Category: Media

After 13 painful rounds of elimination, Andrew Scheer was dubbed the victor in last weekend’s leadership race for the Conservative Party of Canada, proving for once that nice guys can finish first.

The results were extremely close, with Scheer picking up roughly 51 per cent support on the final ballot. His closest rival and presumptive frontrunner Maxime Bernier came in at 49 per cent, with Erin O’Toole, Brad Trost, and Michael Chong respectively rounding out the top five in a field of 13 candidates.

Scheer Excitement

Despite a snarky headline from the Toronto Star suggesting otherwise, Scheer is a well-known figure within the Conservative Party. The 38-year-old MP from Regina—Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan started his political career by beating an NDP incumbent who had been the longest-serving member in the House of Commons. He then succeeded Peter Milliken in 2011 to become the youngest Speaker of the House ever recorded.

Scheer’s convening power was forged and tested in his role for four years as Speaker. For the uninitiated, Question Period is the most rambunctious, visceral, and exciting part of an MP’s daily routine in the House of Commons. The regular symphony of zingers, potshots and heckles should impress on the observer that any Speaker who could keep such boisterous MPs in line as graciously and as tenaciously as Scheer did is worth their weight in parliamentary gold.

Scheer is largely recognized as a brokerage candidate. He carries little, if any, of the baggage of the Harper years, and his voting record is limited to a few months before he started serving as Assistant Deputy Speaker in 2006.

Many, including the Liberals, had been expecting Scheer’s opponent Maxime Bernier to take the crown with his coloured past as a minister in Harper’s cabinet, his bold, libertarian policies and a solid endorsement from Shark Tank celebrity Kevin O’Leary.

In the wake of the upset, the best attack the Liberals could muster was a reversion to tired, old talking points about the dangerous spectre of social conservatism that Andrew Scheer raised. The NDP deigned to call Scheer “baby Trump”. We’ve heard this all before.

Such accusations are laughable at best, and absurd at worst, given Scheer’s failure to receive the endorsement of the most prominent anti-abortion group, Campaign Life Coalition, something earned by both his competitors Brad Trost and Pierre Lemieux. Much to the Liberals’ disappointment, Scheer appears inclined to honour that classical liberal tradition of separation of church and state, and rightfully so.

The Other Half

For Scheer, it was more important to build a broader coalition among conservatives in Canada and preach unity within the party than it was to propagate any single ideology. In the pre-merger shadow of the PC-Reform split, Scheer continues to be anxious about “skipping the breaking apart phase” after this leadership race.

If the numbers tell us anything, Scheer’s win was not as clear-cut as we imagined. Some have attempted to simplify the Scheer and Bernier camps as a contest between rural and urban Conservatives, Western Canada against Eastern Canada, or even traditionalists against libertarians.

Source: Conservative Party Leadership Election 2017 Map, Wikimedia Commons

Looking at the numbers, it’s clear the narrative doesn’t hold true. Scheer picked up ridings in the suburban areas of Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto; in southwestern Ontario; and in the Maritime provinces. Bernier won support broadly from coast-to-coast-to-coast, urban and rural, with the exception of Scheer’s provincial heartland, Saskatchewan.

The map is a stark reminder for Scheer: 49 per cent of Conservative Party members voted for a libertarian candidate. In fact, this is the first time that we have seen libertarian ideas gain widespread traction and popularity among the Conservative faithful, especially among youth. Libertarians have consistently faced challenges with political organization, which some have characterized as the equivalent of herding cats (i.e. how do you organize people who don’t believe in centralized authority?). Bernier was certainly onto something.

It’s worth noting too that the policies presented by Bernier are not necessarily incompatible with the typical small-c conservative ideology advocating for small government, lower taxes, and individual freedoms. Scheer would do well to learn from Bernier on how to craft and deliver these policies to galvanize voters, especially if he is serious about building a broader coalition going into 2019.

To Keep Us Humble

The antics of his core campaign team aside, Maxime Bernier was a very different man on May 27 than the selfless ideological warrior he had been on the campaign trail. Pride goeth before the fall, and Bernier’s campaign is a testament to how arrogance can destroy political integrity. Adam Radwanski put it succinctly: “There was ample reason to wonder if Mr. Bernier was the right fit to lead a big-tent party”.

While the Conservatives would do well not to harp on the “should-haves” and “could-haves”, the truth is that such a narrow victory should keep both camps humble. Scheer knows he cannot win a general election without the other half that supported Bernier. This humility should encourage the Conservative Party to unite, return to its roots and sharpen this virtue as its greatest weapon against the Liberals.

