Canada’s Conservatives need to think hard about their future

Canada’s Conservatives need to think hard about their future

By Shachi Kurl, Executive Director

That Conservative MPs did not move immediately to oust leader Andrew Scheer this week should not be mistaken for a signal that his caucus or the party intends to keep him around long-term. After all, Conservatives defer to their membership arguably more than any other major federal party. Pre-empting the grassroots is therefore unthinkable.

That said, Conservatives are thinking hard about Scheer’s future. The thoughts aren’t really happy ones, given Scheer basically matched the popular vote of the Liberals and fell short on seats in the Commons, despite some of the most advantageous campaign conditions an opposition leader has ever faced.

In data published this week by the Angus Reid Institute, only 41 per cent of Conservative voters said Scheer should stay on to lead his party into the next election. The same number (42 per cent) say he should go. Those in Canada’s four westernmost provinces are slightly more inclined to keep him than those in Ontario and provinces east of it. Those with post-secondary education are more inclined to bid him adieu.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site where it was initially published.

 


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