C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 21 CONTENTS

FUTURE OF CONSERVATISM SPECIAL SERIES: Part 1: The Enduring Appeal of Red Toryism PAGE 1

Ben Woodfinden

C2C Journal’s name is a deliberate double-play on our central aspirations – to be read from coast to coast and to nurture important conversations between Canada’s conservatives. While we may not always get along perfectly, having just lost an entirely winnable federal election in which the Conservative Party topped the popular vote, now is a critical time to have a wide-ranging and civil debate about the future of conservatism in our beloved country. Ben Woodfinden kicks off C2C’s new special series on this important topic with a thoughtful essay about a Canadian political tradition that enjoyed plenty of success in our past, and deserves to be revived today.

March or Die, Canadian-Style PAGE 9

Peter Shawn Taylor

Few Canadians have any connection to our depleted military, fewer still enlist, and the number who consider joining a special branch of a foreign country’s forces that began as a way to soak up society’s dregs must be vanishingly small. Yet that was the path chosen by Joel Struthers, and his five years spent in the French Foreign Legion don’t seem to have done him any lasting harm. Peter Shawn Taylor shows that the historical aura of the kepi-clad brawlers still exerts a romantic tug on certain modern-day hearts in this fond portrayal of one Canadian’s life in the Legion and his remarkable work since getting out intact.

Canada’s “Climate Crisis” Is Entirely Political PAGE 13

Gwyn Morgan

Maurice Strong died of old age before seeing his predictions of climate apocalypse come true. But don’t worry: there are plenty of putative replacements for the late organizer of the original “Earth Summit”. They’re younger, more credulous, far shriller and even less scientifically literate. If the planet won’t heat up and destroy industrial civilization as predicted, they’re here to help make sure that the latter, at least, occurs one way or another. Gwyn Morgan peruses selected lowlights from the current “climate crisis” spectacle and laments our Liberal government’s credulous genuflection before the prophets of doom when Canada’s industry actually has the means to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

C2C Journal on PressReader

Each month, C2C Journal prepares a selection of its best articles for publication in this easy-to-read, printer-friendly layout published by PressReader. For our complete lineup of stories, please visit c2cjournal.ca The Enduring Appeal Of Red Toryism

By Ben Woodfinden

ince the disappointing federal marketing-execs.” liberalism, albeit with a decades-long election result in October, Missing from these articles – and lag. Granted, much of the post-election SCanada’s conservatives have been much other commentary on social commentary has also been in the nature engaged in a slow-burning civil war about and mainstream media besides – are of “friendly advice” from external sources what went wrong, who should lead the substantive attempts to outline what who normally sneer at, if not loathe, Conservative Party of Canada and what conservatism ought ultimately to be conservatism and would never consider the overall future of Canadian voting Conservative under any conservatism should be. Out circumstances. So why care? of this is emerging an apparent One key reason for concern consensus – at least judging by is that social-progressivism the weight of public commentary represents a strong current – that Canadian conservatism within the Conservative will become irrelevant unless it Party. The party’s ostensibly embraces social progressivism. retrograde electoral platform One column in The Globe and and messaging has been Mail by two political consultants offered as an explanation for suggested that the Conservatives its electoral loss and a reason “should consider breaking from the for Scheer to be toppled. (He past” to “resonate more broadly announced his resignation in across the country,” while another mid-December.) Peter Mackay, column in the Toronto Star by a The resignation of Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer offers an a former senior minister in opportunity to rethink the relationship between Canadian conservatism and political strategist called for leader social purpose. the Harper government and Andrew Scheer “to overcome his current favourite among many pride about Pride,” i.e., to demonstrate about. Most discussions have not moderate eastern Conservatives, was his acquiescence to social progressivism. extended beyond superficial observations eager to plunge the knife in Scheer’s Another in Maclean’s suggested that about branding and electoral positioning back and advance this narrative, saying Conservatives have a “branding problem” that, if implemented, would make that social conservatism “hung around and called for the party “to think like conservatism nearly synonymous with Andrew Scheer’s neck like a stinking

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 21 albatross.” This approach appears to be volume of essays), with “the priority of characteristic that has come to make supported by a considerable proportion of the individual and his rights over society.” liberalism a never-ending project, for a rank-and-file Conservatives. It’s entirely It thus rests on a particular view of philosophy that regards creating a society possible that it could be reflected in the human nature, one that “affirms the self of free and equal persons as the highest

Many present-day conservatives seem eager to embrace Thatcher’s individualism as the essence of conservatism, as they regard politics as a binary battle against the statism and collectivism of the left. Rather than being genuine opposites, however, radical individualism and collectivism are two sides of the same coin. party’s choice of its next leader. If so, the sufficiency of man alone.” good will be constantly on the lookout for consequences would be incalculable. Many liberals would reject Taylor’s new barriers to freedom and equality that For this reason alone it’s critical to put characterization of liberalism as must be overcome. forward and debate options that rest not “atomism,” but at the core of most Accepting this characterization of on prevailing social fashion or momentary variants of liberalism is an emphasis on liberalism does not require rejecting marketing-driven impulses, but on age-old the primacy of free and equal individuals. freedom and equality, and many of principles and coherent political models The liberal idea of man thus elevates the achievements we associate with that have demonstrably worked. liberalism are laudatory. A Some Conservatives are sure recognition of the inherent to advance a vision centred on equality and dignity of all people, lower taxes, less regulation, regardless of race or gender, more economic freedom and and the emancipation of slaves, continued globalization. Others serfs, women and other minority are likely to draw inspiration groups were both morally worthy from the recent success of and necessary. Universal human conservative populism in a dignity and equality are not number of other countries. But innately “liberal” ideas, but it is if Canadian conservatives look undeniable that liberals, and back on their own history, they’ll liberalism, have helped actualize find a largely forgotten tradition them. But unrestrained and that offers a distinctly Canadian left entirely to its own devices, contribution for the future of the internal logic of liberalism conservatism: Red Toryism, and the pursuit of absolute properly understood. freedom and equality in every sphere of human life corrodes The small “l” liberal briar patch every barrier and constraint that inhibits this. Human beings are not For this reason, liberalism atoms. We are not born into often ends up being a the world as self-sufficient destabilizing force. This rational decision-makers. We point has been made by are formed by society and by liberals and non-liberals alike. others. Our nature as socially Early 19th century French and historically situated beings political philosopher Alexis is undeniable, and yet much de Tocqueville, in the second Liberalism ushered in the Age of Enlightenment, but over time it has become a political philosophy is built on a destabilizing – and often chaotic – force. volume of his magisterial denial of this. While liberalism Democracy in America, feared is often presented as metaphysically autonomy, and its pursuit thereof, the kind of atomism much later described and anthropologically agnostic, in reality to the status of the highest political by Taylor − seeing it as going hand-in- it is built on a specific conception of the good. It leads to a relentless quest for hand with a tyrannical form of democratic person. Liberalism begins, according to emancipation and along with this the collectivism. Present-day Harvard law Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor erosion and removal of all constraints professor Adrian Vermeule has aptly in his essay Atomism (from a collected on personal action. This is a defining described the relentless and destabilizing

