The former federal Conservative immigration minister has long been considered in an organizational class of his own. In the past, the presence in Alberta of strong Conservative leaders — liable to overshadow the party’s federal leader nationally — has not been a recipe for success for the conservative movement federally. That could be a blessing for his provincial party but a curse for Stephen Harper’s rookie successor Andrew Scheer. Alberta is not the only source of friendly Conservative fire Scheer will have to worry about between now and the next election. From Scheer’s perspective, that makes the optics of an alignment between his federal party and Harper on the NAFTA issue potentially poor ones.

Source: thestar October 30, 2017 19:28 UTC