In fact, Scheer has already started that work. His first question in the House of Commons on the following Monday was a direct attack on the Prime Minister’s most cherished file: youth. The new Leader of the Conservative Party criticized Trudeau’s tax-and-spend policies that he claimed hurt economic opportunities for youth.

The message hits a little closer to home when you consider the Liberal’s recent track record. Getting rid of the public transit tax credit, eliminating tax breaks on textbooks, and raising taxes on Uber and alcohol — all of these moves hit young people hardest from a party and a Prime Minister that has presumed to be the champion of youth.

While in its waning days, the Harper government was prone to absolute corruption brought by absolute power (did anyone say $16 orange juice?). Such behaviour is a drop in the bucket when you see the (re)iteration of Liberal arrogance in its various forms: limousine services, six-digit moving bills for PMO staff, and swanky, private fundraisers.

Canadians gave Trudeau a mandate because they thought he represented hope and change. Let that thought keep them humble, and the new Conservative leadership most of all.

Marvel is on Comixology Unlimited, which means Comixology Unlimited subscribers can now access Marvel titles. This is probably gibberish to people who do not read comic books, but trust me, it’s a very big deal for anyone invested in the comic book world. For everyone else, it’s a lesson in how content publishing is changing.

Comixology Unlimited is basically Netflix for comic books. Comixology Unlimited is an offshoot of Comixology, an online store for digital comics, but Unlimited uses a subscription model. Marvel is a major brand in the comic-book world. For six USD a month (the service is not yet available in Canada) users have unlimited access to a practically endless library of rotating titles. It has practically everything from superheroes, to manga, to graphic novels — just no DC, and a up until this month, no Marvel.

Many comic book fans, digital planners and businesses strategists never thought this day would come. The fact that Marvel is now on Comixology Unlimited shows how the power dynamics between aggregators and publishers have changed, thanks to digital media.

The Internet is vast and overwhelming, making aggregators a necessary step between publishers and consumers. This means reaching people involves researching the type of users or customers you want, learning where and how they prefer to interact with similar content, and optimizing your content so your audience can find it. Advertising will only go so far. People will want something, but if it’s not available in the most convenient form, they’ll settle for something close. For example, they will want to watch a certain show, but if it’s not on Netflix, they often end up settling for something similar that is available through the streaming service.

To grow an audience online you need to make sure people can find your content in the easiest way possible. Increasingly, this means putting your content in an aggregator, like Netflix. In this instance it’s Comixology — just like TV shows need to be in Netflix and websites need to be in Google, (eventually) comic book publishers will need to be in Comixology Unlimited.

So why did Marvel decide to join up? It’s not like they need the money — you might have noticed they make some pretty big movies. This month, more people will watch the second installment of Guardians of the Galaxy than will download Comixology Unlimited’s app for the entire year. But, while Marvel has media channels beyond comics, Comixology has done some very good work winning over comic book readers, which is slightly different than winning over comic book fans. Despite having Mickey Mouse and Robert Downey Jr. in its corner, Marvel still has to play the aggregator game in order to reach the users it wants — in this case, people that actually read comic books.

Marvel is not putting its entire catalogue on Comixology but it’s a very good selection. Comixology deserves a lot of credit for making this happen. Perhaps knowing it would not be able to offer Batman or Spider-Man, Comixology Unlimited went for all the other publishers. This was a smart move: people who like more obscure titles tend to be more devoted readers and are more likely to first, stay subscribed to Comixology Unlimited, and second, try different titles from another publisher recommended through the app. And for Marvel, this also makes sense. By offering some of its most popular books to the most engaged reading audience, Marvel increased the likelihood that one of these people will read one of its books and eventually become a devoted Marvel customer.

The applications for public affairs are obvious. With a world of practically unlimited content options, publishers have to identify their audiences. With Marvel, this means recognizing that not all comic book fans actually read comics, and even that not all comic readers buy digital editions. Marvel’s first wave of Comixology Unlimited titles are deliberate. Marvel didn’t join Comixology Unlimited to reach just anyone. It wanted digital comic book readers.

This is obviously good for Marvel and it also helps Comixology Unlimited grow by attracting users from Marvel’s considerable audience who might be looking to read less mainstream comics. For many, Marvel joining Comixology Unlimited is a victory for the little guy. The smaller digital reader/aggregator got buy-in from one of the industry giants. In a way, the new X-Men will have the same prestige as the latest issue of Saga, which is cool for comic book readers, but Marvel probably doesn’t see it that way. What it sees is an opportunity to use an aggregator to grow its audience.