Andrew Scheer and his wife Jill sit down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to wrap up the Conservative Party of Canada's convention and talk about their life together as a married couple, and what it means to be a Conservative Party Leader.
00:00:00.000You are listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:00:09.040Is the Prime Minister actually saying that taxpayers should be on the hook when he breaks the law?
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00:00:30.000All these deficits leading to nothing but burying Canadians in taxes.
00:00:41.000All right. So Andrew and Jill, this is very exciting for us.
00:00:46.000I know that everybody in this room would like to thank you both for all your hard work and everything you have done to make this convention such a success.
00:00:55.000Merci beaucoup pour tout votre travail et tout ce que vous avez fait pour que ce Congrès soit un tel succès.
00:01:05.000And to wrap up what has been an exciting and dynamic convention, we really appreciate you agreeing to sit down for this close-up and personal conversation.
00:01:15.000Those of us in this room who follow politics intensely, so that's everybody, understands that when a man or a woman takes on the role of party leader, the job isn't just about them, but it involves the commitment of the entire family.
00:01:30.000So, Jill, to you, on behalf of the wider conservative family, thank you so much.
00:01:37.000Everybody understands the role of a political spouse is a very demanding one, and it's a role that really deserves our respect and our appreciation.
00:01:47.000So, Andrew, I will ask you this question. What does it mean to you to have Jill not only as your life partner, but as your political partner?
00:02:04.000Well, it's the only way that this could be possible, and it wasn't an easy decision to run. As you can see, we've got a very young family, and the implications of this job are huge.
00:02:18.000And I want to thank everyone for all their support, and thanks for all your best wishes to us, because it is tough.
00:02:26.000And I have so much respect for anybody who makes these types of sacrifices, no matter what party they're in, because it is very difficult.
00:02:35.000And so, we did come to the decision together. We had a few chats, and it might have been after a couple glasses of wine one evening that Jill finally said yes.
00:02:49.000But, you know, I wouldn't want to do it any other way. I don't think that you can have a good husband, a good father, and a good public official if you don't have that support.
00:03:02.000And I'd either be, you know, a bad leader if I didn't have the support of the family and that wasn't working, and I'd be a bad husband or a bad father if I didn't as well.
00:03:11.000So, it's essential to have that support at home. I think it's true for any profession, really, that requires a lot of that sacrifice.
00:03:18.000But I'm just so honored and blessed and just want to thank you.
00:03:21.000Jill, earlier this summer when the Me Too conversation was at its highest peak, I tweeted out how proud I was as a female member of Andrew's caucus to know that I worked with a man who had the utmost respect for his female colleagues.
00:03:41.000And actually, what I wrote in my tweet was that while it's true, Andrew Scheer will never stage a topless photo shoot. At least, I don't think you ever will. I don't know.
00:03:52.000Okay, so I had that right. But I said his abundant and obvious respect for his female colleagues and above all for his wife and his family makes me proud to serve in his caucus.
00:04:04.000So, Jill, when I think about how proud I am, I want to ask you about Andrew's high character and how that makes you feel about him.
00:04:13.000Absolutely. I'm proud of Andrew every day. I think a big thing for me is I'm just proud to be part of a party that allows, not allows women, has women in important, powerful roles and they earned it just the way anybody else would earn that position.
00:04:30.000There's not a single woman in caucus or in shadow cabinet because it's 2018. Every woman there is there because she deserves to be there.
00:04:43.000And in terms of my pride for Andrew, he honestly treats me with the utmost respect. Every decision that we make, we make together. And I have veto over anything if I need to use it.
00:05:12.000It's very obvious to anyone who looks at the two of you that you have a very deep and loving relationship. Your bond is very apparent to us all.
00:05:24.000Can you share with us what you think are the secrets for a strong marriage?
00:05:29.000Yeah. You know, some of the old ones that everyone's heard, you know, never go to bed, angry, you know, that's key, you know, to try to solve things before they fester or just kind of build up.