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 2 in an interview that “there’s no such thing authority steps forward to regulate and as society. There are individual men govern every aspect of our lives. and women and there are families.” This This relationship between radical suggests that at her core the UK’s “Iron individualism and collectivism is not Lady” was ultimately a (small-l) liberal, accidental. In his under-rated classic The though this was perhaps masked by her Quest for Community, the late American deep patriotism, her love for all things sociologist Robert Nisbet warned that English and her tough foreign policy, all of the drive towards totalitarian collectivism which set her at odds with liberals. in the 20th century was rooted in the Many conservatives today indeed natural human yearning for belonging and insist they are the heirs to a purer, community. The totalitarian temptation better form of liberalism. This is often and the rise of mass movements were termed “classical” liberalism and is products of what he called “enlightenment usually described as a liberalism of individualism” progressively destroying small government, light regulation, the structures and institutions that untrammelled public discourse and had previously satiated our need for economic freedom. This kind of liberalism community. is generally associated with the historically Lockean stream of Anglo-American The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics conservatism, one of Order & Freedom published by Robert Nisbet in of two branches of 1953 remains a key text in understanding the social crises of Western Civilization. Anglo-American conservatism, the other nature of liberalism as a sacramental being Burkean. liturgy that must be constantly performed Many present- anew. day conservatives If your personal understanding of seem eager to the history of conservatism begins embrace Thatcher’s Traditional social institutions have historically functioned as the bedrock in the 1980s, this characterization of individualism as of society, but lately have suffered under the relentless progressivity of modern liberalism. liberalism surely strikes you as odd, the essence of because modern conservatism seems conservatism, for they regard politics as Social institutions from families to to have fully embraced the language of a binary battle against the statism and churches to voluntary associations liberalism. Margaret Thatcher once said collectivism of the left. Rather than being of almost innumerable form are often genuine opposites, however, rooted in pre-modern customs, traditions radical individualism and and forms of kinship. Enlightenment collectivism are two sides individualism regarded these older of the same coin. A society institutions as sources of oppression, of radically autonomous irrationality and superstition that, thereby, individuals is not likely to be undermined and delegitimized their a society of self-governing historical claims over individual behaviour. individuals. Instead it is The progressive emancipation of likely to be one in which the individuals from these typically personal institutions and traditions and local forms of relationships and that governed social life solidarity produced a sense of alienation and relations have been that naturally drew many people to mass weakened, dissolved and movements. Thus, the end-state of denounced as oppressive radical individualism was not liberation, constraints that interfere but a much more radical form of mass with the individual’s pursuit conformism. of personal authenticity. A society in which the age-old, Freedom is more than radical autonomy, and traditional constraints on conservatism must be more than liberalism individual excess are cast onto the altar of autonomy If conservatism is to be anything more faces chaos unless an Eighteenth-century British politician and political philosopher Edmund than just liberalism behind, it must be built Burke’s notion of “little platoons” is still relevant today. ever-more powerful central upon a recognition of our historical and

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 23 Giving Red Toryism a bad name: (l-r) former Quebec premier Jean Former British Prime Minister David Cameron’s “Big Society” agenda sought an Charest and former Alberta premier Alison Redford. update to Burkean ideals. social situatedness. A focus on the social truly self-governing and free; they’re more purer form of liberalism, one that hyper- ought not be a mere supplementary or likely to be slaves to, not masters of, their extends liberalism’s radical individualism optional component: it must be part of the own desires. and conception of freedom divorced from core. Fortunately for conservatives, there Individualism versus collectivism any notion of human flourishing situated is already a rich wellspring to draw upon. is a false binary. True freedom needs in and nourished by the “little platoons.” Edmund Burke’s famous “little platoons” to be nourished and cultivated. Social It has to be one that emphasizes there provide a good starting point. The 18th and other intermediary non-government is more to conservatism than liberalism. century British politician and political institutions enable, preserve and extend Far too often, however, conservatives run philosopher considered groupings within our freedom. These institutions help away from this challenge and hide behind family, churches, and civic associations to create boundaries and roles that the language of liberalism. as the basis of social life. provide intelligibility, stability and order “To be attached to the subdivision, to the social world. A world without these Debased Red Toryism is not the answer — to love the little platoon we belong to institutions isn’t one that’s emancipated; it’s just more liberalism in society, is the first principle of public it’s one in which we need bureaucrats and affections,” Burke wrote in hisReflections therapists to regulate every aspect of our Among the worst offenders who dress on the Revolution in France in 1790. “It lives. A political philosophy largely centred their liberalism up as “conservatism” is the first link in the series by which we on protecting, preserving, and promoting are Canada’s so called Red Tories. proceed towards a love to our country, these institutions moves beyond the false Journalist and author Steve Paikin and to mankind.” These platoons form us binary to provide a unique, conservative recently defined this political species as and cultivate the virtues that enable both “third option”. “conservatives who are socially liberal freedom and flourishing. Unfortunately, conservatives too often but [are] sticklers for fiscal prudence To reject atomistic individualism is fall prey to nostalgia for an idealized and respect for democratic principles.” not therefore to reject freedom. But it past that cannot be resurrected. Canada What this translates to in practice is a requires recognizing that freedom and has not proved immune to the trends conservatism that represents little more autonomy are not synonymous, and that observed in books like “Bowling Alone”; than liberalism wearing blue stripes. autonomy is not synonymous with the social atomization and hyper-individualism Paikin was also being generous in his good. Individuals loosened and liberated are hallmarks of contemporary life. The linkage of Red Tories to “fiscal prudence”, from all constraints are not likely to be conservative answer cannot simply be a for in practice they’ve proved themselves nearly as big spenders as Liberals, often running massive deficits. Their habits largely account for current-generation “fiscal conservatives” defining themselves separately from Red Tories. From political figures like former Quebec premier Jean Charest to former Alberta premier Alison Redford, this form of conservatism largely consists of attempting to “out-liberal” the Liberals, and claiming that to be principled

