Outgoing Scheer still feels PM can be social conservative, says only Trudeau Liberals demonized such views

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is seen at Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the official Opposition, in Ottawa, in 2019. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

“We ended up seeing a bit of a division, a potential division after the last leadership,” said Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux.

“Andrew Scheer came in, he kept this party together, he kept this party united. That’s really going to be his legacy.”

Scheer said Wednesday he does consider that an accomplishment, and a challenge that his replacement will face.

The race this time, by all accounts, has been far nastier inside caucus than in 2017.

But the context is also different than when Scheer took the helm that year.

The unprecedented situation forced by the COVID-19 pandemic means the next leader, if elected prime minister, could inherit a government with a historically high deficit, among other major economic and social challenges.

For a party that’s built its brand on keeping government small and costs down, it will require thoughtful policy, Scheer said.

“Many on the left are going to try to use the pandemic as a justification for a return to the failed policies of the past,” he said.

“One of the things I believe the next leader of the party here, and advocates for free market economics around the world, will have to do is rewin the battles that we won in the ’80s.”

Then, communist and socialist states in eastern Europe and elsewhere were flailing against the economic growth taking place in capitalist societies, he said, making it clear that the recipe for success isn’t more government intervention but letting people and markets take the lead.