Andrew Scheer says more ex-Bloc Quebecois members will join the Tories

“Proud to be Conservative, that’s also to be nationalist, to be proud Quebecers and proud Canadians.”

Over the weekend, a focus of the Conservative party members was on how to build on the gains in Quebec from the last election, when they went from seven to 12 seats in the province. They now have 11 following a 2017 byelection loss.

Scheer made it clear that some of that support could come from defecting members of the Bloc Quebecois, which has been in disarray since seven of the party’s 10 members of Parliament quit in February over differences with their current leader.

In his speech, he pointed to Gauthier’s recruitment and highlighted the presence of the mayor of Trois-Rivieres — who has said he is considering to run as a candidate for the party in the next federal election — as a sign of things to come.

“Trust me, the Michel Gauthiers and the Yves Levesques, there will be several more,” he said.

Scheer reserved much of his speech for attacks on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he accused of prioritizing socialist ideas rather than the interests of the middle class.

He pointed to disagreements between Quebec and Ottawa over some aspects of marijuana legalization as proof of the prime minister’s “federalism of confrontation” and a sign he is ignoring Quebec.

Over the weekend, party members also passed several resolutions, including a proposal to change the tax system to allow Quebecers to fill out a single return instead of filing both federally and provincially.

In the news conference following the speech, Scheer said he was open to the proposal, saying he’s in favour of any ideas that reduce paperwork.

Melanie Marquis, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Andrew Scheer says more ex-Bloc Quebecois members will join the Tories

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