Personal spending a party matter, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says how he used party funds to pay personal expenses is an internal matter and he won’t provide any details.

Revelations that Scheer was using Conservative donors’ money to pay private school tuition for his children emerged as he announced his decision to resign as leader in December.

Taking questions from reporters today for the first time since he made that choice, he said that there are internal checks and balances on party spending and has nothing further to add.

Scheer also said that a report he’d commissioned into what went wrong for the party in the 2019 federal election is partially not relevant now, as much of it was about him.

Still he says that he intends to spend his next six months in the job laying the groundwork to implement changes to the party’s structure so the next leader can be well-positioned to defeat the Liberals.

Scheer was meeting with Conservative MPs and senators in Ottawa today to plan strategy for the return of the House of Commons on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2020.

The Canadian Press