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Table of Contents Table of Contents STOCKWELL DAY’S MISALLIANCE Introduction .......................................................................................................... 5 An Image Problem ................................................................................................ 7 The Best Laid Plans................................................................................................8 Four Points of View..............................................................................................12 Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions ..........................................................16 STOCKWELL DAY’S MISALLIANCE Introduction Just over a year after his dramatic entrance The months following the election pre- into federal politics, Canadian Alliance sented Day with one headache after another. leader Stockwell Day was facing an uncer- An embarrassing character-defamation tain political future in the summer of 2001. lawsuit brought against him by an Alberta The former Alberta provincial Cabinet lawyer, questions about the responsibility for minister had been the focus of great hopes the province’s taxpayers for paying his legal and expectations among many on Canada’s bills arising from it, allegations that the party political right as the dynamic new leader who had hired a spy to investigate the Liberals, might be able to wrest power from Jean and intemperate attacks on the actions of a Chrétien’s governing Liberals. Day had Quebec judge all focused considerable easily won the Alliance leadership race over negative attention on Day and cast further former Reform Party chief Preston Manning doubts on his leadership. But all of these in July 2000 and took his seat in the House of problems paled in comparison to the full- Commons following a by-election win in scale party revolt that erupted in April 2001, British Columbia two months later. But when some of his most senior MPs an- within weeks of his arrival in Ottawa, nounced that they had lost confidence in his Chrétien had called a federal election, and ability to lead the Alliance. The dissidents Day was quickly immersed in his first na- broke from the party caucus and established tional campaign as head of his new right- themselves as a new group in Parliament— wing party. the Democratic Representative Caucus The Alliance’s lack of preparedness for the (DRC)—led by former Alliance House election, coupled with Day’s own evident leader Chuck Strahl. Even Deborah Grey, inexperience and strategic blunders, gave the deputy party leader and the first Reform Liberals ample scope to mount a fierce Party MP ever elected to the House of Com- political attack against their main rival. mons, and a significant force within the Despite predictions that the new party would party, publicly advised Day to quit and also finally succeed in drawing enough right-wing joined the dissidents. votes to upset Chrétien’s government, the As pressure on him mounted, Day an- results on November 27, election night, were nounced in July 2001 that he was prepared to profoundly disappointing for Day and his step down in advance of an Alliance leader- followers. True, the Alliance had bested the ship contest that he suggested should be Reform Party’s two previous electoral show- called for early 2002. He did not rule out his ings by a few seats, retained its position as own participation in that race, but also did Official Opposition, and made a small break- not publicly declare his candidacy for it. through in Ontario. But 66 seats out of a total Meanwhile, dissident DRC MPs initiated of 301 in Parliament was hardly the result discussions with members of Joe Clark’s Alliance supporters had hoped for. Day’s Progressive Conservatives, culminating in a unsteady performance as leader during the meeting of the two groups in Mont- campaign quickly came under close and Tremblant, Quebec, in August 2001. This sometimes hostile scrutiny from party insid- gathering, which gained the blessing of ers, and questions were quietly raised about Preston Manning, was intended to begin yet his qualifications to continue in that role. another stage in the long and complex pro- News in Review — 5 — September 2001 cess of uniting the Canadian political right. appeared to be losing its way, and was in Day was quick to denounce the Mont- danger of fading into political irrelevance. At Tremblant meeting, stating that the only way the same time, Clark’s Conservatives were the two parties could truly unite would be if presenting themselves with increased confi- Joe Clark agreed to follow his example and dence as the logical alternative to the Liber- place his position on the line in a merged als. For their part, Jean Chrétien and his Alliance-Tory leadership race. As for any supporters could barely contain their glee as potential challengers to Day’s own leader- they witnessed their main opponent’s politi- ship, by late August 2001 none had declared cal meltdown, while seeing their own ap- themselves, although Stephen Harper, a proval ratings soar. In an opinion poll the former Reform MP and head of the National