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That would certainly do the trick. Trudeau survived the election because, despite his poor performance, he didn’t alienate enough Canadians to the point they’d prefer anyone but him as prime minister. Another couple of years of such antics might do it, though.

Thing is, it appears unlikely the Trudeau team will co-operate. Even Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s ear-whisperer, must appreciate that dropping a million votes, turning a majority into a minority, placing second to the Conservatives in the overall tally and limping back to office with the support of just 33 per cent of voters — 22 per cent of those eligible to vote — isn’t the mark of a high-performance political machine. So, odds are there will be some changes as the Liberals try to figure out why, if it wasn’t for Ontario, they’d be out on their ear.

Scheer believes what he believes so intensely that he can’t claim to have changed his mind without undermining fundamental parts of his character

Scheer, too, says his party will delve deeply into what went wrong and look for improvements. It’s just hard to see how they could take place under his leadership. Scheer isn’t as emotive as Trudeau in baring his soul to the public, but his views are there, on the record, and not the sort that are easily changed. He’s a social conservative with principles that appeal to a core group of Conservative voters but promise little if any potential to expand the Tory vote beyond its usual 30-35 per cent. There is no question it hurt the party’s fortunes in the election, and would almost certainly do so again in future. It’s a position that’s easy to attack and distort, and even a party like the Liberals, with so much of their own baggage, can manage to do so effectively.