The Conservative Party, Michael Harris writes, is imploding:
There are many factors driving down the popularity of conservatism in Canada. Let’s unpack them.
Alberta United Conservative Party Premier Jason Kenney made two epic messes. Dealing with the pandemic by whistling past the graveyard. And pissing away millions of dollars trying to paint critics of the fossil fuel sector as enemies of Alberta (demonizing prophets in the name of profits).
And then there are the comments and activities of former prime minister Stephen Harper, who clings to the public limelight like a fading movie star.
His rumblings so stirred Conservative imaginations that Maclean’s polled voters and concluded that his return to leadership might revive the party from its doldrums and make a race of the then looming fall election. Harper, intoned the magazine, would “attract support that’s not currently available to [Erin] O’Toole.”
Conservative saviour? In the harsh glare of an actual election, would not a significant number of voters be repelled by some of Harper’s business deals as a senior member of AWZ Ventures? The former PM heads up an advisory committee at AWZ trying to sell cutting edge surveillance technology to the United Arab Emirates, which also has a dreadful human rights record. AWZ also finances Israeli spy craft technology.
No wonder Harper had nothing to say when the Biden administration recently blacklisted one of the very Israeli spyware companies, NSO Group, whose goods the former PM was trying to hawk to dictators. The commerce department concluded that NSO’s phone-hacking tools were being used by foreign governments to “maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics and embassy works.”
And now there is the fecklessness of Erin O'Toole:
O’Toole has flailed away at Trudeau with the obvious purpose of drawing attention away from his embattled leadership, dismal election results and uncertain relationship with party members.
O’Toole announced that the CPC will be voting against the speech from the throne, and all of its progressive measures. A few months ago, on the campaign trail, he often sounded more like Tommy Douglas than a former Harper cabinet minister. Which confused, because that was a reversal from the social-conservative face he presented to his own party to win the leadership.
It comes down to this. The man is so politically flexible no one knows what he really stands for, including his own base. Or if he stands for anything at all, other than winning power.
Modern Canadian conservatism -- rooted in the economic myopia of Milton Friedman and the philosophical selfishness of Ayn Rand -- is simply not equipped to deal with the brave new world we face.
Image: Facebook
8 comments:
Can't agree. O'Toole CPC's got more votes than the Liberals. There's plenty of yahoos who will always deny reality and believe in garbage.
The chaotic state of Tory leadership is Justin Trudeau's salvation.
Chretien acolytes love to remind us of Jean's election wins but omit the fractured state of Canadian conservatism during that period. Chretien was pushing on an open door as Reform/Alliance and their PC rivals focused on sawing each other's legs off.
Harper claimed he was the answer, the man to "unite the right" but moderate conservatives such as Joe Clark knew that Harper's plan was to expunge all traces of progressive conservatism. Peter Mackay capitulated but Clark and co. weren't having it.
Harper's success sprung from weak Liberal leadership - Dion, then Ignatieff. Remember when Iggy proclaimed he was putting Harper "on probation" and then supported the Conservative's hapless recovery budget? Iggy had better things to do than put his mind to the Great Recession when he could be finishing a book on his mother's family, the Grants.
With such a leadership void Harper was the only game in town. Layton saw his opportunity to grab the brass ring. The ragtag Liberals couldn't even hold on to Opposition status, evicted from Stornoway to take up residence at the Motel 6 out on the Gloucester Highway.
Harper so alienated everyone, many Conservatives included, that, after sniffing Angry Tom Mulcair, they pulled Justin Trudeau from third place to a majority. He was immensely popular - until he opened his mouth.
Taking a page out of the Liberal playbook the Tories plunged to the bottom of the barrel and elevated first Scheer and then O'Toole to leadership.
Now we have a nation neck deep in crises from the pandemic with a brand new variant to a global trading system seriously wobbling to the hammer blows of climate change and all we have to look to for leadership are Justin Trudeau and Seamus,no, Paddy,no, Erin O'Toole. Loki is on a tear.
I can absolutely agree with that statement, thwap. But whether or not they'll add up to a majority in the House is another question.
There's been a lot of winning by default, Mound.
It is at this very moment, a “Fool’s Paradise” running the depth, breadth and length of this country. Anyong
This is off topic but necessary to include a comment: Why do I have a total dislike of the word “pleb”? It could be that the word is mostly used by someone about themselves as a mark of false modesty such as, “I am such a pleb when it comes to modern art”. The word pleb is similar to sex-or-race-based insults, where it is okay to use it about oneself, but certainly not okay to include someone else as in “ we plebs”. Speak for yourself and leave other people out. The word is hair raising. Anyong
There's a lot of foolishness going around these days, Anyong.
It's become a popular term these days, Anyong, -- along with Orwell's term -- "proles."
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