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J.P. Veitch, ’s partner, wears a T-shirt that says it all about the interim Conservative leader running for the party leadership. Jason Ransom photo The Conservative Party Post- Vancouver: Where Does it Go From Here?

Yaroslav Baran

The Conservative convention in Vancouver in May pre- onservatives gathered in Van- sented a united front to the country that had voted out couver at the end of May for an C important convention. In theo- the Harper government seven months earlier. There was ry, it was a standard biennial congress, little of the corridor conspiring that featured at previ- but in reality, it was the first gathering ous gatherings, and the grassroots seemed focused on post-Harper and after a federal election unnecessarily lost due to a shockingly absorbing the lessons from last fall’s defeat and mov- shoddy campaign. ing on to the coming leadership race and 2019 election. A former communications director for , A common expectation was that the Conservative Party convention would Yaroslav Baran has a prescription for what the party be a sombre affair—a collection of the needs to do to complete its next incarnation. demoralized and bitter, wagging fingers

Policy 39 “I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong…” – , 1956

and venting frustration. It was any- (or “decrim-lite”). A mental health organized and battle-ready party—a thing but. The tone was surprisingly policy framework was adopted. fact that may end up as one of Ste- energetic and the delegates striking- These are the hallmarks of a mod- phen Harper’s biggest legacies. ly youthful: spirits were high, and ern, progressive party—not the nar- most importantly, focused on the row debates of a generation ago: the future rather than the past. Perhaps language on cereal boxes or death Keep 2015 in enough time had passed since Octo- penalty redux. At the same time, the perspective. It was ber that people were ready to move timeless bedrocks of modern conser- not a cataclysmic defeat. It on. Perhaps it was the masterful post- vatism were reaffirmed: competition mortem performance by the party’s in the marketplace, and a principles- was not a humiliation. It was executive director officer, Dustin Van based foreign policy. not a fundamental Vugt, which left no stone unturned, repudiation. It wasn’t 1993. For the first time since the current nothing hidden and no frustration It was an election loss. left to vent. party was formed, media were given full access to all proceedings, draw- Period. It happens all the Whatever the reasons, the party ing an amusing (dare we say ironic?) time. The Tories came in eight chose collectively to take the oppor- contrast with the concurrent Liberal points behind the victorious tunity to renew itself, exorcize its de- convention in Winnipeg, where the party, and pulled through mons of policy and style, and start to Fourth Estate complained through- present a new face to the public as it out about closed policy sessions and with a formidable 99-seat rebuilds in time to challenge the Lib- lack of access to ministers. Official Opposition. This eral government in 2019. should not be triggering The strongest undercurrent at the convention was the issue of future identity or existential crises. The policy canon leadership. The fact that only three contenders are formally in play thus was refreshed. Party far (, delegates voted and ), begged the o, bogeymen and anchors cast overwhelmingly to drop the predictable speculation: Who else off, the Conservative Party of lingering opposition to would run? Would either of the ti- S Canada has a genuine fresh tans— and Peter MacK- same-sex marriage. They start. Now what will it do with it? ay—jump in? (Neither was obviously Where does the party go from here? endorsed ticketing for simple campaigning.) Are there any white pot possession (or “decrim- knights or surprise outsiders? When The road back to power hinges on a lite”). A mental health policy would the fireworks begin? number of lessons the party would be wise to heed. framework was adopted. Despite this strong thematic, outside These are the hallmarks of a observers were also surprised to see Number One: Keep 2015 in perspec- modern, progressive party— none of the expected cleavages be- tive. It was not a cataclysmic defeat. not the narrow debates of a tween antecedent parties—the old It was not a humiliation. It was not Progressive Conservatives and Re- a fundamental repudiation. It wasn’t generation ago. formers. As one insider noted, “The 1993. It was an election loss. Period. only people who talk about that are It happens all the time. The Tories those who are not members and came in eight points behind the vic- never have been. Inside the party, torious party, and pulled through The policy canon was refreshed. Par- nobody even thinks about that stuff with a formidable 99-seat Official Op- ty delegates voted overwhelmingly anymore.” Indeed, an entire genera- position. This should not be trigger- to drop the lingering opposition to tion of party members and activists ing identity or existential crises. same-sex marriage. They endorsed have risen through the ranks know- ticketing for simple pot possession ing nothing other than a united, Rona Ambrose hinted

