Andrew Scheer

He held the speaker role for the entirety of the 41st Canadian Parliament.

Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004.

Scheer was born on May 20, 1979, at the Riverside Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario and was raised in Ottawa.

He is the son of Mary Gerarda Therese (née Enright), a nurse, and James D. Scheer, a librarian, proofreader with the Ottawa Citizen, and Catholic deacon.

James was born in the United States, making his son Andrew a U.S. citizen at birth despite being born in Canada.

In 1998, Scheer began his studies in criminology, political science, and history at the University of Ottawa, from which he would ultimately graduate in 2008, receiving his Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree four years after he was first elected to Parliament.

During his earlier university years, Scheer worked on several political campaigns, including the Unite the Right campaign to merge the Progressive Conservative and Reform parties and Preston Manning's campaign to lead the Canadian Alliance.

He also worked in the correspondence department of the Office of the leader of the Opposition under Stockwell Day.

Scheer also worked on Ottawa city councillor Karin Howard's youth advisory committee.

In his third year of university, Scheer ran as a school trustee for the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board in the 2000 Ottawa municipal elections but lost to incumbent Kathy Ablett.

After meeting his future wife Jill Ryan at the University of Ottawa, Scheer moved to her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan, and continued his studies at the University of Regina, taking some courses for his BA there.

In Regina, Scheer worked as an insurance clerk, a waiter, and an assistant in the constituency office of Canadian Alliance MP Larry Spencer.

Scheer was elected at age 25 as a Conservative candidate in the federal election of 2004, in the riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle, beating New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Lorne Nystrom by 861 votes.

Near the end of the race, Scheer accused Nystrom of being soft on child pornography.

In 2005, Scheer's blog as an MP listed that he was an accredited insurance broker, and in 2007 the biography section on Scheer's MP website stated that he passed the Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker program in Saskatchewan and started his insurance industry career at Shenher Insurance in Regina.

Elected to represent the Saskatchewan riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle at the age of 25, Scheer was re-elected in 2006, 2008, and 2011 before becoming House speaker at age 32, making him the youngest speaker in the chamber's history.

Scheer was re-elected in the federal election of 2006, again defeating Nystrom, this time by a margin of 2,740 votes.

In April 2006, during the 39th Canadian Parliament, Scheer was named as assistant deputy chairman of Committees of the Whole, one of three deputy speakers.

He also sponsored a bill that would create minimum sentences for those convicted of motor vehicle theft called Bill C-343, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (motor vehicle theft).

On November 21, 2008, during the 40th Canadian Parliament, he was named deputy speaker of the House of Commons and chairman of Committees of the Whole, succeeding NDP MP Bill Blaikie.

Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the leader of the Conservative Party and leader of the Official Opposition from 2017 to 2020.

Scheer earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in criminology, political science, and history.

When the Conservative Party won a majority at the federal election in 2011, Scheer's experience as deputy speaker led many to consider him the front-runner to be elected speaker of the House of Commons.

On June 2, 2011, Scheer defeated Denise Savoie, the lone opposition and only woman candidate, in the sixth round of balloting.

Scheer graduated from Immaculata High School and received the school's "Distinguished Catholic Alumni Award" in 2012.

Following the Conservatives' defeat in 2015, Scheer launched his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party, running under the slogan of "Real conservative. Real leader."

On May 27, 2017, he was elected leader of the Conservative Party in an upset, narrowly defeating former cabinet minister Maxime Bernier.

Scheer has described himself as focused on economic development, fiscal restraint, and reducing inefficiencies in government.

He is a staunch opponent of the federal carbon tax and favours the construction of several pipelines.

In the 2019 federal election, the Conservatives under Scheer received a plurality of the popular vote and gained 26 seats, but remained the Official Opposition.

On December 12, 2019, following weeks of criticism within the party for the unsuccessful campaign he ran, Scheer abruptly announced he would be resigning as party leader effective upon the election of a new one.

According to a 2019 Maclean's article, Scheer's family earned considerably more than the median income for most Canadian families.

Scheer has two sisters.

Part of Scheer's family is from Romania.

Scheer spent summers during his youth with his maternal grandparents in Mississauga.

During the 2019 election, when Scheer was Conservative leader, his biography on the party website stated that he had worked as an insurance broker.

Upon investigation The Globe and Mail found no evidence that he was ever accredited as an insurance broker.

Scheer responded to these claims by maintaining that he received accreditation for general insurance after leaving Shenher Insurance in Regina.

As of September 2019, the provincial regulator, Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan, was reviewing the matter.

He was succeeded as leader on August 24, 2020 by former cabinet minister Erin O'Toole.