00:05:42.000We learned early on that it's all about communication. And, you know, there's no sense in letting resentment built. If someone said something or did something that's, you know, hurt someone's, either our feelings, just kind of get it out of the way right away.
00:05:57.000One of the biggest, best pieces of advice we ever got when we were engaged from another couple was two things. It was kind of two sides of the same coin.
00:06:07.000Make it easy. Be quick to say sorry if you need to. And then the flip side of that is make it easy for the other person to say sorry.
00:06:15.000And a lot of times, you know, when we have a fight, it's tempting to want to hold on to that anger. And if someone, if your spouse says, listen, I'm sorry, then okay.
00:06:25.000They've said sorry, they've addressed it and try to be quick to forgive. And that's a big part of it, I think.
00:06:31.000Yeah. And the other one we always do is we never, ever bring up an old fight. So once it's settled, it's settled. And we just promised each other we'll never bring that thing up again.
00:06:59.000Yeah, it started out early when, you know, Jill would say things like, you know, Andrew, you really should not just iron the fronts of your shirt, like you should iron.
00:07:12.000Until like a year ago, he only ironed this.
00:07:42.000Well, if we didn't say earlier how glad we are that Jill's around, we're going to definitely focus on that now.
00:07:52.000How about as parents? Obviously, the demands on your time are endless.
00:07:56.000You could be out 24-7. So how do you create some normalcy in your home with each other, but with your children, too?
00:08:06.000Well, we've turned our kids into night owls. So like, even if Andrew gets home from an event at 9.30, he starts popping the popcorn and they all line up, all five kids and Andrew along the couch and they watch a show together or they, whatever, they've got a game going or, but they always spend time together.
00:08:23.000And often, sometimes it is late, so we've taught them to stay up late with Andrew and sleep in.
00:08:28.000That's right. Yeah, I think the key is when I'm home, I'm home.
00:08:32.000And I've heard from other people who have held these types of roles and they said, you know, the worst thing that happens is your work creeps into your family side and you really do have to draw, you know, big red circles around your home time.
00:08:46.000And so my staff know that if we booked a personal day, barring an emergency that needs to be dealt with right away, you know, things have to wait because it's not fair to the kids to say, OK, we're going to go to the park now or we're going to go see this and then I'm on my phone all afternoon.
00:09:00.000So that's a big part of it, too. Obviously, FaceTime, we do a lot of that and where we can.
00:09:05.000And as you can see in some of the pictures, when we can bring the kids along, too, and show them one of the great things that comes with this job is getting to discover so much of Canada, so many parts of Canada.
00:09:15.000So that's a big part of staying together as well.
00:09:20.000It is often said that political discourse is more toxic and corrosive than it's ever been.
00:09:26.000I'm wondering if you think that's a true thing historically.
00:09:30.000And if that is true, how do you two shield your family from the harsher elements of politics?
00:09:37.000And, Andrew, how do you potentially shield Jill or invite Jill? How do you shield Andrew?
00:09:42.000Well, I think with social media, it's brought in a whole new aspect that people sort of feel brave to criticize and we want to protect our kids and each other from that.
00:09:53.000Although you don't mind scrolling through it. It's me who's got a thin skin.
00:09:56.000But our kids haven't asked for any of that social media type stuff yet.
00:10:00.000But we are probably getting there. They're approaching their teen years and we're going to have to come up with a strategy for that.
00:10:06.000But until then, we'll keep them as sheltered as possible.
00:10:10.000Yeah, I think it has become very negative.
00:10:13.000And I think that some forms of social media make it easier to kind of be anonymous and just say things you would never say to each other in person.
00:10:21.000You know, I've got lots of family members who I disagree with. I've got friends I've gone to high school with and we disagree on a lot of things.
00:10:28.000And I wouldn't, you know, if we ever had a discussion, I wouldn't, you know, question the legitimacy of their birth and, you know, their mental competence and things like that.
00:10:39.000But on Twitter, you get that all the time, you know, just for saying something that is a well thought out position that your party has, you get all that back.
