Thank You, Next

This essay was begun in anger, last November, when I began encountering people who called themselves Conservatives but who were saying the most awful things about the party’s leader, Andrew Scheer, after he failed to win the October 2019 election. Nearly a year later, I am no longer angry. I am resigned to the fact that Conservatives tend to eat those leaders who don’t give instant gratification. I have also come to appreciate how uncommon the Canadian model of leadership selection is, and how it could be improved so that the macabre feast ends.

The attacks I heard on Scheer were from those frustrated with defeat. The fact that the member of Parliament for Regina–Qu’Appelle had increased the number of Conservative seats and had won the popular vote was not enough for these people, who might benefit from a short history lesson. What was different in 2019 than, say, in 1980, when Joe Clark lost government, was the fact that there were as many within the party who...