Baird report on why Tories lost the election is finished, but won’t be made public

The report into why the federal Conservatives lost the last election is finished.

But there’s no plan to make it public, according to a Conservative source with knowledge of the report.

Former Tory cabinet minister John Baird was brought in by the party after its election loss to produce a report on why it failed to form government.

Much criticism by party insiders has put the blame squarely on Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and his views on same-sex marriage and reproductive rights.

Scheer announced last month he will step down once the party picks a new leader.

7:01 Unpacking the politics: will Andrew Scheer be able to stay on as interim Conservative leader?

The leadership contest will take place on June 27 but officially opened to candidates on Monday, with a deadline of March 25 for those candidates to raise the required $300,000 and get the 3,000 signatures needed to complete their leadership application.

The source who spoke with Global News said the report is an internal document “made for the leader for the party” and that Scheer will share feedback from it with whoever succeeds him as leader.

But even caucus members may not get the chance to see the official assessment of why they lost the campaign.

“These are internal party and caucus deliberations which we do not comment on,” the source said when asked if caucus would get to see the report.

Baird did not answer questions about the report when contacted by Global News.

“Mr. Scheer has requested all media inquiries about the report to go to OLO,” said Michael Ceci, chief of staff to Baird, using the acronym for the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.

Scheer acknowledged Baird’s work on the report in a tweet on Tuesday but did not indicate in the tweet whether it would be made public or shared with the caucus or party membership.

Instead, he thanked Baird for the “many hours” he put into the “volunteer role.”