The Future of the Political Right in Canada
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Working May 2001 Paper 21 The Future of the Political Right in Canada The Honourable Remarks at the 2001 Policy Forum, School of Policy Studies, Henry N.R. Jackman Queen’s University, April 28, 2001. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, it is a great believe that in a country like Canada our privilege for me to be asked to speak politics should necessarily be split on about the future of the “right” in Canadian entrenched ideological grounds. That is politics. not consistent with our history or our traditions. But after paying due deference First of all, I would like to say I have to the wisdom of former premiers Davis some problem with the title of these and Lougheed, it should be pointed out that remarks, i.e., “the future of the political both their protegees, in both cases, once right”. This of course begs the question of removed, premiers Mike Harris and Ralph definition – what is the right? Former Klein, do support some form of union or premiers Bill Davis and Peter Lougheed arrangement between the Alliance and the have both resisted the expression “uniting Progressive Conservative parties. the right”, saying that their governments were pragmatic and centrist and could I am a member of the Progressive not be categorized with the right or left Conservative Party of Canada. I am also a label. To this I agree. I, like they, do not member of the Alliance. 1 I believe in same-sex benefits. I am pro- Tories, but with then reform supporters as choice on the issue of abortion; I am in well. Every conservative member of the favour of gun control; I have reservations legislature must therefore out of necessity about the death penalty; I am not reli- be concerned when his or her supporters giously wedded to tax cuts; I am con- are forced to break ranks and fight each cerned by the growing disparity between other in a federal election. It is not in their the rich and the poor; I even believe in interest that their workers should take up seat belts, photo radar, and government arms against each other. In Ontario I can action to save the oakridges moraine. say from personal knowledge that time and time again the federal PC’s and the I do not believe there is a necessary Alliance sought out the same individuals correlation between views on these issues to be their candidates. There may have so as to categorize someone as right or been differences at the top, but when it left. came down to the riding level it is difficult to understand what differences existed However I did support the Alliance in when both parties sought the same the last election. Why? I supported the persons out to be their candidates. Invari- Alliance because, like most Canadians who ably when the potential candidates were believe in our parliamentary system, I felt approached, the answer came back, “well, I that no effective alternative could be might consider running, but unless you presented to the Canadian people unless two can get your act together I will give it the two parties were united. a pass for now”. You can therefore easily understand why so many of those like All Canadians must agree that those of myself who are supportive of the Harris us who choose to participate in the government, felt that this is not a matter political process have an obligation to of ideology. It is simply a matter of practi- present Canadians with viable choices. cal politics. You do not send two farm This simply cannot be done with two teams out to try to beat the national major opposition parties on the same side champions. of the political spectrum. The United Alternative or Alliance Preston Manning recognized the weak- Movement of course had very mixed ness of the reform and attempted to success. They were not successful in broaden its base, both ideologically and winning, nor did they achieve the desired geographically. He attempted to create a breakthrough in Ontario, winning only united alternative and put his own leader- two seats in the Ottawa valley. However ship on the line. The Federal Conservative the Alliance did score considerable Party refused to co-operate and for this success against those continuing con- reason many of us who are conservatives servatives who did not choose to unite. felt we had no choice but to support a The Alliance gained 740,000 votes in political grouping that favoured unity. Canada, bringing its total from 18% up to 25%. The Conservatives, on the other The pressure to combine the parties of hand, lost 800,000 votes, pulling their total course was the strongest in Ontario. We down from 18% to 12%. This was the have a progressive conservative govern- worst showing for the Conservative Party ment in Ontario, which was elected in since confederation. In Ontario the Alli- 2 1995, not only with the support of federal ance got almost twice as many votes as did the Conservatives, coming second in existing caucuses got elected on their 80 seats; the Conservatives came second own, Many of them may feel that a combi- in only 10 seats. nation such as I am describing may actually hurt their electoral changes Nevertheless, because of vote splitting, rather than help. the shift in Ontario from Tory to Alliance simply had the effect of maintaining, and Then there is the ideological issue which in some cases actually increasing, Liberal may exist at the top, but as you get down majorities. to the rank and rile, is almost non-existent. If you take the Alliance platform and the The results of the last election have Progressive Conservative platform and made it painfully apparent to everyone remove the letterhead, I think many of you that neither party can win without the would be hard put to be able to say which other. platform belonged to which party. I am of course here talking about the platform What then should happen? In the ideal itself, not about how the respective world the two existing leaders should parties’ policies were perceived by the agree that the parties should unite with- press and their opponents. Here of course out either leader attempting to impose there were differences. preconditions. The caucuses should unite. The national executives should agree on a There are always questions about common process to iron out organiza- leaders of parties who lose elections and I tional differences. Finally, and most would ask you to divorce the question of importantly, the question of leadership leadership from whether a union should must be addressed. In a perfect world I take place. After almost fifty years of would not like to see either party unilater- involvement in politics one comes to ally determine its own separate leader- realize that leadership is only one part of ship. It should be determined jointly, with the equation. It is not nearly as important one leader or the new emanation that as determining what manner of party emerges from this process. there is to lead. Now this may be the objective, but will it Nor should we get wrapped up in happen? history and perceived insults and betray- als of the past. Conservatives may never There are many problems. First of all, and understand why the west did not thank most importantly, there is the question of them for getting rid of the national leadership. Stockwell Day and Joe Clark energy plan. But this is all history and has are not necessarily soul mates and both of very little relevance to the present. them appear to have continuing ambi- tions. In the United Kingdom the Liberal Party of Gladstone which was responsible for so Secondly, there is the problem of the much of Britain’s social progress, fell apart two caucuses. Although the Alliance has over a wartime dispute between Lloyd six or seven times as many members as George and Asquith in 1916. Asquith died the PC’s neither caucus can claim to shortly after and Lloyd George ceased to represent central Canada. It also should be be a political force. Yet the split remained 3 remembered that the members of the two for a generation and by 1945 the Liberal Party was down to only seven seats, with a prime minister that the west voted for its huge Labour Party majority. regional interests, while his own members represented the national interest. The The Federal Conservatives brand the west is part of Canada too. Alliance as being intolerant and too ideological on some issues. However, as Unfortunately there are still persons in their own support has fallen, the continu- both parties who believe that they can do ing conservatives run the risk of losing it on their own without co-operation. Can their position as a centrist party and may the Alliance break through in Ontario? become intolerant and ideological them- Well, they came second in 80 seats. But selves. For instance, they could become coming in second is hardly enough. Can the refuge of the anti-Mike Harris Tories the Conservatives reverse the trend in whose mentor seems to be Dalton Camp, Ontario when in the last election they got who pretends to give the Conservative only approximately half the votes of the point of view for the Toronto Star. One Alliance? Yes, it is conceivably possible Federal Conservative writing to the editor that in Ontario the Conservative Party claimed that the continuing conservatives could double its vote and the Alliance were a centrist party because they fa- vote be cut in half.