00:10:47.000So I try to ignore all of that. It is difficult. I do find myself kind of scrolling through and my staff want me to just, you know, not do that anymore.
00:10:56.000But yeah, it's, I worry about the ability for issues to be talked about in a way where people can have a difference of opinion or ask legitimate questions.
00:11:11.000And, you know, we see it, we see the debate becoming polarized on things that, you know, you wouldn't have thought 10 or 15 years ago that it would evoke this type of reaction.
00:11:20.000And, you know, not to get all political again, but, you know, calling Ontario cabinet ministers un-Canadian and calling Lisa Rae neanderthal when the left really comes out with this vitriolic language because we dare to have a different perspective on things.
00:11:38.000It is worrisome for how that debate is going to be carried out.
00:11:41.000Right. Because I was going to ask you if that social media atmosphere leaches into the political arena, you know, into the House of Commons,
00:11:49.000into your ability to have good relationships with people across the aisle.
00:11:54.000It can for sure. And when I was speaker, I really did, you know, try to encourage people to debate the issue.
00:12:00.000We have lots of things of substance to say. And when people come from different political parties in different parts of the country,
00:12:06.000different experiences, they believe that their idea, their proposal will be better for Canada.
00:12:13.000They're wrong. Ours are. But treat them with that respect and convince them that they're wrong or convince Canadians that they're wrong and you're right.
00:12:22.000But let's leave the personal stuff alone. And that's why when you do have, you know, Bill Morneau calling Lisa Rae to Neanderthal,
00:12:28.000it's just, you know, it's unbecoming of a government minister, but it is reflective of a mindset that left-wing parties and left-wing politicians are adopting more and more.
00:12:43.000Jill, one of the great pleasures of political life is the opportunity it gives us to help others.
00:12:50.000This morning we saw a video about your nephew, Lincoln, but because everyone didn't see it, I think we're actually going to be able to show it again.
00:12:57.000And we'll look at it and then we can talk about it right after, if that's all teed up.
00:13:09.000I'll never forget the day Lincoln got sick. He was my sister's youngest, at the time a beautiful, healthy three-year-old.
00:13:15.000My sister Erica and I are extremely close. Between us we have nine kids, we live a block apart from each other and we're constantly at each other's houses.
00:13:24.000The day Lincoln got sick, our world turned upside down.
00:13:27.000What started as a routine doctor's appointment for paleness and bruising turned into every parent's worst nightmare.
00:13:33.000Lincoln had a severe case of aplastic anemia. A virus had shut down his bone marrow.
00:13:38.000He wasn't producing red cells, white cells or platelets. A simple cold or cut could kill him.
00:13:44.000If you're a parent, you know what it is to feel powerless sometimes when it comes to your kids.
00:13:49.000Waiting for a donor is a special kind of helplessness. Watching my amazing sister and her husband go through that was so difficult.
00:13:56.000Any of us would have given anything we had to save Lincoln, but none of us could.
00:14:00.000So we did what any family would do if they're waiting for a miracle.
00:14:03.000We had hospital room dance parties. Uncle Andrew found a way to get Lincoln to take his terrible tasting medication.
00:14:09.000And Henry shaved his head in solidarity. And we prayed that out there, somewhere, there was a match for Lincoln.
00:14:16.000After weeks of blood transfusions, waiting and praying, we got the call we'd been waiting for.
00:14:21.000Lincoln had a match. One. One match in the world. Not only a compatible donor, but a perfect 10 out of 10 match.
00:14:29.000On September 21, 2016, Lincoln received his life-saving transplant.
00:14:34.000Because of this generous stranger, we have our boy back. Our beautiful, healthy five-year-old.
00:14:39.000I often wonder what would have happened if this anonymous donor hadn't taken the time to register.
00:25:30.000Thank you for listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:25:34.000To find more episodes, interviews, and in-depth discussions of politics in Canada, search for The Blueprint on iTunes or visit podcast.conservative.ca.