P.E.I. Tories 'looking forward to renewal' after Scheer resigns

A former member of Andrew Scheer's team in P.E.I. says he was shocked to learn the Conservative Party leader had resigned Thursday. Logan McLellan came a close second in the federal riding of Egmont in October's federal election, losing by fewer than 900 votes. 

The resignation came after weeks of mounting criticism. Scheer told the House of Commons Thursday it was "one of the most difficult decisions" he ever had to make. 

"It was a bit of an initial shock," said McLellan, shortly after he learned of Scheer's resignation on Twitter.

Former Egmont Conservative MP Gail Shea, who lost her seat in the 2015 election, did support Andrew Scheer for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party, but said it's probably best that Scheer stepped aside.

"Andrew Scheer, don't get me wrong, is a great guy," said Shea. "It's unfortunate that things turned out the way they did — we had all hoped they'd turned out better. I'm looking forward to renewal."

'A big divide'

"It must be a monumental decision for him to take to resign," Premier Dennis King said Thursday afternoon.

King said the next leader of the federal Conservative Party needs to be more progressive on social and environmental issues. He said it is not just what he wants, but believes it is a prerequisite for all federal leaders.

"I think if the federal Conservative Party is interested in forming government, I think they need to be more socially progressive on many of the social issues and they need to define themselves within the environmental envelop in terms of where Canadians are," said King, adding he is not a card-carrying federal Conservative. 

"I think we have found what I would say is a big divide between what we stand for here as Progressive Conservatives in Prince Edward Island and the agenda that's been put forward on some of the social issues as it pertains to the federal scene."

King said he hopes the next leader will do things differently. 

"I don't have a natural home on the federal scene. I do find myself connecting with polices from all the different parties quite honestly."

'Excited to see what happens'

McLellan said he is looking forward to a fresh start.

"I'm interested and excited to see what happens with the party moving forward." 

He said he plans to attend the leadership convention, when a date is announced. 

"It's kind of exciting that we will be choosing a new leader."

McLellan said he believes the next leader of the party needs to take a different approach.

"I'm a progressive Conservative," said McLellan. "I understand we completely have to do things differently than 2005 … I definitely would have been doing things different than he did." 

'No leader was really connecting'

Scheer was first elected to the House of Commons at age 25, and said he will stay on until a new leader is elected. 

McLellan noted that during the fall election campaign, being connected to Scheer didn't help.

"No leader was really connecting in my riding," said McLellan, adding he tried to focus on the local campaign, rather than the national campaign and its leaders. 

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