July/August 2016 40 at this in her address. Don’t jettison a formidable legacy because we are dis- As the Harper government grew long in the tooth, appointed after a single election: the definition of “base” narrowed and narrowed, “We’re the party of Confed- yielding a bizarre grab bag of policy offerings: mandatory eration, one of the most du- minimums for offences not committed since the 1870s, rable political arrangements noxious xenophobic snitch lines, and painfully simplistic the world has ever known. anti-establishment parlour tricks. We’re the party that bound the country together from coast to coast with the Canadian Pa- cific Railway, one of history’s most visionary nation building mandatory minimums for offences faction has to dominate. The next projects. We’re the party that not committed since the 1870s, nox- generation is already cross-pollinat- introduced Canada’s first Bill ious xenophobic snitch lines, and ing between old categories. This has of Rights, 22 years before the painfully simplistic anti-establish- to continue, and the party needs to Charter of Rights. We’re the ment parlour tricks. think of itself with a single identity party of free trade, signing the accommodating a spectrum of indi- historic [Free Trade Agreement] hile the Conservatives viduals—not as a confederal coalition …. We’re the party of the first by no means have a mo- with a spectrum of groups. African-Canadian MP and Cab- W nopoly on eye-rolling cli- inet Minister, the first Muslim chés, a mature and intellectually self- MP, the first Hindu MP, the respecting party has to forge the The news media, and first MPs of Chinese, Greek, discipline to keep them in check. To journalists as and Japanese descent, and the succeed, conservatives need to accept individuals, are driven by first Senators of Filipino, Kore- that policy must be for everyone, be- their own industry an, Pakistani, and Vietnamese cause governance is for everyone. descent.” imperatives. And those That means growing beyond the imperatives are not anti- Not to mention the first woman to lower-hanging fruit and articulating Toryism. Media are hard- serve in Cabinet, and the first woman a vision—and offering a home—to as prime minister. #BecauseIts1993. all demographics. Stephen Harper’s wired to question authority, Or universal suffrage. #BecauseIts1918 dream of displacing the Liberals as seek truth, unearth the Canada’s “natural governing party” hidden, and equalize power The point to remember? Conserva- will only be achieved when his suc- tives have a legacy of which they cessors feel just as much at home ad- dynamics. These traits apply can be proud. They need to tame the dressing an urban transit forum at a regardless of which party revolutionary impulses of the popu- downtown Toronto cappuccino bar holds the reins of power. list strain of the party for iconoclasm as they would at the Calgary Stam- and constant reinvention. Celebrate pede or an Antigonish lobster boil. your accomplishments—it’s the stuff Important strides were made at the legacy brands are built on. And don’t convention with LGBT and Muslim be shy about shouting it form the members. But that’s just the start. Lesson four: End the war with the rooftops, because most Canadians are Students, downtown urbanites, en- media and other so-called elites. The unaware of the party’s iconic nation- vironmentalists and other neglected media are not out to get the Tories. building accomplishments. groups must know that the party also While it may be incidentally true that speaks for them. more centre-leftists go to journalism Lesson Two: Drop the constant ref- school than do centre-rightists (as erences to “the base.” For too long, Lesson three: end the internal fac- the inverse is likely true for business the Conservative Party’s policy triage tionalism. While it’s true that the schools), there is no vast conspiracy. has been dominated by crude toss- old PC/Reform divide is gone, other The news media, and journalists as ing of “red meat” to this mythical self-identified clans do exist: social individuals, are driven by their own demographic. Who is the base, ex- conservatives, Red Tories, Blue To- industry imperatives. And those im- actly? Depends whom you ask and on ries, Green Tories, libertarians…. peratives are not anti-Toryism. Media which day. But one thing is certain: And each is guilty of accusing other are hard-wired to question authority, As the Harper government grew long factions of heresy. If the Liberal co- seek truth, unearth the hidden, and in the tooth, the definition of “base” alition can coexist without factional equalize power dynamics. These traits narrowed and narrowed, yielding a supremacy wars, there is no reason apply regardless of which party holds bizarre grab bag of policy offerings: why Tories must believe that one the reins of power.