Scholars (l-r), Gad Horowitz, George Grant, and Ron Dart: the search for an older and more successful form of the conservatism. Charest, whose unruly Canadian Red Tory movement. mop of curly hair marked him early

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 24 on as a different kind of PC among Toryism on either side of the Atlantic that on getting rid of the state and expecting his strait-laced colleagues during the more closely resemble the Canadian civil society to spontaneously fill the void, Mulroney era, embodies this political variant. At a minimum, Canadian as many small-government types on the type to an almost comical degree. He conservatives should pay close attention right often imagine. Instead, Cameron moved seamlessly from five years spent to these developments. and Blond wanted to use the state to as the most left-leaning federal “remake society” – in the sense PC leader in history in 1993- of rebuilding or restoring it. The 1998 (when he led the House Big Society’s vision was to use of Commons’ fifth-rankedparty) the state to encourage social to leader of the Quebec Liberal enterprise, based on the principle Party in 1998 (becoming premier of subsidiarity. It empowered in 2003). Meanwhile, Redford’s groups and individuals to solve incompetent rule and bloated problems at the local level, rather budgeting in Alberta all-but than relying on a distant but handed the reliably-conservative overweening bureaucratic state province to the NDP in 2015. to do so. The hope was that this Whether due to their ardour process would spur the revival of for the latest trends and fashions critical social institutions. of social progressivism, or their While the historical Canadian instinctive adoption of centrist/ variant is very similar to its British elitist liberal hysteria about issues cousin, it has different origins such as Brexit, this grouping and a slightly different conception of Red Tories has been widely of the state. The label “Red loathed by other conservatives. Tory” was coined in 1966 by They are a continued source of political scientist Gad Horowitz, a strife, pulling conservatives into a specialist in labour theory at the vortex of internecine conflict that, University of Toronto. He used it at its worst, has split apart parties to describe a tradition in Canadian and kept them out of power for conservative thought that blended extended periods. The “lost ‘90s” conservatism and elements of federally and the NDP’s rule in socialism in a distinctly anti-liberal Alberta in 2015-2019 are two synthesis that rejected radical examples of the damage done. A National Dream: Sir John A. Macdonald’s version of Red Toryism built a individualism. It is critical that Conservatives nation. The University of the Fraser today avoid reverting to an Valley political scientist Ron Dart approach that could deliver a “lost ’20s” The current British variant of Red traces Red Toryism back to an older as well. Toryism is associated most closely with tradition of (British) North American the English philosopher and theologian conservatism that he refers to as “High An older and better form of Red Tory Phillip Blond, a confidant of former Toryism.” It has its roots in the culture British Prime Minister David Cameron. of the United Empire Loyalists who fled The contemporary Canadian usage of It is a full-throated rejection of both the northward after the American Revolution, “Red Tory,” has little to do with an older bureaucratic-managerial state and global and centred on loyalty to the British

Instead of using the state simply to help individuals subsist, Conservatives should use it to help individuals flourish and become self-governing. This means supporting the related enabling social institutions. tradition of Canadian conservatism that capitalism which, as we’ve seen, have Crown and the Anglican Church. They was also once referred to as Red Toryism. each been enabled by a hyper-liberal stressed values like tradition and the While largely a forgotten political tradition focus on individual rights. This view common good, and their version of in Canada, recent developments in the became central in Cameron’s attempt Toryism became associated in Upper United States and U.K. suggest its central to detoxify and revitalize the British Tory Canada (today Ontario) with the Family ideas remain relevant today. There are party with his “Big Society” agenda. Compact. Some of its most ardent two related but recent variants of Red This project was focused not simply defenders included the first Anglican

