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Home , Jack Layton, Jean Charest, Jean Lapierre, Lucien Bouchard

PARTIES LEAVING MEMBERS, MEMBERS LEAVING PARTIES: THE REALIGNMENT OF CANADIAN POLITICS, RIGHT AND LEFT

Desmond Morton

With the NDP virtually moribund during the Chrétien years, the Liberals vacated the left and successfully covered their right flank for the last decade. But no longer are the Liberals beneficiaries of a feeble Left and a divided Right. With a media savvy new leader in , the NDP is bidding hard to fill the political vacuum on the Left, while a recently united Right gathers in on March 20-21 to elect a leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada. Certain to be challenged from both Left and Right for seats in vote-rich , with fully 106 of 308 seats in the new House of Commons, the Liberals are looking to gain seats from the Bloc québécois in . But the Bloc is itself showing renewed signs of life in the polls, riding a wave of discontent with ’s Liberal government in Quebec as well as the spondonship scandal. Desmond Morton considers some of the forces and personalities shaping the realignment of Canadian politics.

Aidés d’un NPD moribond tout au long des années Chrétien, les libéraux ont su faire oublier la gauche et contrer la droite pendant une décennie complète. Mais ils ne peuvent désormais plus compter sur une gauche fragilisée et une droite morcelée. S’appuyant sur l’habileté médiatique de son nouveau chef Jack Layton, le NPD redouble d’ardeur pour combler le vide qui s’est creusé à gauche, alors même qu’une droite récemment unifiée élira les 20 et 21 mars à Toronto le nouveau chef du Parti conservateur du Canada. Craignant de perdre au profit des uns et des autres bon nombre de sièges en Ontario, d’où viennent 106 des 308 élus de la Chambre des communes, les libéraux misent sur les déçus du Bloc québécois pour se maintenir à flot. Mais voici que le Bloc lui-même, dynamisé par la vague de mécontentement suscitée par le gouvernement libéral de Jean Charest, ainsi que le scandale des commandites reprend du poil de la bête dans les sondages. Desmond Morton examine certains des courants et acteurs responsables de cette reconfiguration de la vie politique canadienne.

he other day, a woman phoned from the CBC. “Is it possible,” I rejoined, “that the parties have been “Professor Morton, why are so many people leaving leaving their members?” T their parties these days?” Well, is it? She had no lack of examples — mostly eastern Tories flee- After three successive Liberal majorities for Jean ing the clammy embrace of the ; but also Chrétien, and a fourth still possible for his ungrateful heir, Keith Martin, the occasional Medecin sans frontiéres from the competition should be changing their marketing strategy. Esquimalt, who confirmed the worst suspicions of CA nean- Unlike some decades of the old century, Canada for the past derthals by joining the Liberals; or Jean Lapierre, Liberal-turned ten years has been under substantially conservative manage- Bloc québécois-turned Liberal, who plans to manage Quebec ment. Yet the official holders of the brand, the for . One might even mention Sheila Copps’ Reform-Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives, well-publicized phone chat with NDP leader Jack Layton, have not had so much as a whiff of power. Instead it has been Ontario MP and John Bryden bolting the Liberals, blaming the Liberals who skinned the social programs Paul Martin on the way out, and joining the Conservatives. did not dare touch, expanded the Free-Trade Agreement to

16 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2004 Parties leaving members, members leaving parties: the realignment of Canadian politics, Right and Left