Policy 41 he sooner Conservatives stop feeling sorry for themselves, T excise their residual victim complex and renew a sophisticated approach to media relations, the quicker the rewards will start to ac- crue. This process has already started under the stewardship of interim chief Rona Ambrose, and must be al- lowed to continue when the perma- nent leader is chosen.

The same is true with the other es- tates of officialdom: the courts, the public service, and the business or stakeholder community. We need not “nail shut the revolving door” as we often heard on the 2006 cam- Campaign buttons for Conservative leadership candidates Michael Chong and Maxime Bernier, as paign trail. We need to build more well as an LGBT Tory button supporting same sex marriage. Yaroslav Baran photo doors, and actively encourage ex- ecutive exchange between all these groups. Doing so would suck an enor- policy in his first two years as many rebirth in the last 15 years. It is simul- mous amount of distrust and misun- Liberals had assumed and expected, taneously an elder and a young child: derstanding out of Ottawa, and both also should not arro- It carries the political heritage of the government and politics would func- gantly be expected to implode. party that gave birth to this country, tion much more smoothly. yet is also new in that it was formally Lesson five: Don’t think you own it. reconstituted in 2003 as a new entity. You have to work for it. And the oth- Canadian Like any elder, it has wisdom and per- er guy will only get better. governments tend to spective. It has proud achievements behind it, but also mistakes. And like get more than a single term. he Liberals made a collective any child, it has had growing pains, error in the early Harper years. In short, odds are on a stumbles, throws the odd tantrum, T Many arrogantly thought of a Liberal re-election in 2019. but is also prone to being startlingly Conservative government as an aber- If the Conservatives want a insightful. ration—an abnormality that would different outcome, they will naturally correct itself. Only after The party has an opportunity to ful- nearly a decade did many in the pun- have to work as hard as they ly fuse the energy and freshness of ditocracy start to posit that perhaps did in 2006, and as hard as its youth with the wisdom and per- some level of political realignment the Liberals did in 2015. spective of its heritage. If it does this was actually occurring. By 2015, the maturely, inclusively and compre- Liberals knew that to take back the hensively, it can be unstoppable as a crown, they would have to roll up political force in Canada. their sleeves and work hard—devise Contributing Writer Yaroslav Baran new campaigning techniques, mod- People tend to get better with experi- is a principal with the Earnscliffe ernize their party and processes, ence, and his approval ratings are al- Strategy Group. He is a long-time senior and pound the pavement. Similarly, ready sky-high. Moreover, Canadian we eventually saw a cadre of young political adviser with the Conservative governments tend to get more than Party and its leadership, and ran Tories whose first jobs out of school a single term. In short, odds are on party communications through three were as ministerial policy advisers a Liberal re-election in 2019. If the successive national election campaigns earning more than their parents. Conservatives want a different out- (and wasn’t anywhere near the last The Conservatives were in power come, they will have to work as hard one!) [email protected] since they started to vote, and noth- as they did in 2006, and as hard as ing could seem more normal than a the Liberals did in 2015. blue Ottawa. This is the generation that most needs this message: Just as The Conservative Party has under- Stephen Harper did not do himself gone massive transformation in our in with outlandish “un-Canadian” lifetime—with huge upheavals and

July/August 2016