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 25 Bishop of Toronto, John Strachan. The his “National Dream.” Another example between the individual and the collective Family Compact order in Upper Canada was the establishment of a national − sees any use of the state as collectivist. was one that embodied the traditional broadcaster, the CBC, by prime minister This is also one reason the term “Red Tory values of loyalty to the Crown, R.B. Bennett. At the provincial level, the Tory” gradually drifted towards its current church, and country. But it also reflected building of powerful institutions such as reference centring on the conservative an older aristocratic sense of noblesse Ontario Hydro or the university system movement’s social left. oblige in which the “men of talent” of the also illustrate this philosophy. And the governing elite understood and acted on success of Ontario Premier Bill Davis’ Red Toryism need not equal collectivism — Big Blue Machine (Davis lessons from abroad was premier from 1971 to 1985) is often held However, using the state to build as proof of its political and protect social and civic institutions appeal. Regardless of is not innately a form of collectivism. It what we might think doesn’t require collectivist policies, nor of their contemporary are its goals collectivist. Latter-day Red versions, these initiatives Tories have often adopted such policies, proved vital in forging but these were choices rather than national or quasi-national requirements, which helps explain the institutions around which difference between the two forms of Red a national identity and Toryism. Traditional Red Toryism employs shared loyalties could a more nuanced understanding of limited be nurtured. Macdonald government, one that acts according to British prime minister Boris Johnson’s recent convincing victory reveals the powerful and enduring appeal of the Red Tory tradition. himself was especially a clear vision of the state’s limited role, concerned with making while using this role to promote and their obligations to society and the people the Conservative Party he led the party of protect a free and flourishing society. they governed. nation-building – with Macdonald as lead This older tradition of Canadian This older tradition has little to do with nation-builder. conservatism has been largely forgotten, contemporary Red Toryism. It is best At its best, this form of conservatism but developments elsewhere may be embodied in the thoughts of philosopher sought to use the state not primarily to breathing new life into Red Toryism. George Grant. While now mostly regulate people’s lives, but to build up Boris Johnson’s breathtaking victory remembered for his writing on Canadian a nation that could create the loyalties in Britain’s recent general election was nationalism, including his famous Lament and bonds that enable a polity’s enduring not a victory for Thatcherism and the for a Nation, Grant’s broader political freedom. History thus demonstrates that champions of unregulated capitalism. Key philosophy, while often vague, defends a conservatism in Canada has not been to his victory was bringing former-Labour “traditional conservatism, which asserts solely about free markets; it was built voters into the Conservative fold with a the right of the community to restrain freedom in the name of the common good.” Whatever you think of it, this Red In the United States, Republican Senator Marco Rubio Toryism is definitively not just a variant of has begun to lay out what he refers to as “Common Good liberalism. After Confederation and into the capitalism.” The Floridian’s philosophy draws on Catholic early 20th century, Canadian Red social teaching and Papal encyclicals to stress that, “Dignified Toryism retained the “Tory touch” of the old High Tory tradition, but its outlook work, strong families, and strong communities are key to was shaped to the size and youth of the civic – and economic – well-being.” Canadian nation. In practice this meant that a protection of Canadians’ shared history, values and sense of nationhood upon a robust patriotism and loyalty to a manifesto that not only promised to “get often required nation-building projects new nation that required recurring use of Brexit done,” but included promises and that involved using the powers of the the state to help nourish this patriotism commitments to use the state to rebuild state, including its financial power. This and to protect, preserve, and strengthen British society and industry under the eventually became seen as the “socialist” social institutions. It is a unique “One Nation” banner. part of Red Toryism, although it was a and distinctly non-Liberal Canadian Blond sees Johnson’s victory as a mild and limited form. conservative tradition. vindication of Red Toryism, potentially The emblematic project of this tradition Today, however, it is often treated as reviving a tradition embodied in prime was, of course, construction of the a “leftist” form of conservatism because ministers including Benjamin Disraeli Canadian Pacific Railway, undertaken the modern right-liberal rewriting of and Harold Macmillan. Blond has written by Sir John A. Macdonald to help realize conservative history − built on the binary that Johnson’s electoral victory and the

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 26 long-term realignment it could represent it also conceives of emancipation (a Papal encyclicals like Rerum Novarum “ensures that [Conservative] policies and secularized notion of salvation) built on to stress that, “Dignified work, strong promises must flow from a future where creating one’s own self, unrestrained families, and strong communities are key liberalism can no longer serve or guide by historical or social baggage. Hawley to civic – and economic – well-being.” us.” sees this view best-typified in retired The successful pursuit of this requires Meanwhile, underneath the seemingly U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony not simply getting out of the way of what chaotic state of American conservatism, Kennedy’s oft-quoted statement in the Rubio refers to as the “financialized a renaissance of thinking economy”; it also means is taking place. Among using the state where the most interesting necessary to restore “a contributions is that of system of free enterprise Republican Senator wherein workers fulfill Josh Hawley, who is their obligation to work pushing the boundaries of and enjoy the resultant conservative orthodoxy. benefits, and businesses Since entering the Senate enjoy their right to make a in 2018, the Missourian profit and reinvest enough has been trying to add to create high-productivity some intellectual weight jobs.” and permanence to the “populist moment” that Towards a restored Canadian elected President Trump. Red Toryism In a 2010 essay, Hawley proposed a Canadian conservatives republican conception of Echoes of James Madison and John Adams: Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, seen would do well to take note freedom that emphasizes here campaigning in 2018, is stretching the intellectual boundaries of conservative orthodoxy. of these developments. self-determination and participation in case known as Planned Parenthood v. Modern Canadian conservatism public life. “Self-determination turns Casey: “At the heart of liberty is the right champions “small government”, liberty outward, away from the self and to define one’s own concept of existence, seemingly without having any theory its passions, and toward society and civic of meaning, of the universe, and of the of what the state is actually for. Absent life,” Hawley wrote. “It teaches that liberty mystery of human life.” such a framework, it is difficult to identify requires a certain sort of citizen, and it Hawley’s heterodox conservatism governing priorities let alone to develop insists on a connection between personal is more than mere theorizing. It has a philosophically coherent blueprint for freedom and democratic participation.” profoundly influenced his views on key action. When Conservatives get elected, Hawley links his thinking back to the issues and how to address them. It has they often have no idea of how to achieve views of American founders such as helped, for example, to turn him into the “fiscal responsibility” they preach.

At its best, historical Red Toryism sought to use the state not primarily to regulate people’s lives, but to build up a nation that could produce the kinds of loyalties and bonds that enable a polity’s enduring freedom. History thus demonstrates that conservatism in Canada has not been solely about free markets.

James Madison and John Adams. the American right’s leading critic of big A series of ad hoc actions and policies In a recent commencement address tech, and his antitrust-based agenda to follow, and the predictable result is failure at the King’s College in New York City, break up these monopolies could provide to roll back the state in any significant or Hawley challenged what he called the lessons for Canadian conservatives lasting way. “Pelagian” notion of liberty that dominates regarding economic and industrial If they wish to succeed, conservatives current American life. Pelagianism is a policies. need to take advantage of their time Christian heresy built on the claim that Hawley’s is no longer an isolated out of political office to step back and people are born untainted by original voice. In a series of essays and think seriously about what the state sin, and thus that salvation can be speeches, fellow Republican Senator ought to be used for. Once elected, accomplished through the human will Marco Rubio has begun to lay out they could then work systematically alone, without God’s grace. According what he refers to as “Common Good to reorient government towards these to Hawley, Pelagian freedom resembles capitalism.” The Floridian’s philosophy ends. Instead of using the state simply modern progressive freedom because draws on Catholic social teaching and to help individuals subsist, conservatives

