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Earlier in the week, I wrote here that the first issue that needs to be settled after the just-concluded election is what happens to Andrew Scheer. Does he stay or go? The rest of the minority parliament’s trajectory will hinge on that.

He certainly intends to stay. I get it. He fell short on Monday — well short — but not quite so short for it to have been a disaster that requires his resignation or purging by party operatives. He’s somewhere in the middle. He can make a case that he has earned the right to stay — in fact he has to make that case.

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In an interview with The Canadian Press, Scheer said that the party is reviewing its campaign, looking at what worked and what didn’t. That’s fair and appropriate. But he also made an interesting comment. I’ll quote the CP report at length below:

“I believe you can have both of those positions: you can have a personal view and you can acknowledge that in Canada, the prime minister does not impose a particular viewpoint on Canadians,” he said of his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.In other words, while it’s no secret where he stands, his personal opinions should be beside the point.”I believe that Canadians understand that any number of people can have a different point of view on these issues. What’s important to them is to know whether a prime minister will make changes or seek to make changes,” he said.”And my assurances to Canadians was that as prime minister, these types of debates would not be reopened.”