CALGARY—Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer kicked off a controversy this week when he said candidates who apologize for past offensive remarks can stay in the running, drawing comparisons to United Conservative candidate problems during Alberta’s spring election.

But experts say that while voters largely set similar issues aside in the provincial vote, it’s a little more complicated for federal leaders.

Scheer told reporters last weekend that candidates in his party shouldn’t be disqualified from running for office if offside remarks are revealed, as long as they take responsibility for what they said.

“I think we all have to acknowledge the fact that people can make mistakes and people can own up to that,” he said.

Candidates from multiple parties were dropped in the early days of the federal election after comments from past social media posts surfaced publicly. And the Liberal party’s election war room has been trying to draw media attention to controversial remarks by Conservative candidates Scheer planned to campaign with as he travels the country.

During Alberta’s provincial election campaign, United Conservative Premier Jason Kenney had to deal with multiple candidates who came under fire for past social media posts or public statements.

Some of those candidates made their own decisions to resign, but Kenney never showed them the door himself — although in several cases, he publicly said he “condemns” their statements. But he also said that people can remain UCP members as long as they don’t belong to organizations “actively promoting hatred.”

In the end, none of it prevented the UCP from winning a strong majority in Alberta, where experts say the focus of the vote was largely jobs, the economy and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

University of Calgary political scientist Melanee Thomas said she’s watching how this affects the way voters behave during the federal vote. There’s still plenty of campaigning to go before the Oct. 21 vote, and it remains to be seen whether candidate problems become a major focus for any party.

But Thomas said voters across the country will be casting their ballots with an array of different priorities in mind, and Scheer doesn’t necessarily have the benefit of a singular issue to steer back to, the way Kenney kept pushing his message on Alberta’s flagging economy and energy sector.

“The evidence about past economic voting at the federal level ... is that it’s about the national collective economy. And the national collective economy is strong,” Thomas said.

Mount Royal University political science professor Duane Bratt echoed that, noting “the economy is humming” outside Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland.

On the other hand, economic angst was a dominating factor in Alberta’s most recent election.

“It is pretty easy to blame those incumbents in office, like, ‘Toss the rascals out,’” Thomas said. “In Alberta, there was a constituency primed for (Kenney’s messaging). This is not going to work elsewhere in Canada.”

Bratt said Scheer didn’t provide much nuance when he gave his position on past candidate remarks. The federal Conservative leader said the party will make decisions on a case-by-case basis, but “the question is going to be what is the line? Does any apology go?” Bratt said.

Both experts said candidate problems still likely won’t make or break the races in any ridings, but if something major breaks close to vote day, it could have an impact.

Both Kenney and Scheer have dealt with personal accusations of intolerance over past statements about LGBTQ rights. Kenney faced questions about a recording from 2000 where he praised political stances against “gay adoption” and spoke about helping to overturn a law in San Francisco extending hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples. And Scheer was criticized for a 2005 speech he made in the House of Commons suggesting same-sex marriage can’t be considered marriage.

When Kenney’s comments first surfaced in 2018, a spokesperson said Kenney’s views have evolved since the 18-year-old recording, adding that the UCP will “not reopen debate on divisive social issues.” Scheer’s director of communications similarly said that the Conservative leader, as prime minister, would uphold same-sex marriage as defined in law — but Scheer hasn’t said whether his personal beliefs have changed.

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Thomas said she sees Scheer trying to “get out in front” of potential issues with candidates so they don’t lose control of the narrative, the way the UCP at times struggled during the Alberta campaign.

“The best-case scenario for Scheer is he makes a statement and that’s a news story, but then they just never have to deal with it,” she said.

But, Thomas added, while voters watch these conversations play out during the campaign, it’s important for Canadians not to simply dismiss racist, homophobic or sexist statements, especially if they come from people running for office.

“Canadians like to think that we’re too nice for this stuff, and we’re not.”

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