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 27 should use it to help individuals flourish develop solutions. It should also expand conservatism. An integrated conservative and become self-governing. This means educational options for parents who want vision of the “sustainable society” supporting the related enabling social to instill not just skills but values in their would emphasize not just ecological institutions. A Red Tory theory of the state children. Environmental policy would sustainability but social sustainability as would empower and support civil society, focus not on utopian schemes to “fight” well, plus fiscal sustainability enabled by not replace it. climate change, but practical and humane a government that eschews collectivism In doing this, conservatives would measures that conserve and sustain and focuses instead on building a society not only be able to tap into current public spaces and help build livable and of self-governing rather than individually international conservative revivals, cohesive communities and environments. autonomous people. they could re-appropriate and reapply A revived Red Toryism would be As conservatism is being revived Canada’s homegrown Red Tory tradition. about more than just policy, however. elsewhere by heterodox thinking drawing The specific policy proposals would vary Policy would be integrated with a different on older and neglected conservative depending on the level of government language and way of thinking about traditions, Canadian conservatives political questions. have an opportunity to do the same. Conservatives today Conservatism is about more than just are often unable to think “freedom” – especially if freedom is outside the language defined mainly in terms of social licence of liberal rights, which and individual re-invention. Conservatism often means framing is about a recognition that we are more conservative solutions than mere consumers and taxpayers, we as “market-based,” are social and relational beings. With a or stressing a right- recent federal election lost, a leadership liberal interpretation of race soon to begin and the nation’s future rights. A revived Red uncertain, the time is right for a Red Tory Toryism drawing on the revival. Carpe diem. proven historical model could help challenge this hegemonic liberal framing of every issue by moving away from the language of individual rights to the language of dignity, flourishing and the common good. Language matters, and by engaging in political thinking on a different linguistic landscape, new possibilities could be opened up. “We are all social beings”: A Canadian Red Toryism revival should encourage More broadly, citizens to engage themselves in all aspects of society. the language of Red and location, but they should emphasize Toryism, stressing key concepts like policies that help families. These could dignity and flourishing instead of rights include, for example, expanded and and markets, could be built around an Help us Tell the Stories that Matter strengthened parental leave. One of the integrated vision of not just a Big Society, Harper government’s signal successes but a sustainable one. The language DONATE HERE was increasing the Universal Child Care of sustainability should have not only Benefit. This was a quintessentially electoral appeal among voters and conservative policy of using the state to communities traditionally inaccessible help institutions conservatives consider to Conservatives, but ought to have an critical. intuitive appeal to the conservative mind More broadly, there should be a as well. renewed emphasis on subsidiarity, one Jane Jacobs-style urbanists might that is not simply about the division of not seem like natural conservatives, political powers, but aims to support the but the growing concern for livable and social institutions closest to problems sustainable localism seems like fertile and people and, therefore, best placed to ground for a new, holistic and humane

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 page 28 March or Die, Canadian-Style

By Peter Shawn Taylor

ell someone you served in the Foreign Legion has an unusual origin the French government chose to push French Foreign Legion and you’ll story. It began as a way for Paris to rid them into a special military unit created Tget one of two responses, says itself of its most dangerous inhabitants. exclusively for foreigners, and then Joel Struthers. “Generally the reaction During the turbulent 1820s and 1830s shipped them off to fight France’s colonial is either: ‘Does the Foreign Legion even revolutionaries, refugees, criminals and wars in Algeria and beyond. If they exist anymore?’ or ‘I’ve seen the movies, survived five years in arms, they could only killers and rapists join the Legion.’” return as French citizens. If not, it was still For the 48-year-old Struthers, this sort of a problem solved. predictable cocktail party chatter “got so The mongrel nature of the recruits and frustrating that I just came to avoid the the discipline required to keep them in line whole topic.” And yet, having served in la caused the Legion to earn a reputation for Légion étrangère in France and Africa for brutality in punishment and recklessness six years in the 1990s, he is particularly in battle. “The Legion quickly became well-positioned to confirm that yes − it known as a corps that could be sacrificed,” still exists – and, no − it’s not full of killers notes historian Douglas Porch, author of and rapists. The French Foreign Legion: A Complete Eventually Struthers, who now lives in History of the Legendary Fighting Force. Abbotsford, B.C. and pilots commercial “You might not want to send French helicopters for a living, decided he could conscripts into a dangerous situation, no longer hold his tongue. “I gave up but you could always send the Legion. waiting for someone else to tell the truth It was disposable.” The notion that the about the modern Legion,” he says. Legion was once an unhinged collection “So I figured maybe it was on me.” The of “killers and rapists” is therefore not result is his fascinating book, Appel: A entirely off the mark. Canadian in the French Foreign Legion, It also proved formidable. Over its published earlier this year, which answers nearly two centuries, many of its greatest the question of how a hockey-playing moments have come when hopelessly Canadian army-brat came to join this Appel: A Canadian in the French Foreign Legion outnumbered and surrounded. At the legendary fighting force. In doing so, published in 2019 by Joel Adam Struthers celebrated battle of Camerone, Mexico in Struthers also sets the record straight other undesirables were drawn in large 1863, for example, 65 legionnaires and about the men who wear the distinctive numbers to the City of Lights, creating three officers fought off 2,000 Mexican white kepi hat and demolishes a few considerable risk of political unrest. soldiers in a burning farmhouse until of those old movie myths. The French Rather than imprison or expel them all, their ammunition ran out. Then the five