CBC conducted in late August 2001, the Citizens’ Coalition, a right-wing lobby Liberals enjoyed the support of over 50 per group, gave the indication that he was con- cent of Canadians, while the Alliance had sidering entering the race. fallen to less than 10 per cent, barely ahead The internecine warfare within the Cana- of the struggling NDP. By early fall 2001, dian Alliance was causing the party to lose the future of Canada’s political right looked considerable public support, even in its home very uncertain, as did Stockwell Day’s base of Alberta. Barely over a year after its political career as a national leader. founding, Canada’s newest right-wing party Recommended Web Sites and News in Review Resources The following sources are particularly recommended for additional research on this story. • The official Web site of the Canadian Alliance can be found at www.canadianalliance.ca. • A CBC Web site containing an updated chronology of issues related to Stockwell Day’s leadership of the Canadian Alliance is found at cbc.ca/news/indepth/ background/day_timeline.html. • The Web site of The National Post (www/nationalpost.com) contains a number of background stories on Stockwell Day and the Canadian Alliance. • Two News in Review stories are especially relevant to this one. They are: “Stockwell Day’s New Alliance,” September 2000, and “Election 2000: Chrétien’s Third Majority,” December 2000. September 2001 — 6 — News in Review STOCKWELL DAY’S MISALLIANCE An Image Problem Since Stockwell Day became the first leader of the newly formed Canadian Alliance in July 2000, he and his party have faced serious political challenges. This report deals with a very troubled year in the life of Day and the Alliance, especially the internal divisions within the party and Day’s difficulties in portraying himself as a competent and effective politician. In the “media age,” in which citizens have access to far more information about politicians than ever before, public image is crucial. With your classmates, form small groups to view the video. Assign the following tasks: (a) make a list of the images of Stockwell Day over the past year depicted in the video; (b) listen closely and note the various comments political figures and observers make about his leadership; (c) record answers to the factual questions below. A Balancing Act After viewing, discuss your perceptions of Stockwell Day. What do the comments about him you have heard in the video say about his leadership? How should the average television viewer assess the validity and credibility of the comments? How does the factual information add to your understanding of this news story? Factual Information 1. Members of what two political parties formed the Canadian Alliance in 2000? 2. What three positive images of Stockwell Day did the Canadian Alliance try to present to Canadians following his election as party leader? 3. How did the Alliance want voters to contrast Day with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien? 4. List five major mistakes Day and the Alliance made during the fall 2000 federal election campaign. 5. How many seats did the Alliance and Reform Party win in the federal elections of (a) 2000 and (b) 1997? 6. How many seats did the Liberals win in the federal elections of (a) 2000 and (b) 1997? 7. What percentage of the vote did the Alliance and Reform Party win in the federal elections of (a) 2000 and (b) 1997? 8. What percentage of the vote did the Liberals win in the federal elections of (a) 2000 and (b) 1997? 9. Why were the results of the 2000 federal election disappointing to the Alliance? 10. List six major problems Stockwell Day has faced as leader of the Canadian Alli- ance since the November 2000 federal election. 11. What offer did Day make to his party in early July 2000 and how did the rebel Alliance MPs react to it? 12. What new political group was formed on July 19, 2000, and who is its leader? 13. What federal political leader has seen his popularity increase since the 2000 election? News in Review — 7 — September 2001 STOCKWELL DAY’S MISALLIANCE The Best Laid Plans Since the end of the 1980s, Canada’s national political scene has been dramatically trans- formed. For almost three decades prior to that time, three federal parties—the Liberals, Pro- gressive Conservatives, and NDP—had been the main forces within the House of Commons in Ottawa. But the emergence of the Reform Party in 1987 and the Bloc Québécois in 1990 significantly altered the political equation, a fact that was brought home to all Canadians following the stunning results of the 1993 federal election. During the years since then, the right wing, or conservative side, of the Canadian political spectrum has been the focus of considerable attention as it seeks to regroup and unite to provide a serious alternative to the Liberals. First the Reform Party and then the Canadian Alliance have tried to present them- selves as the logical choice for voters who once backed the Conservatives and have persis- tently argued that only by “uniting the right” could the Liberals’ stranglehold over federal power ever be broken.
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