OTTAWA -- Former prime minister Brian Mulroney says the next Conservative leader will have to make sure they don't impose their personal views on the country.
"The art of leadership is the capacity to remain true to your own principles while accommodating the realities of the country," Mulroney said.
Mulroney made the comment in an interview with host Don Martin on CTV Power Play, just hours after Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer announced his resignation on Thursday.
The former Progressive Conservative prime minister went on to say that a leader "should not be thinking of imposing his own views, personal views, religious, [or] social" views on the country.
"This is a big challenge for the next leader, and I think it can be done," said Mulroney.
In announcing his resignation, Scheer cited the need for the party to have a leader who "can give everything they've got." Scheer said he will stay on until his replacement is named.
"In the elections you either win or lose. If you win, you're OK. If you lose, there's a pack of trouble waiting for any leader in this kind of situation...I thought that Andrew Scheer was a fine young man. He did relatively well in the election. But he didn't win, and he had to deal with a worrying party, which is never a lot of fun."
Mulroney added that Scheer "must've been good" at being leader, citing the pre-writ lead the Conservatives held in the polls. Still, he said that the new leader will have to have a "grand vision" to tackle the unity challenges both within the party and in Canada's federation.
"Canada's dealt with many more serious problems than this. But it's a question of the leader taking a stand, and saying – after he listens to the party, and the country – this is the way it's going to be. And you campaign on that, and if they see in that, Canadians see in that, an act of leadership, they're going to vote for you," said Mulroney.
Mulroney joked that there's one guy who might be up for the job.
"I just turned 80. So I could run on the slogan: 'Give Youth a Chance,' and we could sweep the country with that. It would be fun, I'll tell you that," laughed Mulroney.