C2CC2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNALJOURNAL | | JANUARYJANUARY 20202020 page 29 one point, French years the Legion has seen service in Foreign Legion Afghanistan and Iraq as well as numerous movies were second wars and insurgencies across Africa; only to Westerns Struthers himself saw combat in Bangui, as Hollywood’s Central African Republic, and Brazzaville, most-popular action Congo. And while most recent books – dynamic. Among the 1998’s Mouthful of Rocks by Christopher last gasps of this Jennings, for example – have tried genre was the 1977 to keep that old mythology alive with desert epic March or shocking tales of brutality, racism and Die, which offered chronic alcoholism, Struthers comes to up a star-studded praise the Legion, not bury it. cast including Gene Appel is the first English-language Hackman, Max memoir to be published with the Von Sydow and Legion’s full cooperation. Struthers’ Catherine Deneuve, former commanding officer, Col. When a hockey career didn’t pan out, Canadian Joel Struthers decided to join the French Foreign Legion and become a paratrooper instead. and brazenly Benoît Desmeulles, even contributes a compared itself to foreword. And rather than relying on old remaining soldiers fixed bayonets and Lawrence of Arabia. stereotypes, it strives to offer an updated charged over the wall; only two survived. After this postwar golden age of movie account of what the life of a modern “These are not men, they are demons,” depictions, the next significant memoir legionnaire is really like. It’s not always remarked the Mexican colonel who was that of Englishman Simon Murray, pleasant or romantic – Desmeulles accepted their reluctant surrender. The who went on to become a prominent praises Struthers for emphasizing “the Legion similarly distinguished itself at financier.Legionnaire , published in 1978, Dien Bien Phu, France’s epic defeat in offers Murray’s experiences during the Vietnam in 1954. Franco-Algerian War of the early 1960s Appel is the latest entry in a long line and contains more than a few similarities of English-language memoirs by former with Rosen’s tale. There are brutal legionnaires promising to reveal the punishments – like “tombeau,” in which truth about life in this mysterious force. miscreant legionnaires are forced to dig The genre began with Erwin Rosen’s In a coffin-sized ditch and lie in it with only the Foreign Legion, published in 1910 – a canvas cover for protection from the what might be considered the wellspring blazing sun − as well as macho brawling, of every stereotype. Rosen, a German boozing, sexual interludes with women immigrant who worked as a journalist in in the nearby towns and plenty of battles America before joining and then deserting with Algerian guerrillas. from the Legion, tells a tale of horrific Most significantly, Murray was in punishments, wild bouts of drinking Algeria during the Legion’s attempted and brawling, brutal living conditions overthrow of the de Gaulle government and comrades who could charitably be in 1961, following the French president’s described as the scum of the Earth. “The offer of independence to its colony. The Foreign Legion is a sin against the very coup found little support and quickly first principles of humanity,” he wrote. fizzled, and the regiment at its centre Following Rosen’s lead, popular novels was promptly disbanded, but this event such as 1924’s Beau Geste by P.C. Wren had a profound and lasting effect on added a doomed sense of romance to the entire Legion. What remained was these manly adventures of legionnaires subsequently drawn much more tightly battling Arabs and each other on a sea under regular French army command. of sand. Since then, the Legion’s place in the Then Hollywood took over. Everyone public consciousness has plunged. The from Gary Cooper and John Wayne to last substantial movie was Jean-Claude Abbott & Costello and Porky Pig saw Van Damme’s Legionnaire from 1998. “action” in the desert. The notion that As Struthers’ book reminds us, men with dark and dangerous pasts however, while the Legion has changed could join the Legion under an assumed dramatically since its founding in 1831, “A corps that could be sacrificed”: A legionnaire stands name and redeem themselves through it is still the tip of the French military’s guard in Morocco, circa 1920 (top) and legionnaires selfless bravery and hardship took a firm spear and tasked with its most difficult under fire during the Battle of Bir Hakeim in Libya in hold on the public consciousness. At and dangerous missions. In recent 1942 (bottom).

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 pagepage 10 2 citizens of 147 countries currently serving stomach during appel − then maybe you in the Legion. And, as might be expected, aren’t cut out for a soldier’s life.” Since the there’s no shortage of difficult training, stiff dawn of warfare, such discipline has been punishments and, on leave, sex and fist- used to transform an untrained rabble into fights. Asone book reviewer has noted, a disciplined force that can fight and win Struthers’ exhausting descriptions of the – and to prepare each individual for the various physical tests and competitions horrors of war. required of himself and other recruits The current trend away from tough almost always end with the phrase “…and physical punishment, at least in Western then we ran 8 kilometres” (often wearing armies, may have opened the door to a 10 kg backpack). As for discipline, he a more diverse and welcoming armed once served a week in jail for failing to forces, but it may also create problems. wear his seatbelt. “In some ways it’s unfair to the men and The book’s title, Appel, refers to the women who serve in our military that they peculiar Legion roll-call that requires don’t go through proper training anymore,” every legionnaire to smack his thigh at Struthers says in defence of the Legion’s precisely the same time. Any deviation ancient art of discipline. “They’re just not brings a kick, slap or a punch to the prepared for what they’re getting into, offender’s gut from an unforgiving and the result is the high rates of PTSD corporal. The Legion is also one of the we see these days.” The slaps, punches last bastions of the concept of a man’s and verbal abuse in Legion life thus army. The only female legionnaire on serve to cull those who are unsuited and Hollywood played a pivotal role in creating the record is British nurse Susan Travers, toughen those who are, he observes. mythology of the Legion: March or Die, released who was seconded to the Legion during “This allows you to find the people who in 1977. the Second World War as a chauffeur to are going to survive and thrive in a hostile quasi-monastic life” in the Legion – but it’s Free French Gen. Marie-Pierre Koenig, environment, and remove those who no longer an exercise in brutality seeing combat during the Battle of Bir shouldn’t be there.” or recklessness. Hakeim, and was later enrolled as a full As for the Legion’s reputation for Struthers’ tale begins, as all Legion member of the force. While no one gets brutality, particularly during the infamous memoirs apparently must, with his buried in the sand these days, it’s still Battle of Algiers in the 1950s, it is worth decision to enlist. Growing up on military tougher than your average army. noting that its opponents were often far bases in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., he According to Struthers, the Legion’s worse. Torturing prisoners was near- had some early success playing hockey. continued emphasis on strict discipline universal in Africa and Asia during But he wasn’t disciplined enough to make is a feature rather than a flaw. “I never colonial wars; Murray’s book offers many a career of it, and started hanging around had any issues with the punishment,” he horrific descriptions of what happened to with the wrong crowd after high school. “I says. “If you can’t take a bit of grief and legionnaires captured by the Fellagha, or got myself into a bit of trouble as a young physical abuse – getting punched in the Algerian guerillas. To this day Afghans man,” he admits in an interview. “And realized I needed a change in direction.” Coming from a family with a long military tradition, Struthers sought to channel his need for excitement by becoming a paratrooper and in 1993 joined the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves in hopes of working his way into the fabled Canadian Airborne Regiment. But when that unit became embroiled in scandal in Somalia (and was disbanded in 1995), he realized he’d have to look elsewhere to soldier and jump. The Legion was his only option. From there his story shares many elements with the rest of the genre. Struthers explains, for example, the Legion’s curious twin fixations with singing and Christmas decorating, something well-documented in other books. He also No longer cannon fodder: The modern Legion is rigorously trained and highly effective, as Struthers’ experience details the force’s incredible diversity, with demonstrates.

