Scheer says he won't discuss 'caucus dynamics' as calls grow for Bernier to be booted

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to say Thursday whether he's consideringremoving his former leadership rival, Maxime Bernier, from the party's caucus after the Quebec MP sent out a series of controversial tweets on diversity and multiculturalism.

Speaking to reporters in Regina, Scheer said Bernierdoesn't speak for the party and he wants a unified caucus with the next federal election only a year away. Scheersaid Conservatives will use that election campaign to pitch a different vision of immigration and diversity than the one being pushed by the current Liberal government.

Scheer says Bernier doesn't speak for the Conservative party

6 years ago

Duration 1:33

Opposition leader Andrew Scheer spoke to reporters in Regina on Thursday.

He did not condemn Bernier's tweets in which the Conservative MP accused the governing Liberals of pursuing a policy of "extreme multiculturalism" and the "cult of victimhood" but said the Conservative Party has a tradition of supporting diversity.

He speaks for himself.- CPC Leader Andrew Scheer on MaximeBernier

"We have members of Parliament from all over the country, many of whom have a difference of opinion on some issues. I have asked all members of our team to work together," he said.

While Bernier is allowed to voice his own views on the state of diversity in this country, Scheer said, he's heldno caucus leadership position since being removed from the party's shadow cabinet earlier this year after sparring withScheerover supply management

"He speaks for himself," he said.

In a series of tweets posted Sunday,Bernier who narrowly lost the Conservative leadership toScheerlast yearsaid promoting too much diversity could have the effect of dividing Canada into "little tribes" that cause division and erode Canada's social cohesion.

He alsocriticized the city of Winnipeg's decision to rename a park there afterMuhammad Ali Jinnah,the founder of the modern state of Pakistan.

Berniersubsequently issued a second set of tweets insisting he's focused on "all Canadians" and accusing his critics of engaging in "identity politics" themselves.

Scheer's political opponents have said Bernier should be removed from caucus for sending whatsome have said are xenophobic tweets.

Liberal Ontario MP Arif Virani, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of heritage, has sent a letter to Scheer asking him to remove Bernier from the party. "Otherwise Canadians will be forced to conclude that you accept his backward views," he wrote.

NDP Leader JagmeetSingh alsohas called on Scheer to strongly denounce Bernier, calling his rhetorica"dangerous message" to send to Canadians of diverse backgrounds.

A number of Conservative parliamentarians have also expressed dismay with Bernier's social media commentary.

Speaking with CBC News Wednesday, Conservative Ontario Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, who is Pakistani-Canadian, said Bernier's recent tweet singling out the Pakistani community was offensive and an attempt to pit Canadians against each other.

"I have a lot of respect for Maxime but it's divisive politics and I don't like that ... maybe he could say something else instead of picking on loyal Canadians and a community that's just trying to mind its own business," she said.

"A lot of [Pakistani-Canadians] supported his leadership bid and instead of wishing them well on Pakistan Independence Day he tweets this out ... He's just poking us in the eye for no reason."

DeepakObhrai, a long-time Conservative MP from Alberta who also vied for the party's leadership in 2017, said he doesn't shareBernier'sfears of "extreme multiculturalism" threatening Canada's social fabric, adding most immigrants integrate well.

He said he believes his party should be a "big blue tent" welcoming Canadians of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

"A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. Our party is open to all Canadians," he said in an interview with Vassy Kapelos the host ofCBC'sPower &Politics.

"All Canadians should be treated equally. I totally reject the notion of 'extreme diversity' or 'extreme multiculturalism' ... I know diversity has been a great strength for Canada."

Obhrai, a former parliamentary secretary to the minister of Foreign Affairs, said when he travelled abroad in that role manypeople celebrated Canada for being an inclusive country.

Obhrai on Bernier's controversial tweets

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Alberta Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai weighs in on Maxime Bernier and whether he should remain in caucus after repeatedly tweeting about "extreme multiculturalism."

ButObhraialso suggested Conservatives should be wary of being drawn into a divisive internal debate overBernier'stweets, adding that such a spat would amount to handing the Liberals a win.

"I can see Mr. Trudeau trying to make an issue out of it," he said. "Well, that's Liberal politics. We should remain focused [on other issues]."

He said one of the hallmarks of the Conservative party, and its predecessor, the now-defunct Reform party, is that it allows its parliamentarians and grassrootsmembers to express differing views.

In his first public remarks on the increasingly fractious debate over diversity in this country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today that Bernier's tweets are just the latest display of the Conservative Party's "politics of division."

Asked about Bernier'scondemnation of the Liberals for embracing ever more diversity, Trudeau said the Conservative Party "hasn't changed much since the time of Stephen Harper."

Trudeau slams Conservatives for Maxime Bernier's tweets

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to reporters in St Eustache Quebec on Thursday

The remark was an apparent reference to the party's electioneering over the niqab veiland a proposed 'barbaric cultural practices' hotline during the last election campaign.

"They still look at the politics of division as a way of drawing political advantage, by pitting Canadians against each other," Trudeau told reporters at an event in Saint-Eustache, Que.

"The politics of division, yes, can work in the short term to help you get elected, but it doesn't help you govern and mostly it doesn't help you solve the challenges that we are facing together as a society."

Even the mayor of St-Georges, a town inBernier'sriding ofBeauce,south of Quebec City, said he doesn't understand hisMP's"strategy" in launching a broadside against Canada's increasing diversity.

In an interview withCBC'sFrench-language service, Radio-Canada,Claude Morin said his region needs more workers from abroad because of a shortage of manpower in a province with a rapidly aging population.

"We don't really understand his strategy. We need workers ... theBeauceneeds new arrivals," he said in French.