OTTAWA—Andrew Scheer faced demands by several Quebec candidates to step down and let someone else lead the Conservative party at a no-holds-barred meeting Monday in Montreal.And at another meeting next door, sources say campaign directors made a show of hands to party officials expressing they no longer have confidence in Scheer.The Star spoke to several sources with knowledge of the discussions that took place at the two private meetings, which were held in adjacent rooms at the Marriott Chateau Champlain in downtown Montreal. While most requested they not be identified in order to speak candidly about the discussions, some spoke on the record.During the meeting with Scheer, which lasted two and a half hours and was followed by a reception, defeated Montreal-area candidates laid out concerns ranging from logistical complaints about the Quebec campaign’s operations and failures, to broader concerns that Scheer cannot win in Quebec in the next election.Marie Claude Fournier, a candidate in the riding of Thérèse-De Blainville on Montreal’s north shore, told the Star in an interview that she told Scheer directly what she heard and continues to hear in her riding — that the party cannot win with Scheer at its top.“I think that will take another leader, other than Andrew Scheer,” said Fournier. “Andrew Scheer is a good person … he’s very attentive, but if I could speak for myself, and for my riding in Quebec, he’s not the man for the job. He doesn’t have the leadership of the troop. He doesn’t understand Quebec.”Fournier said Scheer’s anti-abortion views were not an issue — “those are his values, that’s fine,” she said, but added he “wasn’t clear, wasn’t authentic when it came to dismissing concerns over how he would deal with the issue in Parliament. She said there were similar concerns with his position on climate change.“Vot ...
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