Baird conducted the internal review of why Scheer lost that election. While the report has not been made public, leaked reports suggest it identified Scheer’s opposition to same-sex marriage as a major problem for the party and one that it could not afford to repeat going forward.
“First and foremost, we’ve got to be a modern Conservative party,” he told Stephenson when asked where the party needs to go next.
“We’ve got to be true to our conservative values and principles; I don’t think we win when we’re Liberal-lite. I think we need to be true blue.
“At the same time, we failed remarkably in Ontario and the Greater Toronto area.”
Baird said the party needs to go back to the drawing board in envisioning “a new coalition” of voters it can attract.
“We need to have a vision that can appeal to people in the suburbs of every city in this country,” he said.
“That’s something that’s incredibly important and obviously where we fell short.”
