Where have all the Red Tories gone?
It is not so much controversial being a member of Progressive Bloggers to claim Red Tory status, but I'll put it this way: it isn't praised.Lawrence Martin asked the question "Is there an old-style Tory in the House?" in today's Globe and Mail. And I'm here to answer it: no, Lawrence. There isn't. And who is to blame? Unfortunately, Red Tories themselves, it seems. Well, some of us anyways.
The old Tories have few but themselves to blame for their demise, starting with the 1993 election when they reduced themselves to two seats. Another critical moment came in 2003 when they staged a disastrous leadership convention, electing Peter MacKay by way of a backroom deal with David Orchard. The party left that convention in no shape to continue on its own. This allowed Mr. Harper, the Alliance leader, to move in for the kill.
His dominance has been such that, even if he fell on hard times and decided to move on, the right side of the party probably would still be in a strong enough position to dictate a successor. Moderate Tories have a couple of potential leaders. One is Bernard Lord, the former premier of New Brunswick, who would be strong down east and in Quebec. Another is Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who’s trying to maintain his image as a major player while being given nothing to do on the climate-change file.
The question of whether old-style Tories can ever return to claim control of the party is of defining importance. The Canada we know was built by two moderate parties. It was a blend of the centre and the centre-left. If the old Tories don’t re-emerge, the Canada of the future will be measurably different – a hybrid of the centre and the hard right.
What Mr. Martin is calling "old Tories" or "old-style Tories" he really means Progressive-Conservatives or British North American conservatives. Is there a truly BNA conservative left in the Conservative Party? I doubt it. Even those who he has mused as potential succssors to Harper, Bernard Lord and Jim Prentice, would not alone bring the Conservative Party back into the realm of BNA conservative tradition in this country.
To do so the party cannot just hold a leadership change and claim that they are a new brand (or old brand, considering your position) of conservatism in Canada, they'll need to govern. And through governance putting forward a decidedly progressive-conservative cabinet. This new Red Tory PM would need to gut the Harperite and Canadian Alliance loyalists from the party by making it clear that they are not going to have cabinet posts. The guard will have to change.
Consider this, there are a dozen or so former Reform Party MPs still in Harper's government, some in Cabinet. There are a handful of former Progressive Conservatives, like Peter "The Worm" MacKay and Jim Prentice. However, both of these men have done little to shape this government's views on the issues of Foreign Policy, National Defense, Industry or the Environment that is remotely in the scope of progressive-conservative political tradition. They've kept their mouths shut and done what they were told. If either of these two run for leader of the post-Harper CPC, the real test will be their first two weeks as Prime Minister, if they ever get the chance. A dangerous experiment, I know.
And so, I propose that there are very few, if any, Red Tories left in the government. But the few that are do have shining moments. I'd propose that Scott Brison is one of them. Ralph Goodale would have made a great Red Tory. Garth Turner, but he's gone. Jean-Pierre Blackburn could be in the Red Tory camp given his previous tenure in parliament under Mulroney and his loyalty to federalism during the Bouchard revolt. Keith Martin (although he started out as a CA MP). Flora MacDonald flies the Red Tory flag in the Senate.
After that, I can't think of very many. Men like MacKay and Prentice are considered Red Tories or BNA conservatives by default, however their actions in this government have proven that they are more willing to take their lumps from Harper if it means being in cabinet. There are a number of Liberals and New Democrats who, if they were born in a different decade, would have made cabinet with a number of Progressive Conservative governments. The same goes for a number of Green Party members. Former GPC leadership candidate and right-hand-man David Chernushenko would have made a fine PC.
The ultimate test of the PC/CA merger will be the face of the CPC when Harper is gone. The party has not put together a real plan for governance since the 2006 election, and even that is questionable. The CPC has relied on one crucial pillar to their election strategy: we're not Liberals. Remind people that they are NOT Chretienists or Martinites and that will suffice. After all, it was the Liberals that drove the PC and CA parties (despite the PC membership) together in the first place!
What was the 2006 election won on...? Policy? Cutting taxes? Leadership? No, no and no. It was won by the very fact that Stephen Harper was not a Liberal. And the Liberals were equally as policy inept as all they could muster was a tired "hidden agenda" chorus. 2008 was decided on perceptions of leadership; which pitted "weak" Liberals against "strong" Non-Liberals - Stephen Harper and Jack Layton. Policy be damned! To hell with a "vision" for the country! What the CPC is built on is an identity that is "not Liberal" and nothing else.
Letting Harper walk and flushing the party of Harperites and Canadian Alliance loyalists and putting policy first is what will need to drive the progressive revival of the CPC in a Post-Harper party. Anything less and we'll see another Reformer leading the party and the relaunching of Canadian Republicanism.
