Maxime Bernier’s iron clad convictions and willingness to blow the doors off politically correct speech is requiring Andrew Scheer to sharpen. This is especially so because Bernier has been proven to be entirely correct on his rogue assertions about immigration.

Scheer was forced to hear that Canadians, both Conservative and many Liberals, want a hard-right turn on immigration from Trudeau’s extreme left socialist polices. A soft, dewy-eyed glance at this issue by Scheer is not going to cut it. We saw Scheer sharpen up a few days ago, now consistently highlighting immigration, and a clear position that we must have orderly immigration. 

Bernier, however, despite his rock-solid handle on the pulse of the nation, did not have the sharp appearance of a party leader. It may not be right, but it is human nature. Bernier does not appear to have the externally polished apparatus to lead a national party, at least today. On the other hand, neither did Trump.

Instead of chiding Bernier though, despite him leaving the party, the Conservatives should man-up and publicly credit him for his iron courage to speak truths, and for sharpening their pencils in drafting policy.

Since at this stage it seems impossible Bernier could return to the Conservative Party, it does no good to recount the good that could have resulted from Bernier and Scheer forging an albeit temporary alliance to win in 2019.

It has been proven time and again, that splintering off is a waste of money and votes, and won’t help anyone except Trudeau, with only a 13-month window before the election. On the other hand, Scheer could get Trumped by Bernier if Scheer doesn’t sharpen up even more and start speaking the truth instead of wishy-washy political speech.

The safe route is that Maxime Bernier will take this time to hammer out a sharpened political persona that is equal to the quality of his insightful political ideas and convictions, and then battle it out in 2023 for the leadership. It will speak well of Bernier to take the high road and allow the Scheer Conservatives the best opportunity to rid Canada of the nightmare that is Justin Trudeau.