“What can you hope for in someone aspiring to lead our country?” That’s the question in my mind as I prepared to host Andrew Scheer at my home in West Vancouver Friday night, along with about 75 others eager to meet him.
He’s at the most malleable time in his leadership career, recently elected, and seemingly open to guidance from people like those he met in the room. It was at a point like this before he was president when JFK formulated the vision for the Peace Corps, one of his most important legacies.
On Friday night, Andrew sacrificed the opportunity to speak at length about his policy positions, instead opting to spend the bulk of the time in one-on-one conversations.
Some may have been disappointed, but the approachableness of this young man more than compensated, especially in the environment of a gathering in someone’s home. At a stage when Canadians are curious about this new young leader, this may be an emerging pattern in Andrew Scheer’s campaign.
“What can you hope for in someone aspiring to lead our country?” The answer became more and more apparent as Andrew spoke.
As friends dispersed later in the beautiful summer evening, several came independently to the same conclusion. We wanted to observe humility, compassion, integrity, and someone committed to listen to the people he aims to serve. Most of those who gathered Friday night told me they observed those four things.
READ MORE: Andrew Scheer on trade, Trump and Trudeau
The humility side he’s learned from being consistently underrated in politics, surrounding himself with strong supporters, and beating the odds. Andrew may be the most underrated political leader in the Western world.
At the tender age of 25, he beat the odds in 2004, winning his first election as MP against a 30-year parliamentary veteran, Lorne Nystrom. At 32, he defied the experts once again in 2011, becoming Canada’s youngest ever Speaker of the House. And he beat the odds a third time to emerge victorious over 15 other candidates who sought the Conservative Party leadership in 2016.
The compassion angle is especially important for a Conservative leader. Andrew boldly acknowledged the importance of rehabilitation, not just the expectable commitment to incarcerate repeat offenders. That suggests he’s also capable of pledging national resources to help people who are addicted to drugs, not just incarcerating those who supply the drugs.
In my visit to Insite as I was researching the crystal meth Bill C-475 that I got passed in the House, I was struck by what the Insite director related to me: “The patrons of Insite are not on their way to going dancing at a club. Many are at death’s door.”
The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse pointed out that, for every person addicted to a substance, 10 or more people are directly, negatively impacted. Imagine how Canadians would respond to a leader who pledged intelligent, effective support to the prisoners of drug addiction.
The integrity piece is key, as we want leaders who will do the right thing even when no one is watching. He didn’t allude to his faith but, as a devoted Catholic Christian, he answers to a higher calling. You don’t have to share his faith to believe he has a personal stake in doing the right thing.
If we judged him accurately Friday evening, that same integrity allows for him to remain loyal to whatever commitments he makes as he prepares potentially to lead the country. At the same time, integrity will require him to change position while making the necessary adjustments when the good of the whole country requires a special interest group to yield. Such compromises are an essential feature of leadership and an inevitable test of integrity.
Finally, Andrew seemed intent on listening to people he met Friday night. He’s young – seven years younger than Justin Trudeau. With his energy, mental nimbleness, and the ability to identify people who can enrich his understanding of key issues, he has all the makings to grow into a great Canadian leader. We saw this Friday night.
Andrew recognized Canadians in the room who can help him discern wisdom to develop a Pacific Rim policy. He made a point of following up with one woman who has helped lead the battle against human trafficking, prostitution, and pornography. You know a politician is serious when he asks his aide-de-camp to set up a follow-up meeting.
Friday evening was not the place for exposition of new policies. It was more a chance for a few Canadians to look into Andrew Scheer’s eyes, learn about his character and assess his potential to lead well. They saw a little of where he is, and a lot more than they expected of where he may be going.
John Weston is a lawyer specializing in government relations and Indigenous affairs, author of the book On!, and former Conservative Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country.