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BOOK EXCERPT PASSAGES The Conservative continuum: From Stanfield to Mulroney Hugh Segal In this excerpt from his new book, The Right Balance: Canada’s Conservative Tradition, Senator Hugh Segal constructs a political and policy narrative of the continuity, particularly of respect for classical federalism and the constitutional division of powers, that united Bob Stanfield in defeat in one generation and Brian Mulroney in victory in the next. Dans cet extrait de son nouveau livre, The Right Balance, le sénateur conservateur Hugh Segal élabore le récit politique et stratégique d’une continuité, notamment en ce qui a trait au fédéralisme classique et à la répartition constitutionnelle des pouvoirs, qui réunit sur deux générations Robert Stanfield dans la défaite et Brian Mulroney dans la victoire. etween 1967 and 1984 , the bal- Stanfield knew Canada’s business affairs of government as Diefenbaker ance that served Tories well in elite personally and was neither intim- was not. A sense of balance and calm B the past would be, on occasion, idated nor overly impressed by them. as one sorts through issues and chal- quite elusive. But it would not disap- He had revived Tory fortunes in Nova lenges is an essential ingredient of gov- pear altogether. In fact, the mix of Scotia after a long drought through his erning. Lurching back and forth or Robert Stanfield’s decency and urbani- steady-minded pragmatism, inclusive launching new initiatives without con- ty, Joe Clark’s sincerity on Quebec and politics and coherent and frugal sultation does not advance the nation- the emergence of a party united approach to public administration. al interest as much as it devalues the behind Brian Mulroney, as had not After winning the Tory leadership fed- modest and positive role government been the case under Stanfield or Clark, erally in 1967, his commitment to can and should play in society. would preserve the right balance, rebuilding the party with and within Stanfield’s conservatism was character- despite early setbacks and defeats. Quebec reflected his sense of realism ized by its equilibrium, which is far Robert Lorne Stanfield was in many and fairness. He learned French from a more important than narrow ideolo- ways the opposite of John Diefenbaker. zero base in his mid-50s and surround- gies of the right or the left. These ele- Born to wealth, editor of the Harvard ed himself with bright, experienced ments of equilibrium were reflected in Law Review and a dollar-a-year employee staff. These people brought journalis- his approach to federal-provincial rela- of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board, tic, legal, economic, political or com- tions, economic policies, French- Stanfield was suspicious of high-blown munications expertise to their tasks. English relations and Canadian rhetoric and overblown visionary To speak figuratively, it’s as if Stanfield foreign policy. Stanfield visited China excess. His balance, moderation and sensed that the excesses of Diefenbaker in his official capacity as Leader of the independence from politics, with poli- had broken eggs without ever making Opposition even before Pierre Trudeau tics for him being neither a way to live an omelet, and on everything from recognized the People’s Republic. nor a way to make a living, made him Canada-US relations to Quebec, from His approach to Québec was to more temperate and dispassionate and the Bomarc missile problem to the recognize that two peoples, English- remarkably less self-obsessed than early run on the dollar. and French-speaking, had formed a Diefenbaker. His conservatism was clas- partnership when Confederation was sically of an incremental and modest t is important to remember that cobbled together in the 1860s and that nature. He tolerated no excess in either I Stanfield was as much about sus- those two “nations” were at the foun- government or ideology. tained and even-handed balance in the dation of Canada. POLICY OPTIONS 79 APRIL 2011 Hugh Segal PASSAGES In this way, Stanfield’s conser- — are far more important on a day-to- For a Tory to stake his career on that vatism and Conservatism not only day basis than the Section 91 federal kind of social justice was a profound reflected provincial-federal balance but powers, such as foreign and monetary statement of the “nation and enter- also the central role of Quebec in the policy, or weights and measures. prise” premise at the core of Canadian ongoing Tory legacy and mission. This conservatism. That Stanfield would harkens back to the Lord Elgin, Sir tanfield’s economic policies were rather lose an election than abandon John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne S profoundly centrist, but in the this principle is a seminal indicator of Cartier frame. And beyond this sense 1972 election he tilted to the “progres- the difference between Canadian and of partnership between French- and sive,” or “nation,” side of