The Future of the Canadian Right – Mark Peters
November 24, 2010 | 8 Comments
Recently, Scott started a series of posts on the future of the Canadian left (see here, here and here). Preferring to steal ideas rather than think them up – and because I still have a bit of a soft spot for conservatism – I thought I’d reach out to some conservative bloggers for their thoughts on the future of the Canadian Right. I posed the following question:
Despite winning two consecutive minority governments, and an opposition that has not been able to present a coherent vision for the country, the Conservative Party does not appear to be in a position to win a majority government were an election called soon. They seem to have squandered some political capital and credibility recently over the census, the long gun registry and the U.N. Security Council vote, without presenting clear arguments as to why they are better stewards of the country than either the Liberals or the NDP.
What then do you think the Canadian right and conservatives need to do in order to get over the hump and win a majority government?
First up is my colleague from ThePolitic.com, Mark Peters.
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I’d like to approach the answer from the Conservative Party of Canada perspective, if I may.
A favourite acronym of mine for the CPC is a play on the American “RINO”: cINO (conservative In Name Only). It succinctly reflects my perception of the party; long on the “progressive” and short on the “conservative.”
This is most evident in the CPC’s lip service to fiscal conservatism. From the ballooning of government spending, to the economically-blinkered Keynesian bailout package, to practically non-existent tax reform, there is very little about the CPC today that differentiates it from the Liberals on the economic front. This in a time when economic conditions within and without Canada loom large in the mind of Canadians.
Canada’s future, if it clings to big, socialist, nanny-state, cradle-to-grave government, is being played out around the world as we speak. Governments large and small are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy while heaping debt loads onto their posterities that will take multiple generations to repay, if they can be repaid at all. And the social fabric is tearing at the seams in the tumult. Yes, Canada is better positioned than most, but there is no doubting that Canadians are concerned about deficit budgets and the state of the debt and see where big government leads. The world is providing the greatest sales job for fiscal conservatism and austerity in recent history. Heck, it’s even providing a moral argument against heaping debt onto future generations.
It is my belief that there has never been a better political climate for principled fiscal conservatism than today. Canadians, I believe, are ready for it. Ontario, in particular, is fertile ground for principled conservatism thanks to Dalton McGuinty’s taxation schemes and government largesse. I wager there is enough discontent with McGuinty’s policies to catapult the CPC into majority territory.
The CPC needs to differentiate itself by crafting its next platform around principled conservatism. The real stuff; not fluffy blue-Liberal stuff. This begins with tax cuts, for there is no way to downsize the state unless it willingly reduces the pot of money with which to work. If they do this well and plan for smaller government around it, while planning to pay down the debt in a structured fashion, it will win big and will be in a position to change the size and scale of government for a long time.
Tags: cINO > Conservative Party of Canada > Dalton McGuinty > Fiscal Conservatism
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8 Responses to “The Future of the Canadian Right – Mark Peters”
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November 24th, 2010 @ 10:15 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jonathan McLeod, The Commons. The Commons said: We've got a new post!: The Future of the Canadian Right … http://thecommons-ccd.com/2010/11/the-future-of-the-canadian-right-mark-peters/ [...]
November 24th, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
Very interesting, I don’t see how this would be a winning strategy electorally for the CPC. This conservative party is already a lot less “Progressive” than the old Mulroney Tories so to say you need to go further is a bit baffling. Conservatives have only won majorities historically by taking a middle line approach, otherwise you can’t get enough votes in Ontario and Quebec to win outright. There may be growing dissatisfaction in Ontario with taxes and the economy but you they won’t let you get away without answering the questions of what will happen to all the services they use and even where all the jobs currently running those services would go. Remember that the civil service is quite a large part of the workforce in Ontario.
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Jonathan McLeod Reply:
November 25th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
I think you’ve got some good points, Mark. However, I see where Mark is coming from by saying they’re too strong on the “Progressive”. Yes, it’s not the the progressivism of the Red Tory wing of the Mulroney coalition, but I’m not sure we want to get too far into a discussion on the particular type of progressivism (I know I don’t want to get into that discussion!).
You are right that if the conservatives want a majority govt, they need to go back to being a big tent party. I think that means they probably need to strip down a lot of policy, and become, if not small government conservatives, at least become not big government conservatives.
If they’re to do this, though, they probably need someone who’s more an old school PCer rather than a CPCer (let’s be honest, Harper could not pull off a true small government platform right now). You’d likely need a “fiscally conservative” Red Tory – someone who’d seem likely to limit growth, but wouldn’t come off as heartless. You’d also need someone who could assuage so-cons and Western populists. The rest of Canada would have to be comfortable that they’re not electing someone who would impose social conservative policies, but the so-cons would want assurances that it’d be someone who’d respect the so-cons’ perspective, and still be their ally.
Geez… I’m really starting to convince myself that the next leader has to be Jim Prentice.
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Mark Peters Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 8:14 am
I agree in large part with what you’ve written here, Jonathan. Said fiscally conservative Red Tory would have to do more than limit growth, though. S/he needs to reduce government spending and government services. As my post indicates, I think s/he has both moral and empirical grounds upon which to do so, and I think Canadians are open to it.
The alternative is “fiscal conservatism” continuing to drift left.
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November 25th, 2010 @ 8:39 pm
[...] Over at my other blogging home, my colleague Scott H. Payne has been having a running discussion on the future of the Canadian left. It’s been interesting, but it’s been leaving me interested in getting some thoughts on the future of the Canadian right. Well, up stepped our very own Mark Peters, with some thoughts on where conservatism needs to go. [...]
November 25th, 2010 @ 11:25 pm
The question that haunts Mark is why moving the party to the right even more in a country where the majority of voters and subjects are to the left of it will help conservatives achieve long term success…
Mark overemphasis the role of executive elites and party platforms in shaping futures, rather than understanding party futures as also strongly influenced by the material conditions of their environment. That is, conservatism looks the way it does because of where Canada is at large ideologically.
Because of this, conservatives, particularly the elites in the CPC, need to focus on changing the environment from which parties draw their support rather than just going in a direction that is ideologically true and positive, but lacking in sufficiently substantive support. In the long run, conservatives need to first move the ideological disposition of the country itself to the right for a principled party stance on the right to make sense.
There are a ton of examples that support this, with Quebec being the most recent…the grassroots rise of conservatism in that province has been a long time coming, and hopefully will result in moving the province to the right, which in turn will move party politics to the right. What Mark seems to be suggesting is the reverse, with a top-down Elite/ Party-> civil society evolution rather like the way Obama is trying to change America with his failed policies.
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Mark Peters Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 8:22 am
There is little doubt that tacking to the right in absence of support at the grassroots is a recipe for disaster. But, as my post intends, I believe Canadians have either shifted to the right already or can be persuaded to do so based on current economic conditions.
There’s no denying a return to fiscal conservatism would have to be carried out with measured steps, but I contend the measured steps must start and we’ve no better political climate under which to proceed than today.
In many ways, it’s a matter of timing.
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November 27th, 2010 @ 12:05 pm
I think your right, yeah. Its just important that we leave an eye on what the grassroots will support. But in times of great economic change great conservative ideas on how to run the economy can stand out, despite strong resistance.
Look at Thatcher and how much resistance there was to her in the early years…and look at how in the end she was able to draw on a level of support that many people of the day couldnt fathom, and how her reforms had to be respected by following prime ministers.
The short term future of Canadian conservatism is an affirmation of small government; this is the near future of politics in general, and why the Liberals are so drained of ideas and seem dead in the water. In North America, people are getting more and more weary about buying big government, big tax solutions to problems.
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