Ronald Reagan’s original North ment Corporation to recognition of the Absent the NDP, Liberal politics in America-wide dream, and eased the Communist regime in Beijing. With the 1990s took on a right-wing tilt. Jean burden on corporations and the some of its neatest ideas purloined and Chrétien was a populist with a strong wealthy while holding fast to the its batty kind of nuclear neutralism distaste for the self-important, but he Goods and Services Tax. Who needed drained away, the NDP became conser- was, above all, an inland waters sailor, Jean Charest or ? Especially vative in its own way. From the 1970s, its watching the wind and keeping off the foreshore. Since the reefs Absent the NDP, Liberal politics in the 1990s took on a right- were all to the starboard, wing tilt. Jean Chrétien was a populist with a strong distaste they guided his course. Just holding the tiller was pleas- for the self-important, but he was, above all, an inland waters ure enough for the little guy sailor, watching the wind and keeping off the foreshore. Since from Shawinigan, especially the reefs were all to the starboard, they guided his course. when it made his patrician colleagues squirm. Paul who needed or leaders defended the Martin was one of them, but he bided , whose social conser- Canada unconsciously became in the his time, cultivated the rancorous jeal- vatism sent shudders through much of postwar years. Youngsters who grew up ousies of those excluded from the Quebec and Ontario? in a home-owning, holiday-taking, uni- Chrétien circle, captured riding associa- The undignified haste with which versity-bound Canada, where a tions beyond the prime minister’s Peter MacKay forgot his leadership-win- cancer-ridden mother no longer meant purview and by mid-2003, months ning pledge never to negotiate merger family bankruptcy, had no notion that before Chrétien quit on December 12th, with the Alliance will arm political cyn- these conditions were won by Martin had the keys to the Liberal party ics with evidence for years. In fact, union-backed socialists squeezing in his pocket. MacKay was under orders from his power-seeking Liberals. The pundits who wrote so know- financial backers to get his outfit out of Even worse, when the NDP won ingly of invincible prime ministerial business fast. If, after more than a provincial power — and by 1991, half power were wrong. Whether through decade in the wilderness, right-wingers of all Canadians lived under a socialist love, fear or hope of gain, even a dic- had even a hope of a comeback, it government — their reforms had tator like Saddam Hussein needed loy- almost always vanished the moment dwindled to mere tinkering, some of it alty. So did Chrétien. A venerable Tory and Alliance candidates faced each inept. The NDP’s electoral collapse in culture of caucus discipline, cultivated other across every main street in 1993, comparable to the death throes by Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Ontario and the Maritimes. With Paul of the CCF, owed nothing to Ed Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie Martin’s Liberals in office and likely to Broadbent or even his lacklustre suc- King, had grown into a parliamentary stay there, Canada’s corporate establish- cessors, and everything to the per- system that gives durable power only ment had no imaginable use for three formance of his provincial partners, to disciplined ranks of MPs. After competing right-wing parties. If David , Mike Harcourt, Roy Chrétien had unveiled his last, mini- Orchard couldn’t get that message, he and his pals Ripping a page from Brian Mulroney’s play book, Martin co- could join the Liberals or, opted his old pal, Jean Lapierre, as his Quebec boss, much as even better, the NDP. Mulroney took aboard his Tory machine in Indeed, it might serve the socialists right to have to 1984. The hard line architect of the federal , put up with Orchard’s Stéphane Dion, is gone, and Lapierre will have a mandate to righteous factionalism. stamp out his supporters in the Quebec Liberal organization. For sovereignists, the welcome mat is out. ack in the 1960s, B Canada’s last real reforming age, a Romanow and the already beaten mal cabinet shuffle, ten years of small but youthful NDP provided most Howard Pawley. All that remained was deferred gratification exploded. of the agenda for the Pearson Liberals. a tiny, battered federal caucus with Countless unfulfilled ambitions could The faded green program the New barely the energy to say “No” to what- only be satisfied by rebellion. Scores of Democrats adopted at their 1961 found- ever the Chrétien government did. ambitious would-be cabinet ministers ing convention was a fair agenda of fed- Weary, demoralized backers closed could gain portfolios and perquisites eral policy, from universal medical care their cheque books and went home in only from Paul Martin. When Martin insurance to federally-funded urban despair. Some of them, polls show, finally gained power last December, renewal, from the Canadian Develop- even voted Reform. even the face-saving courtesies of

POLICY OPTIONS 17 MARCH 2004 Desmond Morton

intra-party conflict vanished in thin air. Only a small handful of ministers who had made their peace with Martin could stay. The rest were toast. Talk of democratic deficits and new status for backbenchers masked a revo- lution in MP self-esteem that will mat- ter more than any new name-change on the political right. For veteran poli- tics-watchers, the once disciplined levies of liberalism are a memory. No wonder the defectors went straight to the Liberal caucus: it had become the only exciting party on the hill. Of course, revolutions are easier to start than to stop. If Martin could depose Chrétien, can someone now depose Martin? How many MPs believe they have the talent for the top job? How soon will embittered Chrétienites use their new leisure and their old contact lists? Will only devoutly loyal Martinites win nomina- tions and seats in the next election? Currently bored by the parliamentary spectacle, will Canadians begin to find it too exciting? The media may rejoice but since when have they had any seri- ous commitment to rational policy and sensible management?

