page_title: Andrew Scheer
section_title: Ukraine
hierarchical_section_title: Andrew Scheer / Political positions / Foreign policy / Ukraine
caption_attribution_description: English: Andrew Scheer PC MP celebrates Ukrainian Independence Day in Etobicoke.
context_page_description: Andrew James Scheer PC MP is a Canadian politician who served as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and leader of the Official Opposition from 2017 until 2020. Scheer has been the member of Parliament for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004.
  Elected to the Saskatchewan riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle at the age of 25, Scheer was re-elected in 2006, 2008, and 2011 before becoming the speaker of the House of Commons at age 32, making him the youngest Speaker in the chamber's history. He held the speaker role for the entirety of the 41st Canadian Parliament. On 28 September 2016, Scheer announced his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party, running under the slogan of "Real conservative. Real leader."
  Scheer has described himself as focused on economic development, fiscal restraint, and reducing inefficiencies in government. A staunch opponent of the federal carbon tax, he has stated that he would balance the federal budget within two years of forming a government and open up the airline industry to foreign competition. Scheer has been likened to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. On 27 May 2017, he was elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
context_section_description: Scheer was one of thirteen Canadians banned from travelling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by President Vladimir Putin in March 2014. Scheer supported sending peacekeepers to the Russian-Ukrainian border believing that "the defence of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be a priority for Canada's government on the international stage."
caption: Scheer at a Ukraine Independence Day festival in Toronto, holding up a t-shirt that reads "Crimea is Ukraine"
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