Thursday, August 18, 2016

Can They Survive?



The Conservative Party of Canada is a pretty fractious group. Consider each of the party's leadership candidates. Brent Rathgeber writes:

Kellie Leitch comes from the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Before entering politics, she worked with the late Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his wife Christine Elliot, and was encouraged to run by former Ontario premier Bill Davis. Her support for the ill-fated barbaric cultural practices tip line notwithstanding, Dr. Leitch qualifies as a ‘progressive’ conservative.

Tony Clement served under Mike Harris before entering federal politics. He is a former president of PC Ontario and was said to be close to Mike Harris. He can be a fiscal hawk. He’s also the king of pork-barrel politics, having infamously diverted G8 security money to unrelated projects in his own riding.

Michael Chong is both a Red Tory and a democratic reformer. The author of the Reform Act, he once quit a cabinet position on a matter of principle. He knows how responsible government and parliamentary democracy are supposed to work.

Although Deepak Obhrai is tied for the longest-serving Conservative MP record, I don’t recall ever having heard him give a speech on domestic politics. I’m not sure what he stands for. His interests lie primarily in global affairs. If nothing else, the Tanzanian-born politician’s entry into the race shows that the CPC is still relevant to new Canadians.

Max Bernier is the darling of the libertarian wing. His plans to abolish supply management and end industrial subsidies also appeal to fiscal hawks and free-market classical liberals. But his live-and-let-live attitudes on social issues put him in direct conflict with Brad Trost, who entered the race yesterday.

Trost is unapologetically pro-life and anti-gay marriage. At the May CPC convention in Vancouver, Trost was the MP spokesperson for delegates opposed to a resolution deleting from official Tory policy the traditional ‘one-man-one-woman’ definition of marriage.

Each sect in the party has its candidate. But you see the problem. There appears to be no one who can bridge the divides. And those divides could tear the party apart. Conservatives may soon be asking the same question the Republicans are asking: Can the party survive its leader?

Image: telegraph.co.uk

10 comments:

Lorne said...

Michael Chong appears the only one here with integrity, Owen. I guess that means he has no chance at all of winning the leadership.

Owen Gray said...

Who knows, Lorne? I don't read about his name generating any enthusiasm.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, Owen, I haven't seen any of those names generating enthusiasm. The Cons are out of gas and running on fumes at this point. Whoever wins will simply be a placeholder.

Owen Gray said...

You're probably right, Anon. Inspiration is in short supply over there these days.

the salamander said...

.. My belief.. though I have about as much interest in the ReformaTory Party as I have in in dissecting an infected lamprey eel.. is that its still all about the Great White Snot.. Old Stock Stephen Harper, Ray Novak & a few other snotlings pigwarts neo evangelists & ultra pretentious intellectual wannabe's.. Did I mention Ken Boessenkool or other wordy long winded convolutionistas of extreme right ass cheek ekonomiks?

Nothing real is gonna happen in the burned out n barren Harper lands until the churlish rude oaf stops sucking from taxpayers while hiding out in the Royaly Monarchist era he never really fully emerged from.. hell it was his lazy boy vibrating chair to recline in, while pretending to be Canadian.. or North American.. or Royalty. We never really understood his shtick.. it was always wrapped in some Israeli bewondermont & gsrnished with the Queen, King.. n Royal Ensign.. and that droning snoring voice while holding Loreen's hand or Rays hand.. or both a twonce as gadflys like John Baird n #ridemewilfred James Moore stalked the halls of Parliament.


The trusty Peter Van Loan was always there to dig out a new & tricky ruling, however arcane.. to circumvent procedure or due process.. Thus came the 400 to 600 page Omnibus Bills of the late great sainted Jim Flaherty.. stepping into the breech (of justice & ethics) on behalf of the Harper creep.. Always good to know you have thousands of taxpayer paid lawyers to litigate, appeal, deny.. and kill 4-7 years before The Supremes catch a lazy slimebag lizard lke Harper by the tail.. and force them to uphold elected mandate or enact lawful laws ..

Steve said...

How ironic it would be if the only thing that saves the PC from extinction is proportional representation.

Anonymous said...

No names yet! don't worry the Cons will create one.
If you think of Conservatives as greedy an manipulative then this base desire will keep them coming back to haunt us,
Look at BC.
We can't find a decent Conservative in the whole Province!
Yet; we can find closet Conservatives that have been called Socreds or Liberals..
A rose by any other name is still a rose..
Meanwhile the NDP; awe forget it!!!!

TB

Owen Gray said...

You have a point, TB. When the brand is failing, change the name.

Owen Gray said...

Sometimes history serves up delicious ironies, Steve. That could be one of them.

Owen Gray said...

They really were a lizardous lot, salamander. The wonder is that they survived as long as they did.