Our conservative friends are all in a tizzy. They think they are going to get to redefine their party. Fat chance, is the only answer for them. In a party that was defined by conservative Stephen Harper, 20 years ago, there are few progressives.
Conservatism in Canada is where you wear your credentials as a medallion on your chest. The social conservatives, the right-to-lifers, hold their prayer books high and beat a heavy drum. The fiscal conservatives want balanced budgets, smaller government and more respect for the almighty buck and those who have plenty of them.
But where does the balance tip? What is the middle ground? Does the country divide at the Ontario-Manitoba border? There are few saviours-in-waiting on the Prairies. Those western conservatives are hard core and take no prisoners. They are not about to let the Eastern effete—tree huggers and worriers about global warming—get in the way of them making money.
While the eastern progressive conservatives and their LGBTQ friends can embarrass themselves marching to make their statements and try to save our planet, the west will continue making demands.
It is a thin field of candidates so far, as people dredge up names from the past to pose as saviours: Peter MacKay, the failed last leader of the progressive conservatives; Erin O’Toole, who lost to Andrew Scheer and Maxime Bernier last time out; Michelle Rempel Garner from Calgary, might appeal to the Easterners; and then there is Pierre Poilievre from the Ottawa area, who served as an attack dog for Harper, who could appeal to the west. There are even more possibilities but there you have it: a party of many divisions, searching for a saviour.
My guess is that the party is reaching out to premiers such as Jason Kenney in Alberta and Doug Ford in Ontario who have shown their ability as winners. Winners only need apply.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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