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 pagepage 11 2 are wont to castrate their enemies, and the French island of Corsica). In addition fulltime to Canada to work as a in West Africa “armies” of drug-fuelled to high-altitude and night parachuting, commercial helicopter pilot and look after teenagers often casually lop off limbs. Struthers received specialized training his two children, a son aged 13 and a While desertion is still a regular in scuba diving, skiing, demolition, daughter 11. And with another Legion occurrence in Struthers’ time, the Legion wilderness survival and a wide variety of comrade he opened Ravenhill Risk no longer expends much effort tracking other skills, similar to that of U.S. Navy Control, a Victoria-based security firm down or punishing the deserters. As only SEALs and British SAS. that handles tricky assignments such as about one in every ten Legion applicants Struthers left the Legion as a corporal executive protection and gold transfers is accepted these days, it can afford to in 2000, aged 29, having achieved from a B.C. gold mine. Struthers is also disregard those who later regret their his goal of becoming a special forces passionate about helping veterans with decision. Even the legend that the paratrooper. But he was uninterested in PTSD and has launched a clothing line, Legion asks no questions of its recruits French citizenship or spending the rest of from which 25 percent of sales go to gets deflated by Struthers. “In fact, the his career in the Legion. His relationship support veterans’ groups in Canada, Gestapo [slang for the Legion’s internal was a contractual one. The Legion taught France and Ireland. security bureau] asked plenty of questions him to jump and control his need for “I wrote the book to give an honest and dug deep, clearing our names adventure; in exchange he went where it account of life in the Legion because through Interpol,” he writes. No murderers sent him and did what he was told. Once there isn’t a lot of factual information or rapists need apply. he’d achieved all he desired, however, out there,” Struthers says of his current The skill and commitment of Struthers left on his own terms. The result mission as an author. “It’s a tough legionnaires today is likely the biggest is a positive but decidedly pragmatic army sent to do tough jobs. And it is a difference between Struthers’ Legion and unglamorous view of his time spent testament to the French Foreign Legion and that of his predecessors. After the serving under the motto Legio Patria that it is able to take people from such 1961 putsch attempt the Legion was Nostra (the Legion is my homeland). diverse backgrounds and shape them transformed. Once numbering around “I learned a lot and I owe France a big into one of the world’s finest military 30,000 men, it is now a specialized, thank-you for getting me on the right units.” Having cleared up the common highly-trained, professional force of track,” he says. “But it was never my misunderstandings about the Legion, fewer than 9,000 men in eight regiments, family or my home.” perhaps there’s only one question left. a demi-brigade and some small His military experience and the “Would I advise my son to do it?” he asks detachments, with its main headquarters Legion’s reputation helped set him up for rhetorically. “No! Not at all.” near Marseilles, and is integrated into his subsequent adult career. To replace The Legion may have outgrown most the broader French military command. the excitement of high-altitude jumping, of its myths, but it can still put a fright in the heart of any loving parent.

“Open ground covered in tall elephant grass swaying in the wind, a makeshift barricade of burned-out cars, and a single-track dirt road are all that lie between us and the rebel checkpoint and stronghold 500 metres ahead of us…The Central African night is hot and humid. The sky is clear and starlit. I am sweating under the weight of my body armour and the personal webbing that holds eight full magazines, four fragmentation grenades, two additional AC 58 grenades and water bottles. With less than a year in the regiment, and only two years in the Legion, I suddenly find myself shouldering a massive responsibility…This is it.”

The modern Legion is as well-tuned and Struthers learned to fly helicopters, trained as any other army in the world. specializing in high-risk or critical And it sees more combat than most. missions such as supporting the UN Struthers’ competitiveness eventually during the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West earned him a place in an elite commando Africa. He also spent several stints on the group within the 2e Régiment étranger ground as a private military contractor in “I owe France a big thank you for getting me on the right track”; Struthers left the Legion in 2000, having de parachutistes, the same regiment Afghanistan, Iraq and Algeria. achieved his goal of becoming a member of an elite Murray served in (and currently based on More recently, Struthers returned special forces commando unit.

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 pagepage 12 2 Canada’s “Climate Crisis” is Entirely Political