CPC v2.0 is going to be years away, my friends. Which will trigger responses from Liberals, Greens and New Democrats which will hopefully lead to a better result than that of January 2006.
To do so the party cannot just hold a leadership change and claim that they are a new brand (or old brand, considering your position) of conservatism in Canada, they'll need to govern. And through governance putting forward a decidedly progressive-conservative cabinet. This new Red Tory PM would need to gut the Harperite and Canadian Alliance loyalists from the party by making it clear that they are not going to have cabinet posts. The guard will have to change.
Consider this, there are a dozen or so former Reform Party MPs still in Harper's government, some in Cabinet. There are a handful of former Progressive Conservatives, like Peter "The Worm" MacKay and Jim Prentice. However, both of these men have done little to shape this government's views on the issues of Foreign Policy, National Defense, Industry or the Environment that is remotely in the scope of progressive-conservative political tradition. They've kept their mouths shut and done what they were told. If either of these two run for leader of the post-Harper CPC, the real test will be their first two weeks as Prime Minister, if they ever get the chance. A dangerous experiment, I know.
And so, I propose that there are very few, if any, Red Tories left in the government. But the few that are do have shining moments. I'd propose that Scott Brison is one of them. Ralph Goodale would have made a great Red Tory. Garth Turner, but he's gone. Jean-Pierre Blackburn could be in the Red Tory camp given his previous tenure in parliament under Mulroney and his loyalty to federalism during the Bouchard revolt. Keith Martin (although he started out as a CA MP). Flora MacDonald flies the Red Tory flag in the Senate.
After that, I can't think of very many. Men like MacKay and Prentice are considered Red Tories or BNA conservatives by default, however their actions in this government have proven that they are more willing to take their lumps from Harper if it means being in cabinet. There are a number of Liberals and New Democrats who, if they were born in a different decade, would have made cabinet with a number of Progressive Conservative governments. The same goes for a number of Green Party members. Former GPC leadership candidate and right-hand-man David Chernushenko would have made a fine PC.
The ultimate test of the PC/CA merger will be the face of the CPC when Harper is gone. The party has not put together a real plan for governance since the 2006 election, and even that is questionable. The CPC has relied on one crucial pillar to their election strategy: we're not Liberals. Remind people that they are NOT Chretienists or Martinites and that will suffice. After all, it was the Liberals that drove the PC and CA parties (despite the PC membership) together in the first place!
What was the 2006 election won on...? Policy? Cutting taxes? Leadership? No, no and no. It was won by the very fact that Stephen Harper was not a Liberal. And the Liberals were equally as policy inept as all they could muster was a tired "hidden agenda" chorus. 2008 was decided on perceptions of leadership; which pitted "weak" Liberals against "strong" Non-Liberals - Stephen Harper and Jack Layton. Policy be damned! To hell with a "vision" for the country! What the CPC is built on is an identity that is "not Liberal" and nothing else.
Letting Harper walk and flushing the party of Harperites and Canadian Alliance loyalists and putting policy first is what will need to drive the progressive revival of the CPC in a Post-Harper party. Anything less and we'll see another Reformer leading the party and the relaunching of Canadian Republicanism.
CPC v2.0 is going to be years away, my friends. Which will trigger responses from Liberals, Greens and New Democrats which will hopefully lead to a better result than that of January 2006.
Labels: BNA Conservatism, CPC, Flora MacDonald, Jim Prentice, LPC, PC/CA Merger, Peter MacKay, Progressive-Conservatism, Ralph Goodale, Red Toryism, Scott Brison, Stephen Harper
posted by Dylan at 8/27/2010
1 Comments:
Somehow, sooner or later, as soon as I read Lawrence Martin's latest column, I knew that either you or Jim Calder from the Progressive Right might weigh in on this, given that you're both of a dying breed, if not dead already. I often think of the red tory brand as dead and those, like Jim Calder and yourself, as more like "blue grits" these days; folks more likely to vote liberal due to the fact you don't have the stomach to vote for Harper. Correct me if I'm wrong...
Another one to add to your examples; Elizabeth May actually worked in Mulroney's office as his environmental advisor.
I was a bit surprised, however, that you blamed yourselves for the demise of Red Tories, but then, it sounds logical, after all, Harper has been getting away with what he's been getting away with due largely in part to apathy, so why not Red Tories being beaten to submission or simply driven to apathy.
As for those like McKay, Prentice and even Blackburn (he too is a yes man), they've sold their souls to the devil for power.
I think the only way for the party post-Harper to have a hope at succeeding at returning to its' more moderate roots is to take an outsider; someone who hasn't been so entrenched by all things Harperite over the years that they probably forgot to be anything else but that. I used to think Jean Charest could fit that bill, I'm not sure how much damage the scandals he's living through currently in Quebec will have on his political career in the long run.
Very good post and more to the point, a very honest one.
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