"We also found out that Scheer is a dual citizen with the United States and Canada. Scheer said he started the process in August to renounce his citizenship."
We speculated at the time of the Canadian federal election last fall that Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative Party, hadn't actually started the process to renounce his citizenship.
"Knowing that I won't be prime minister, I discontinued that process," Scheer said on CTV's Question Period with Evan Solomon on Sunday.
Solomon asked Scheer when exactly he stopped the process of dropping his American citizenship. "I'd have to go back and check."
Solomon also asked what the reasons where for the reversal. Scheer said they were personal.
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Transparency is crucial for Canadians to decide on a dual citizen for prime minister
You are certainly entitled to ask why do we care about Andrew Scheer's citizenship when a) he isn't going to be prime minister and b) we're in the middle of a pandemic.
Too often, journalism stories get tossed to the side, pandemic or otherwise. Journalism is about chasing a story even when that story disappears from the headlines.
Without paperwork or an admission of guilt, we can't verify whether Scheer is a liar in this instance. His vague notions and words imply guilt but aren't a direct confirmation.
Conservative supporters might wonder if Scheer was all that viable of a candidate if he knew the dual citizenship would be an issue. Remember that Scheer only admitted to being a dual citizen when asked and treated it like it was no big of a deal. The Conservatives are running a new leadership campaign that will be settled in late August with postal ballots needing to be completed and received by August 21. The list of candidates is down to Peter MacKay, Erin O'Toole, Leslyn Lewis, and Derek Sloan.
Andrew Scheer told enough lies during the 2019 campaign to fill the ferry that goes out to Centre Island on the Toronto Islands. Scheer told the truth about being a dual citizen. Then we found out Scheer had targeted Michaëlle Jean's dual citizenship, specifically because she was French, while Scheer kept quiet about his dual citizen status.
Scheer said he would have said he was a dual citizen if asked. Do we know have to ask MacKay, O'Toole, Lewis, and Sloan if they are dual citizens?
The Canada-U.S. border has been closed since March 21 and will be until at least June 21. If the prime minister is a dual citizen deciding on when the border reopens, and Canadians don't know their prime minister is a dual citizen, that would pile on an already imbalanced relationship between the countries.
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We noted last fall that Ted Cruz was smarter than Andrew Scheer. Cruz's approach was comical to pretend he wasn't a Canadian citizen but we did get proof that Cruz was no longer a Canadian citizen. We still think Cruz is a Cuban citizen but that is for another column.
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Canada currently has a minority government, one filled with lots of serious sagas in a short amount of time. Predicting when a minority government will fall is virtually impossible. When that election comes, the Conservative Party has a stronger chance of forming government than most of the parties in the race. Having a candidate with some integrity would be a giant step over Andrew Scheer. Canadians should know basic truths about a potential prime minister. From every indication, Andrew Scheer would have made being a dual citizen a secret he didn't think Canadians deserved to know.
photo credit: CTV News Channel
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