By Gwyn Morgan

t has been almost three decades since with an expert crew who all had to be children by telling them the world is about delegates from 172 countries met at the transported back home again) was to end crosses the line from eco-activism IUN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and timed to coincide with the UN Climate to emotional eco-terrorism. adopted the United Nations Framework Action Summit, where she passionately After New York, Thunberg journeyed Convention on Climate Change. Data delivered her apocalyptic “How dare to Alberta where she held an anti-oilsands from the U.S. National Oceanic and you!” tirade heard around the world. rally. This was a puzzling choice given Atmospheric Administration show that Here in Canada Thunberg’s that Canada produces just 1.6 per cent since then, the Earth’s atmospheric performance inspired radicalized groups of global greenhouse gas emissions, temperature has risen by an average including “Extinction Rebellion,” which with the oilsands contributing just one- of 0.03° Celsius per year. At that rate, enraged drivers by blocking roads tenth of that. China or India’s emissions the planet’s climate will warm by 2.4° and bridges during busy rush hours, make Canada’s just a rounding error. by 2100. That’s a sizable amount over generating uncounted 80 years, but even if the planet warms tonnes of needless exactly as forecast, it’s certainly not the greenhouse gas “climate emergency” needed to galvanize emissions. A one-day people into making life-altering sacrifices climate strike shut such as giving up cars or air travel, down school classes moving en masse into “tiny homes” or across the country as switching to “eco-friendly” food. pupils joined climate The answer to every climate emergency rallies. activist’s prayer came in the form of In a scant few days, Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. the angry scowling Her transformation into the world’s Swede evoked pre-eminent climate-change warrior existential climate- change anxiety in Gradually warming temperatures are unlikely to persuade the mass of people to began in 2018 at the age of 15, with radically alter their lifestyles. They’ll need to be forced. Fridays spent demonstrating outside the teenagers everywhere. Swedish Parliament while gaining the Unfortunately, her words had an even Indeed, in some years the increase in attention of financially capable fellow greater effect on younger kids, striking China’s emissions approximately equals warriors. Her carefully choreographed terror into pre-teens. In one elementary Canada’s entire annual total. Why didn’t journey last year to New York by “zero- class, a child yelled out, “I don’t wanna Thunberg travel there? While she was in carbon” sailboat (in fact a rakish and die.” Another went home and said, Edmonton, the ever-determined reporters well-equipped ultra-modern racing yacht, “Mommy, they say that we’re going to at Rebel Media asked her that question. built largely out of petroleum products, die in eight years.” Traumatizing young Her answer? She “hadn’t been invited.”

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 pagepage 13 2 global emissions natural gas Canada exported, the more than the Liberal global greenhouse gas emissions would carbon tax. be avoided. So it’s no surprise that Scheer’s mission Canada’s energy industry, as well as shouldn’t have been the governments of energy-producing all that difficult to provinces, had urged the Trudeau accomplish. Virtually government to push recognition of that all experts agree the reality at last month’s Madrid climate carbon tax would conference. Once again, they were have to be several disappointed. times higher than Instead, the Liberals and Canada’s planned to have vast climate emergency movement any perceptible remain preoccupied with national rather impact on Canada’s than global emissions, and this leads emissions (and to myriad “local action” absurdities. as we’ve seen, The award for most ludicrous goes to Don’t try this in China: Thunberg denounces the oil and gas industry in front of the Alberta Legislature. Canada’s total Victoria’s City Council for its plan to spend emissions have $14 million on installing shore power at No doubt that’s true. If she or Extinction negligible impact on global emissions). its harbour so that cruise ships can shut Rebellion tried their stunts in the By contrast, the cornerstone of the off their generators while moored at city Communist-run police state, they would Conservative environmental platform docks. Council clearly doesn’t understand likely be “invited” to a forced-labour camp. was the recognition that exporting that emissions caused by actually Just ask the Hong Kong protesters, who Canadian natural are risking their lives merely to preserve gas on a large scale their most basic legal rights. would have a real Either way, Thunberg’s disparaging impact globally. visit to Canada’s oilsands again The evidence for illustrates activists’ fixation on Western this is compelling, countries even though virtually all for the large-scale emissions growth is elsewhere. China, switching from coal India, South Africa, South Korea, the to natural gas in the Philippines and Japan, all signatories United States has to the Paris climate accord, are in largely accounted various stages of constructing a total of for that country’s 1,800 coal-fired electric power plants. If dramatic decline Canada disappeared from the face of the in greenhouse gas Rounding error: Canada’s emissions are dwarfed by those of China, India and Earth, those new plants would replace emissions, despite other developing countries, but current Liberal policy ensures the pain will be felt our emissions in a few short months. the fact the U.S. has here at home. There’s little doubt Thunberg’s spurned various global climate accords. propelling the ships after they leave port visit also influenced Canada’s federal Natural gas-fired electrical generating are hundreds of times greater than their election. Massive media coverage of stations produce, on average, just half generators produce. her climate emergency claims increased the greenhouse gas emissions as coal- More tragic than ludicrous is the support for prime minister Justin fired plants per unit of power produced. systematic destruction of one of the

In some years the increase in China’s emissions approximately equals Canada’s entire annual total. Why didn’t Thunberg travel there? She “hadn’t been invited.” No doubt that’s true. If she or Extinction Rebellion tried their stunts in the Communist- run police state, they would likely be “invited” to a forced-labour camp.

Trudeau’s national carbon tax. Trudeau’s Every natural gas-fired plant fuelled with world’s most technically advanced and task was made easier by Conservative Canadian gas around the world would ethically responsible oil industries. While leader Andrew Scheer’s failure to explain enable shutting down one old coal-fired hundreds of thousands of trained workers clearly why his party’s environmental plant, or would forestall the construction have been rendered jobless and, in many policy would more effectively reduce of one new one. The more clean-burning cases, hopeless as capital investment

C2CC2CJOURNAL JOURNAL | JANUARY 2020 pagepage 14 2 and corporate headquarters have fled to the U.S., the world’s oil consumption continues to grow. It is now 6 million barrels per day higher than it was in 2010 and the International Energy Agency forecasts that demand will keep rising for at least two more decades. China recently gained the dubious distinction of world’s largest oil-importing country. Yet the Trudeau Liberals’ progressive evisceration of our oil industry has handed that growing market to such environmental stewards and human rights champions as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Nigeria and Algeria. Adding insult to injury, Quebec, consistent with its “distinct society” status, favours its own political interests over those of the country at large and continues to import oil from those countries in preference to Alberta’s “dirty oil.” But it happily accepts the current year’s equalization grant of $13.1 billion, as it does every other year’s, funded disproportionately by Alberta taxpayers. Enjoy your No other country has so deliberately turned itself into a climate-change martyr. And yet for all the economic, social and national unity pain inflicted, our sacrifices will have no perceptible impact on global read? climate change. Entering the third decade of this troubled millennium, we can only hope our federal government somehow realizes the future of our Confederation Click here and sign up for our requires leaving behind blind ideology and email newsletter. finding some basic common sense. And donate here to help us tell more stories.

Exportable idea: Fuel-switching from coal to gas, as with this Alberta facility, dramatically cuts emissions. Shipping Canadian gas worldwide could help do so on a global scale.

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