major delight of politics is the CP Photo A unexpected. In the Chrétien years, an inept, predictable opposition left Revival on the left: Jack Layton leads a transformed and revived NDP ready to wage a competitive election again whenever Canadians go to the polls. Its polls numbers are up, serious criticism of the government to its coffers are flush, and its telegenic leader knows how to crunch a soundbite and crowd the auditor general. Huge cost overruns Paul Martin for ownership of hot issues like cities. and mismanagement in HRDC and the gun registry were successfully sloughed to practice a new openness in politics Ripping a page from Brian off by prime-ministerial denial. Many and promptly demonstrated his prede- Mulroney’s play book, Martin co-opted well-connected Montrealers, with the cessor’s cynical wisdom. All at once, it his old pal, Jean Lapierre, as his Quebec apparent exception of Paul Martin, was Martin, not Chrétien, in the media boss, much as Mulroney took Lucien could detect a faint whiff of corruption spotlight, and his effort to look like a Bouchard aboard his Tory machine in among pro-federalist ad agencies brand new regime hit the trash can. Not 1984. The hard line architect of the fed- involved in a so-called sponsorship pro- since the Mulroney years had eral Clarity Act, Stéphane Dion, got the gram, hurriedly rigged in the wake of Canadians been given a clearer call to boot, and Lapierre would have a man- the tiny “no” side victory in the 1995 “vote the rascals out,” and Paul Martin date to stamp out Dion supporters in the referendum. An earlier auditor general’s himself sent the signal. Quebec Liberal organization. For sover- report hurried Alfonso Gagliano out of Until the sponsorship scandal, eignists, the welcome mat would be out the cabinet and off to Denmark, per- Canadians had expected a spring gener- and the Bloc québécois would fade. haps to experience a country with al election, an easy Martin victory, and This was vital for Martin and his allegedly the cleanest politics in Europe. a fast fade for Jean Chrétien and his managers. Even if the Alliance In early February 2004, when Auditor pals. Former Progressive Conservatives, takeover cannot work miracles, General Sheila Fraser turned sponsor- pollsters told us, preferred Paul Martin Ontario cannot remain wall-to-wall ship into a $100 million scandal, Paul to the likeliest Conservative leader, Liberal, as it has been since 1993. Martin embraced the issue as a chance . Targeting soft sovereignist votes was

18 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2004 Parties leaving members, members leaving parties: the realignment of Canadian politics, Right and Left logical. Sensible Canadians would see pointy-heads ever met, it would not be that he considered himself “centre-left.” that marginalizing separatists forever a pretty sight for Canadian unity. His February Throne Speech hinted that would be tragically stupid. Prudently, Conservative organizers he might even mean it, with phrases What non-Quebecers may not only plan a media show for their lead- about the poor, and handing cities back know is that sovereignty support was ership meeting in Toronto. But if payments for a Goods and Service Tax on the rise in Quebec long before Harper loses to Stronach the way party that Martin pledged in the old Liberal Conan O’Brien, Don Cherry and the insiders have been promising, count Red Book to abolish. Of course, as sponsorship scandal combined to on explosions of indignation from the Liberal spinmeisters and historians who insult Quebecers. West and enough responsive outrage remember William Lyon Mackenzie King assured us, the Throne The most transformed national party in early 2004 is the NDP. Speech was devised precisely Layton has so far delighted the media by being different. to deflate Layton and the Significant coverage has awakened the sleeping faithful and NDP, and then fade. Bay Street already considers opened their cheque books. Party membership tops a Martin a leftie, but so is hundred thousand, and the party of the common people Stephen Harper, and almost promises to spend up to $12 million on the 2004 campaign. anyone else who trolls for votes. By more conventional L’Actualité said it all with a cover por- in Quebec to shake even the sponsor- standards, Paul Martin is safely right of traying Treasury Board chair and former ship scandal from the headlines. centre, as are almost all the Liberals in IRPP president Monique Jérôme-Forget his cabinet and inner circle. confessing: “Honey, I just shrunk the he happiest national party in 2004 If any defecting Tories were seri- state.” Elected with promises of tax cuts, T should be the NDP. Without a seat ously red, they would have tiptoed fee-freezes and “restructuration” — read in Parliament, new leader Jack Layton past the Liberal caucus door and “privatization” — Jean Charest’s Liberals has been as busy as a bobble doll. A joined Canada’s Tory Reds, the NDP. have been making themselves highly professor and for- Canada’s history reminds us that unpopular with voters this winter. Add mer Toronto alderman, Layton has so Tories have nationalized more than their attacks on the public sector to the far delighted the media by being dif- the NDP ever threatened to take over, fat deficit that seems to be standard ferent. He has even given the NDP its from Ontario Hydro and the inheritance for new provincial govern- first Quebec-born, bilingual leader. Canadian National Railway to the ments in Canada these days, and the fed- [Quebec-bred David Lewis was born in CBC. When chose eralist honeymoon in Quebec is history. Poland and spoke only passable an eminent Tory, Emmett Hall, to Even without the sponsorship French.] Significant coverage has report on Canada’s health system, scandal, Paul Martin’s Liberals may get awakened the sleeping faithful and surely he earned at least a supporting little lift from Charest. As of February, opened their cheque books. Party role with as an archi- ’s Bloc is looking at membership tops 100,000, and the tect of Medicare. pro-sovereignty numbers running as high as 47 Of course, revolutions are easier to start than to stop. If Martin percent. Jean Lapierre could depose Chrétien, can someone now depose Martin? How might help Martin win many MPs believe they have the talent for the top job? How over tired separatists but he will need luck and soon will embittered Chrétienites use their new leisure and their some breaks that are cur- old contact lists? Will only devoutly loyal Martinites win rently out of sight. nominations and seats in the next election? A possible break could come from the Conservative party of the common people promises In 2004, not even Jack Layton leadership race. The chief excitement, to spend up to $12 million on the dares promise a victory for the NDP. as the campaign nears the wire, is 2004 campaign. Layton can remind Even if he imagined it possible, whether unilingual ’s Canadians that if they haven’t enjoyed Layton would keep quiet, well aware Quebec agents, mobilized by Brian the past ten years of growing wealth that voters may want more voice for Mulroney and John Laschinger, can and deepening poverty, the best single the NDP but not real power. Besides, buy enough delegates from moribund explanation has been the lack of New has any prime minister — or even riding associations to match dedicated Democrats in Parliament. any US president — worn a mous- Harper loyalists from and B.C. The NDP rise explained why Paul tache and won? Shave it, Jack, or If the Quebec ringers and the western Martin told Maclean’s last Christmas lose it.

