CONSERVATIVE Leader Andrew Scheer announced in the House of Commons on Thursday that he has decided to resign and has asked the party’s governing council to immediately begin the process to elect a new leader.

Scheer, who won the party leadership in 2017, informed Conservative MPs at an emergency caucus meeting before making the announcement.

He told the House: “I just informed my colleagues in the Conservative caucus that I will resign as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and I will be asking the Conservative Party National Council to organize the process of a leadership election.

“As our party embarks on this exciting opportunity, electing a new leader and Canada’s next prime minister, I intend to stay on as leader of the party and the Official Opposition.”

Scheer said: “In order to chart the course ahead, this party needs a leader who can give 100 per cent to this effort. So after a conversation with my kids, my loved ones, I felt it was time to put my family first.”

Some media reports said Scheer decided to step down after the revelation that he was using party money to pay for his children’s private school tuition.

CBC News later reported that Scheer’s office admitted to it that the party was paying the difference between the cost of private school tuition for his children in Saskatchewan and the higher cost of tuition in Ottawa, along with some other expenses. “That cost was described as “minimal,” but amounted to thousands of dollars,” reported CBC News.

However, the fact is that Scheer just didn’t have the personality or the drive to be the kind of leader that was needed to defeat Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau. There was no other reason why he couldn’t defeat the Liberals in the last election. That sparked a great deal of frustration and resentment against him.