the tradition- American conservatism. That Trudeau English-speaking Canada, Stanfield al conservative position. In his essentially implemented a form of also had a strong and abiding interest Hamilton speech in the final weeks of price-and-wage-freeze through the Anti-Inflation Board less For most conservatives, federalism is not a hierarchical than 24 months later no structure with Ottawa at the pinnacle and the provinces at doubt contributed to the the bottom, treated either as junior partners or as wholly cynicism about Liberals that helped Joe Clark win his owned subsidiaries. Being a Tory, Stanfield tried to erase that minority victory in 1979. imbalance. What Stanfield also achieved was an urbaniza- in the cooperative federalism envi- the October campaign, he called for a tion of the party, to the extent that sioned by the original Constitution, Canada “where the accident of where seats in big cities could be won by com- namely the British North America Act of and to whom one was born would not pelling figures who had earned a cer- 1867. In this way, he was opposed to limit one’s prospects or future.” A few tain degree of renown and respect the “unlimited” federal spending years earlier, at a Tory policy confer- before their political days as Tory can- power approach of Liberals like ence, the idea of a Canadian basic didates. And because his policies were Trudeau. And on one level, the two income floor for all had been very much of the balanced variety, aca- problems of undue federal centraliza- advanced. While in opposition, during demics and young people were attract- tion and the anti-Quebec notion of the ensuing 1972-74 Liberal minority ed to the party under his leadership. special status intersected. He worried government, Stanfield railed against an This was no mean feat in the face of the that the Trudeau Liberals feasted on income tax system that made the gov- charisma juggernaut that Trudeau and crises in Quebec and actually helped to ernment into profiteers at the expense the Liberals used effectively at every generate them with their dismissive of taxpayers during times of inflation turn. Stanfield may not have been a and inflammatory approach to legiti- — and how that same inflationary great “television age” communicator, mate Quebec nationalism. Quebec effect reduced the value of fixed but he was a man of ideas and reflec- nationalism, in its federalist or confed- income to pensioners. He advocated tions. And he expanded and developed eralist form, is not seen as negative by indexing pensions to the rate of infla- the party through his special sense of Canadian conservatives. For most con- tion and de-indexing taxes — a policy equilibrium in ways that would benefit servatives, federalism is not a hierar- John Turner, as finance minister, actu- subsequent Tory leaders. chical structure with Ottawa at the ally accepted and implemented. Stanfield also exposed the nation- pinnacle and the provinces at the bot- This same Stanfield concern about al fraud that was the War Measures Act. tom, treated either as junior partners the impact of inflation on middle- That FLQ cells had engaged in violent or as wholly owned subsidiaries. Being income earners, low-income earners kidnapping or murder was not at issue. a Tory, Stanfield tried to erase that and seniors led to the price-and-wage- That Trudeau saw his popularity soar imbalance. In neither section of the freeze proposal (a 90-day freeze to to remarkable heights is understand- British North America Act is there a ref- break the inflation cycle) of the 1974 able. The promise that the Liberals had erence to a division between impor- election campaign. It (and Tory dis- made quietly, beneath all the diving- tant or less important powers. Section agreement about it) helped Trudeau board antics of their candidate in the 91 of the BNA Act lays out federal pow- win his 1974 majority. Trudeau himself 1968 campaign, was that Trudeau was ers. Section 92 lays out provincial pow- opposed and ridiculed the Stanfield a French Canadian who would “han- ers. And, in reality, for the vast proposal — “Zap! You’re frozen.” At the dle” Quebec. There were many ways majority of Canadians, the Section 92 heart of the matter was Stanfield’s the government could have proceeded powers and responsibilities of the determination to confront forces like in October of 1970 that did not require provinces — roads, civil law, educa- inflation, which enriched the tax cof- the suspension of all civil liberties, as tion, administration of justice, local fers of all governments while oppress- the proclamation of the War Measures policing, health care, natural resources ing the most economically defenceless. Act did, or that did not require the 80 OPTIONS POLITIQUES AVRIL 2011 The Conservative continuum: From Stanfield to Mulroney BOOK EXCERPT arrest in the middle of the night of hundreds of French Canadians, not one of whom was ever charged.

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