay united' (2024)

Andrew Scheer ended weeks of speculation on his future Thursday, announcing he will step down as Conservative leader.

Scheer announced his decision at a surprise caucus meeting before heading into the House of Commons to deliver a seven-minute speech ending his quest to one day become prime minister.

The Conservative benches were unusually full for what had been expected to be routine debate on the government’s throne speech, before Scheer rose on a point of personal privilege.

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Scheer said stepping down was a difficult decision, but a necessary one.

“Serving as the leader of the party that I love so much has been the opportunity and the challenge of a lifetime,” he said.

“This party, this movement, needs someone who can give 100 per cent, This was not a decision I came to lightly, this is a decision I came to after many long hard conversations with friends and family.” Scheer’s wife, Jill, was in the gallery watching.

Scheer said he was proud of his time as leader, noting there are more Conservative MPs than there were before the Oct. 21 election.

“We kept our party united and strong,” he said. “We knocked the Liberals down to a minority. We increased seats all over this country.”

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Scheer said he would ask the national council of the Conservative Party of Canada to begin a leadership contest. He said he plans to remain as Conservative leader until his successor is chosen rather than giving way to an interim leader. He also plans to stay on as the MP for Regina-Qu’Appelle, the Saskatchewan riding he has represented since he was first elected in 2004.

Scheer has faced pressure from within his party to step down since the election. The Conservatives failed to win government, even as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was carrying the baggage of the SNC-Lavalin scandal and revelations he wore blackface multiple times.

In his speech, Scheer urged his fellow Conservatives to focus on defeating the Liberals.

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“Our Conservative team is always stronger when we are united. When fiscal conservatives, red Tories, social conservatives, libertarians, Quebec nationalists and conservatives in rural and urban Canada in the east and west come together, great things happen,” he said.

Sources told the National Post that the resignation was pushed forward by the revelation Scheer was using money from the Conservative Party to pay for his children’s private school tuition, which was first reported Thursday morning by Global News.

The Conservative Party pushed back on the allegations shortly after Scheer spoke in the House of Commons, saying it was “normal practice” for parties to cover costs associated with relocating the national leader to Ottawa.

“This includes a differential in schooling costs between Regina and Ottawa. All proper procedures were followed and signed off on by the appropriate people,” said Dustin van Vugt, the executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada.

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Scheer’s team also denied the private school costs pushed him to resign.

However, Sen. Jean-Guy Dagenais, who was appointed as a Conservative but now sits with one of the independent groups in the Senate, said Scheer should give the money back.

“He must refund the money to the party,” said Dagenais. “It’s just my opinion, but normally when I give my money to support the party, it’s not for supporting the members of their family, it’s for supporting a candidate, support the party for the convention, for the election.”

Scheer needed the support of the Conservative caucus to stay on as interim leader and members met in an emergency meeting Thursday night to confirm that.

Caucus chair MP Tom Kmiec came out after the meeting to confirm caucus had given their unanimous support for Scheer to stay until his replacement is selected. Kmiec said the issue of party funds paying for tuition for Scheer’s children was not discussed.

Trudeau was not in the house when Scheer began his remarks, but was among the many MPs who rushed in to hear the breaking news.

He thanked Scheer for his career in public service and said despite their many political differences, they shared the perspective of parents.

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“We are in this house, not in spite of having kids, but because we have kids, and are dedicated to building a better world for them with everything we have. I respect that deeply of him and thank him for that focus on a better future for his kids.”

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Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also applauded Scheer.

“I want to acknowledge the hard work that the Leader of the Opposition has put in during all of his roles and the years of service that he has provided. We speak as a united voice in acknowledging that. I thank the member for his service,” said Singh.

Scheer ended his speech with a call for ongoing unity in the party.

“Our party is not a cult of personality it is not shaped by whoever’s name is on the masthead ,” Scheer said. “My only ask to my fellow Conservatives is this: let’s stay united.”

He finished with a joke at the prime minister’s expense.

“We fell short of our goal,” he said. “But I am the first person in Canadian history to get more votes than a Trudeau. I could not resist saying that.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford thanked Scheer for his work as leader of the federal Conservatives.

“I wish Andrew Scheer all the best as he undertakes this new chapter in his life, and thank him for his service as the head of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition and leader of the Conservative party,” Ford said in a statement.

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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, a former federal Conservative MP and minister, said he wished “Andrew all good things in the future.”

Several prominent Conservatives in the past few weeks have called outright for Scheer’s resignation, or for him to re-apply for his job in a new leadership contest. Having not won power in October, he faced a mandatory leadership review in April.

The party has asked former Conservative cabinet minister John Baird to conduct a review of the election.

On Thursday, Baird said that work is not yet finished.

“I look forward to writing and then submitting my report when it is complete,” he wrote in a message posted to Twitter, where he also thanked Scheer for his service as leader. “I hope it will inform our party’s next campaign and provide advice to whomever the (Conservative party) membership select as leader.”

sxthomson@postmedia.com

Twitter: @stuartxthomson

rtumilty@postmedia.com

Twitter: @RyanTumilty

— With files from The Canadian Press

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