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“People have their own personal positions on issues, their own private positions,” she said. “The relevant point is what is the party position.”

On those positions, the party needs a far more moderate stance and a leader who can represent the people who share it, she said. Whether Scheer is that person is up to him to figure out, she said.

Scheer walked away from Thursday night’s meeting calling it a constructive evening.

“All our conversations have been very, very open and frank, and respectful,” he said.

“We are all focused on learning from what happened in the campaign and to finish the job.”

Scheer sought Thursday to prove his party is big-tent, announcing that Toronto-area MP Leona Alleslev will be his deputy leader, replacing Lisa Raitt, a longtime Conservative who lost her seat.

Alleslev was first elected as a Liberal in 2015, but crossed the floor to join the Conservatives in September 2018. At the time she said she disagreed with the Liberals’ handling of the economy and foreign affairs.

Alleslev’s riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill is the kind of seat the Conservatives must win in bulk in order to form government in the next election: suburban, diverse and filled with middle-class families. Alleslev won it for the Conservatives by 1,060 votes. She’d won the seat as a Liberal with nearly the same margin.

Alleslev’s appointment is about proving the party is open to all comers, said Scheer.

“This is all about moving forward,” Scheer said.