Senator Don Plett, Leader of the Opposition

Election of Andrew Scheer as Leader of Conservative Party of Canada—Comments of Members

Hon. Donald Neil Plett: My question as well is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Before I ask my question, I would also like to add my voice to congratulating the new Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and the next Prime Minister of Canada, Andrew Scheer. As a candidate, I was proud to support our next Prime Minister.

Leader, upon Andrew Scheer's win, the Liberals congratulated our leader with comments like "He's somebody who wants to be in charge of the thought police," and "Make no mistake about it, this is somebody who has voted against every civil rights advancement in the last 25 years."

Being 38 years old, I don't know what civil rights advancements he was voting against in elementary school 25 years ago, but, of course, what the Liberals are doing is taking aim at an individual because of his Catholic beliefs.

This sort of intolerant approach comes from the top, as we all remember in 2014 when Justin Trudeau declared that no candidate could run on the Liberal ticket in 2015 if they opposed abortion, but allowed for an exemption for existing MPs with those views.

As Andrew MacDougall wrote yesterday:

One wonders if Mr. Trudeau was brave enough to scold Pope Francis today in Rome for holding the same beliefs as Mr. Scheer?

Leader, do you agree with the Liberal Party's comments, the comments I just read to you, about Andrew Scheer?

Hon. Peter Harder (Government Representative in the Senate): I thank the honourable senator for his question and I congratulate him and the candidate of his choice for having won the leadership of the Conservative Party. These are always interesting times for parties when new leaders emerge, particularly after such an exciting time. It is not my intention to respond to political comments made by political leaders of any party, but rather to speak in the Senate as the Representative of the Government of Canada.

Senator Plett: Of course, these were comments made by your political party and not by any personal — these people are on record as saying it, and it was your party. But as I said before, we don't always get straight answers in this chamber.

It is fascinating, leader, that the Liberals conveniently left out the fact that Mr. Scheer promised not to reopen either the marriage or abortion debates, but will not stifle MPs for bringing forward issues that are important to them and their constituents. As Member of Parliament Erin O'Toole stated:

Parliament is for debate, it's not for stifling it. We shouldn't be afraid of these issues coming up and I think Andrew has said he wants to lead by building consensus first and not by focusing on areas of division. I think that's a smart approach.

So let me ask you this, leader: Do you agree with Mr. O'Toole's comments and are the Liberal MPs, whose voting records can be attributed to their Catholic views, also far right and anti-civil rights, or do these labels apply only to Conservatives?

Senator Harder: Again, senator, I think it is appropriate for those engaged in partisan politics to respond.