There must be days when conservative leader Andrew ‘Chuckles’ Scheer goes home to his taxpayer-provided hideaway at Stornoway and asks the wife why he is doing his duty for the ungrateful. He gets scorn from across the aisle in parliament. He gets static from his loyal(?) caucus. He is ignored by most Canadians. And then he has to go wash out his mouth with soap for what he says about Maxime Bernier.
He thought he had an uptick the other day when a disgruntled liberal crossed the floor. The last thing Chuckles needs is another conservative caucus member who feels entitled.
His concern is that it might not be worth it. He knows the loss of Bernier from caucus is a load off his mind. He just has no idea how many conservatives Bernier might take with him to the newly minted Peoples’ Party of Canada (PPC). Like Doug Ford in Ontario, Bernier could suck up more of the publicity that Chuckles needs.
Chuckles has enough trouble with Justin Trudeau. He hardly needs Bernier to add to his problems. Scheer’s brain trust has impressed on him that he has to be seen as backing Trudeau’s effort to save NAFTA. He has no choice but to back Trudeau on the damn Kinder Morgan pipeline foolishness. How else is Alberta and the conservative ‘enfant terrible’ Kenney going to make Alberta rich again?
It is really a good thing that Chuckles has never had a reputation of thinking for himself before. He is not doing much better now that he is caretaker of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
But what burns him is that Trudeau has become vulnerable. And they are just not playing a friendly game of bridge. Trudeau has created a serious sore in the body of the liberal party. There is a very large group of environmentally conscious Canadians who normally vote liberal. These liberals are concerned about this pipeline that is designed solely to spread pollution from Canada’s tar sands around the world.
And next year when the construction of that pipeline gets into full swing, the newspapers will give the environmentalist protestors front page and the television networks will show the mayhem in B.C. What will really stick in Chuckles’ craw will be the NDP and the Greens at the front of the parade. The poor guy cannot get a break.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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