POLICY OPTIONS 19 MARCH 2004 Desmond Morton

Despite their sponsorship tribula- ers indicate their party preferences on Back in 1957, after 22 years in tions, federal Liberals have discreet their T-1s? Don’t be an idiot! No, Mr. office, the Liberals boasted that they reasons for confidence. For all their Chrétien insisted, we will remember could run Louis St-Laurent “stuffed” if dumping on the departed Chrétien, whom we loved last time, and distrib- need be, against the prairie firebrand, the Martinites did not derail his ute the taxpayers’ largesse according to John Diefenbaker. They lost. In 2004, much-publicized election expense those past preferences. In his campaign Paul Martin has to persuade Canadian reforms. No longer, we are told, will finance reform, with funding to parties voters that, as finance minister and federal politics be financed by greedy based on their performance in the pre- vice-chair of the Treasury Board, he corporations or arrogant trade vious election, Jean Chrétien generous- didn’t have a clue about the squander- unions. While ample loopholes have ly gave Paul Martin the most money to ing of a hundred million of their dol- been pre-bored into the legislation, spend. With its scant showing last lars, but that he still has clues enough the intent of the Chrétien package is time, Layton’s NDP will have the least. to be our prime minister. The other that a wealthy donor will be limited With two parties’ loot to share, in case parties have the equally difficult job of to a mere $5,000 in donations. you were worrying, the new Canadian proving that they could run the coun- Taxpayers will make up the shortfall, Conservatives should do fine. try in the public interest without an paying much more of the cost of get- Meanwhile, as Chief Elections ideological bloodbath. If they can’t, ting our politicians elected. Elections Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley has we’ll probably get the Liberals again, Canada predicts that our bill will rise warned, veteran MPs can still sit on and we’ll deserve them. from $7 million to $22 million for the millions in trust funds accumulated coming campaign. secretly over the years to wage election Desmond Morton, founding director of Will we pay all parties and candi- and nomination battles. Donors to the McGill Institute for the Study of dates equally, so that a Liberal, say, and politicians’ trust funds may not get a Canada, is Hiram Mills Professor of a resurrected Rhino candidate can tax rebate but the beneficiaries get History at McGill University and the squander equally? Never. Will taxpay- money they deeply appreciate. author of 37 books.

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