Conservatives pledge to cut $1.5 billion in corporate welfare annually 

A new online poll conducted by the Canadian Press has shown that Andrew Scheer has less than 50 percent support from Canadians who self-identify as Conservatives, according to CKOM.

Just 48 percent of Conservative supporters say they want Andrew Scheer to continue as leader. 40 percent want him to resign, while 12 percent remain undecided.

This comes as another bad news story for the Conservative leader who will require a far greater majority in his leadership review in April of next year. The precedent in Candian politics is that leaders who undergo reviews should receive a much higher portion of the vote than just 50 percent. 

Stephan Harper, for example, won over 85% of the vote in his leadership review after his 2004 election loss. It has been broadly considered that 75 percent of the vote is the bare minimum for an incumbent leader to continue his tenure. 

The survey was conducted from Nov. 15-25 and over 3,000 Canadians participated. 

Recently, Andrew Scheer has received significant pressure from the Conservative base to resign. This criticism previously derived from the Red Tory faction of the party when Peter MacKay and Rona Ambrose criticized his leadership. 

Peter MacKay, for instance, declared that issues like abortion and immigration “hung round [Scheer’s] neck like a stinking albatross.” MacKay went on to say that this election was like “having an open net and missing the net.” 

Another prominent Conservative politician, Ed Fast, who served in Harper’s cabinet as the trade secretary, declined a position in Scheer’s cabinet, saying that the leader needed someone who “fully supports” his leadership. 

Soon after, the Globe and Mail reported that the social conservative wing of the party had begun to abandon Scheer. One former Conservative MP, Brad Trost, said in the article that “A lot of social conservatives have no interest whatsoever in backing Andrew Scheer.” 

Last week, Scheer suffered another setback after a third-party organization was created by a group of prominent figures within the Conservative movement. This group, Conservative Victory, is devoted entirely to the ousting of Scheer.

Conservative MP (Ontario, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill) and recently appointed CPC deputy leader Leona Alleslev caused outrage Saturday when she flippantly asked on CBC’s The House why no one was asking leaders about attending Saint Patrick’s Day parades, equating it to politicians not attending LGBTQ Pride parades.

“Have we asked anybody if they’ve marched in a Saint Patrick’s Day parade?” said Alleslev Saturday morning on the CBC politics program.

Shortly after the program aired, Alleslev apologized for equating Saint Patrick’s Day parades with Pride parades, which were started to push back against gay persecution and inequality.

Many critics on both sides of the political aisle argue Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s CPC lost crucial ridings in Ontario and other progressive metropolitan areas of the country because of his ambivalence on LGBTQ issues and his personal religious beliefs, which led to him being dogged by reporters throughout the election campaign with questions he evaded.

A large contingent of the CPC is also actively trying to get Scheer to step down as leader after the party failed to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October. They were quick to pounce on the latest blunder by his new deputy leader, who was still a Liberal MP until crossing the floor about a year ago.

Journalists were also questioning the judgement of the leadership of the party when they’re still having difficulty communicating unequivocal support for the LGBTQ community.

Scheer critics also questioned why he didn’t include CPC MP (Ontario, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry) Eric Duncan in his shadow cabinet, the first openly gay Conservative MP. Duncan was the former mayor of the township of North Dundas, with over eight years prior experience in politics. He also vocally defended Scheer during the 2019 election when the CPC leader was being attacked on LGBTQ issues. Since the election, Duncan has said the party needs to rethink its approach towards LGBTQ issues.

Meanwhile, party stalwarts launched a non-profit organization last week to raise money to depose Scheer from power.

Conservative Victory was created by Kory Teneycke, Doug Ford’s top election advisor and former director of communications for prime minister Stephen Harper, Jeff Ballingall—the founder of the Proud Network and the Chief Marketing Officer at The Post Millennial—and John Reynolds, who co-chaired the Stephen Harper’s 2006 election campaign.

Scheer loyalists in the party maintain that the CPC leader still holds the vast majority of support from his caucus and the uprising is just a small dissident group.

Scheer’s office did not respond to The Post Millennial‘s request for comment.

Conservative MP Ed Fast has rejected Andrew Scheer’s invitation to join his shadow cabinet as the leader needed someone who “fully supports” his leadership, according to the Globe and Mail. Fast is a prominent member of the Conservative caucus, having served in Prime Minister Harper’s cabinet. 

Ed Fast is a well-respected figure within the Conservative Party having served as the trade minister. Fast made his decision public only a few hours after Scheer’s cabinet announcement.

Speaking to the Globe and Mail, Fast said, “Mr. Scheer and I recently had a conversation about where I could fit into his shadow cabinet, and I expressed my desire not to be included at this time.”

Fast went on to say that “Mr. Scheer is entitled to surround himself with a team that fully supports his leadership.”

Fast’s comments were interpreted by many in the party as a rebuke of Scheer’s leadership and strategy during the election campaign.

Since Justin Trudeau’s re-election as PM, Scheer has faced increasing pressure over his decision to remain as leader. This pressure, originally coming from former Conservative politicians, has transitioned to disapproval from both the moderate and the social factions of the Conservative Party.

This week, a third-party organization was created by a group of prominent figures within the Conservative movement. This group, Conservative Victory, is devoted entirely to ousting Scheer.

Others in the party pushed back on the recent media reports, saying Scheer has overwhelming support from his caucus and pointing out he won the popular support.

The former Daisy Group employee accused of leaking Warren Kinsella’s Project Cactus smear campaign against Maxime Bernier and the People’s Party of Canada, has settled out of court and will not pay one penny of the $1-million lawsuit filed against her.

“Daisy and Aziza Mohammed have resolved all disputes between them. None of the allegations of either side has been proven in court, and on some things – like the various allegations of discriminatory attitudes in the workplace – they have simply agreed to disagree,” said Mohammed’s lawyer Mark Bourrie in a statement.

“But they do agree on the following. Daisy acknowledges that Ms. Mohammed’s actions with respect to Daisy were informed by a desire to do what she believed was right… (and she) advises that no other Daisy clients need be concerned in that regard.”

Kinsella sued Mohammed after the Globe and Mail reported on October 18, 2019 that the Conservative party hired Daisy Group for a “seek and destroy” mission against the PPC and its leader Bernier.

A day before the settlement, CBC News published related audio recordings and excerpts of Kinsella firing up his staff for Project Cactus.

“I want the hatred you have for Maxime Bernier to wash over you as a purifying force,” Kinsella informs his staff in a recording CBC says was made at a May 16 meeting.

“We actually have a white supremacist trying to become prime minister of Canada. I’ve run campaigns depicting Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, Kim Campbell, depicting them as racists,” Kinsella boasts.

“None of them were. But I was successful at depicting them as racists. This guy actually is a racist. Okay? So it’s low-hanging fruit.”

According to Kinsella’s statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court two weeks after the Globe story, he was suing Mohammed for breach of contract and breach of confidentiality for alleged going to the media with the scheme.

To this date, neither Kinsella has acknowledged that his Project Cactus client was the Conservative Party nor has party leader Andrew Scheer or any of his associates admitted to hiring Daisy Group for the job.