Canada’s Next Prime Minister Could Be an American!!!
Credit to Author: Sarah Berman| Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2019 21:53:11 +0000
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has one more thing in common with failed U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz. We already knew both were born in Canada, but it turns out they’re both US citizens, too.
In what can only be described as a reverse-Cruz controversy, the Globe and Mail’s Robert Fife revealed Thursday that Andrew Scheer has been hanging on to a U.S. passport until just recently.
Scheer’s campaign director Brock Harrison told the Globe that the man hoping to be Canada’s next prime minister has had dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship since birth. Harrison said Scheer made the decision to renounce his American passport when he first became leader of the Conservative party in 2017, but he only got around to filing his paperwork days before the election.
“In August, he informed the United States government that he was renouncing his citizenship. He has submitted the paperwork and is currently waiting for conformation from the embassy that he is no longer a dual citizen,” Harrison told the Globe.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with being an American, the Conservative Party has a history of going after other candidates for their apparent lack of commitment to Canada. Scheer’s predecessor Stephen Harper made a big deal about being “a Canadian and only a Canadian.”
In 2009, the party went after former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff for living south of the border, putting out ads that claimed he was “just visiting” Canada. More recently the party went after former New Democrat leader Thomas Mulcair for his dual French-Canadian citizenship.
Scheer comes from a family of dual citizens. He has two sisters who live in America and are registered Republicans, according to the Globe.
This week has changed the way Canadians think of Scheer in more ways than one. First we found out that he wasn’t the badass insurance broker he claimed to be on his resume, then we found out he’s the world’s dorkiest baseball player. And now, he’s an American who doesn’t even know how to play their national pastime.
Follow Sarah on Twitter.