Conservative MP Scott Reid said he was sacked from his shadow-cabinet position as Conservative critic for democratic institutions in January 2018 because he voted for the Liberal government’s Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act. He stressed he “consulted [his] constituents and [was] given a mandate [55% of 3,100 respondents] to do so.”
Scott Reid (Website)
- He argued the Conservatives caucus “was divided” over the Bill, with “between one quarter and one third” of Conservative MPs in favour of legalization. In spite of these divisions, Reid said, “the leadership simply imposed a decision from above.”
National Post - Reid alleged then-newly-elected Conservative leader Andrew Scheer offered him the choice of voting against C-45, resigning his post, or being sacked from the party. Scheer has since resigned following his party’s election defeat in October, and allegations he used party funds to pay for his children’s private school.
Hamilton Spectator
