Andrew Scheer, Conservative Party of Canada leader (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)Andrew Scheer, Conservative Party of Canada leader (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
Windsor

Scheer Voted New Federal Conservative Leader

Canada has a new official opposition leader.

Andrew Scheer has been voted the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on the 13th ballot during their leadership convention Saturday night at the Toronto Congress Centre, with 51% of the vote. Maxime Bernier of Quebec was the only other candidate remaining on the ballot in what turned out to be a very close contest.

The vote is the final chapter of a story that began in the fall of 2015, when then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives lost the election, and the majority in Parliament, to Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party. Harper resigned as party leader after the election.

Seventeen candidates had announced intentions to run for the leadership, with 14 on the ballot Saturday night. One of those, businessman and TV personality Kevin O'Leary, had dropped out just before ballots were mailed to party members.

Party members across the country were allowed to vote by mail in this campaign, with votes tabulated in a percentage-per-riding points system. After each round, the candidate with the least amount of points is eliminated and the votes are recounted using the second choices on the eliminated candidates' ballots.

No candidate reached a majority until the final possible ballot, the 13th.

Scheer turned 38 years old on May 20, making him the second-youngest person elected to the leadership of a federal conservative party in Canada. The youngest was Joe Clark, who was 36 when he was elected leader of one of the CPC's predecessors, the Progressive Conservatives, in their 1976 leadership race.

Scheer has been the MP for the Saskatchewan riding of Regina-Que'Appelle since 2004, when he was first elected at age 25. He became Speaker of the House of Commons in 2011, at age 32 and the youngest to hold that position.  He served as Speaker until the Conservatives were defeated in 2015.

Under the current Tory opposition, Scheer had served as opposition House leader.

Rona Ambrose had been acting as interim party leader but she recently announced her intention to retire from federal politics once the current session of Parliament adjourns next month. In her final speech Saturday night as leader, Ambrose criticized the Liberal leadership as "arrogant" and "out of touch".

Scheer takes over a Conservative Party with 99 seats in the House of Commons. The ruling Liberals have 183 seats and the New Democratic Party 44.

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