Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 1, 2017
Andrew Scheer unveils full shadow cabinet leaving Kellie Leitch off front bench
Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer unveiled his full shadow cabinet Wednesday notably leaving fellow leadership candidate Kellie Leitch off his party’s front bench while promoting others to key critic posts in the House of Commons.
Pierre Poilievre, an MP from the Ottawa area, was given the Finance critic role ahead of Quebec MP Maxime Bernier, who finished second in the Conservative race. Bernier, who announced publicly months ago that he wanted the finance role, has been given a senior critic role on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development file as CBC reported Tuesday.
Leitch’s leadership campaign, which saw her finish sixth in the race, drew criticism and accusations of intolerance for vowing to strengthen the vetting process for new immigrants. The former cabinet minister also pledged to screen all new immigrants for “Canadian values,” drawing widespread criticism, including from some of her fellow leadership candidates.
Brad Trost, the Saskatchewan MP who finished fourth in the leadership campaign, was also left off the shadow cabinet list. Trost did not serve as a minister under prime minister Stephen Harper and campaigned on social conservative values that opposed the “gay lifestyle” and abortion.
Another leadership candidate, Deepak Obhrai, was also left out of Scheer’s shadow cabinet. Obhrai served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs in the Harper government. (Source: CBC News)