‘A Lot of Anger Towards People of Faith’: Former Tory Leader Scheer Talks About Faith and Principle in Politics

Then-Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 8, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

REGINA—At a fundraising event for a Christian organization, former Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer talked about his faith and family and how these influences affect his life and politics, as well as the difficulties facing people of faith in today’s world.

The Regina-Qu’Appelle MP made the remarks at a Providence 4 Missions breakfast event at the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina on April 30. Scheer, a married father of five who turns 43 this month, was first elected in 2004, two years before the Tories formed government.

“You realized very quickly it’s all about the leader of the party. The leader’s office wants this, the leader’s office wants that,” Scheer told his audience of 300.

Then the Conservatives lost power in 2015 and the Prime Minister’s Office was no more.

“And you realize, geez, I spent all that time trying to arrange my work life around that, making sure I was impressing the people who were important at the time. But where are they now?”

Scheer said it dawned on him that the influence of parents and faith were “big navigational points or centres of gravity” that remained after others faded.

“When you look through Scripture, you see so many different examples of God telling us how temporary things here are, and yet we get blinded [and] hypnotized by the present,” he said.

“I grew up in a very religious household,” he noted. “My parents were both people of deep faith.”

‘Hostile Perspective’ Toward People of Faith

Scheer said there’s a movement in Canada and around the world to “try to push faith out of the public sphere.”

“There’s a lot of hatred, there’s a lot of anger towards people of faith and increasingly a hostile perspective, when in reality, look at the wonderful things that people do, inspired by their faith. People do charitable works, they feed the hungry, they clothe the naked.”

A member of the audience asked what Scheer would say to believers who pondered a run at elected office.

“It’s not going to be easy, but don’t let that discourage you, because we were told [in the Bible] it wouldn’t be easy, right? In fact, quite the opposite. We were told it would be hard to be a person of faith, to be a Christian,” he replied.

Scheer said many of those who are not persons of faith also do good works, and freedom is an important Canadian value.

“Freedom of religion and secularism to me means embracing the aspects of all different faiths where we have that common ground, and allowing people to advocate for the things that they believe in and to live out their faith. And we should have leaders who have that kind of rock-solid principle,” he said.

“My hope is in the coming months and years, we can get Canada back to the place where there isn’t that open hostility towards people faith and people can just appreciate each other, and take the good that comes from all of us, and find that common ground and build a better society together.”

‘Stand on Principle’

In 2011, after turning 32, Scheer became the youngest Speaker in the history of the House of Commons. He was just 38 when he became Conservative Party leader in 2017. A fan of the Saskatchewan-born former prime minister John Diefenbaker, he said leadership is about knowing your destination and inspiring trust in others to follow.

The Scheer Conservatives won the popular vote but lost the federal election in 2017, leading some prominent Conservatives to oppose Scheer’s pro-life stances and absence from pride parades. But Scheer said some advice he received soon after becoming MP has always stuck with him.

“[Someone] said, ‘Before you walk into the House of Commons, you should have a clear idea in your head of what are the points, what are the principles that you would be willing to resign over? Politics, they say, is all about the art of the compromise, and it’s true,” he said.

“To get anything done, you have to find that path where people can see something and find that common ground. But it’s important as individuals that we also understand that there should be some things that we just stand on principle on and leave it to voters to decide if we’re going to go one way or the other.”

Scheer expressed gratitude for the fact that he lives in a country where he could only lose an election, not his life, for his stances. He recalled Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who became Pakistan’s first Federal Minister of Minorities Affairs after being elected in 2008. Bhatti was assassinated in 2011 by a Taliban organization.

“There’s a great group of members of Parliament from all different faith perspectives who have started great work on freedom of religion, protecting religious minorities of all backgrounds in all corners of the world,” Scheer said. “But there are far too many people who are fighting for religious freedom, both in elected office and in other ways, who put their lives on the line every day.”