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Who's Right? Aristotle
said “Those who think that all virtue is to be
found in their own party principles push matters to extremes.” This statement
could certainly be applied to the situation between the Progressive Conservative party and
the new Canadian Alliance. The emergence of the latter has generated much controversy and
soul searching for Canadian youth on the right-wing of Canadian politics. With the
Alliance membership drive this past spring during the leadership race, many Progressive
Conservative youth switched allegiances. Why have some young party members abandoned their
Tory roots for a new political party? Why are some staying? What are members from both
parties saying about the future? ristotle
said “Those who think that all virtue is to be
found in their own party principles push matters to extremes.” This statement
could certainly be applied to the situation between the Progressive Conservative party and
the new Canadian Alliance. The emergence of the latter has generated much controversy and
soul searching for Canadian youth on the right-wing of Canadian politics. With the
Alliance membership drive this past spring during the leadership race, many Progressive
Conservative youth switched allegiances. Why have some young party members abandoned their
Tory roots for a new political party? Why are some staying? What are members from both
parties saying about the future? It’s 11 PM
on a cool July evening. A crowd of about 45
Canadian Alliance members has gathered outside of the Comfort Inn in Kingston waiting for
Preston Manning and Tom Long to arrive directly from the last debate of the leadership
race in Ottawa. Despite all of
the media attention about the average age of Alliance members, the faces in the crowd are
surprisingly young – I count at least two youth are present for every gray head of
hair in the crowd. Judging from the
heated discussions that are taking place, it is clear that not all of the Alliance members
present support Manning and Long. There are Stockwell Day supporters in the crowd as well.
The merits and shortfalls of each candidate are hotly contested by many of the youth
present, but none so much as one in particular: the ability to win a general election. In fact,
defeating the Liberals may be the strongest glue bonding the party of social libertarians
and social conservatives. It is also something on the minds of many recent young Canadian
Alliance converts. “The
Alliance platform is a platform that can win,” says Dave Wright, who traveled from
Belleville, Ontario to meet Manning and Long. “We are being held hostage by tax and
spending Liberals. At the end of the day what matters is winning and we want Canada
back.” Selon Dave
Wright, venu de Belleville en Ontario pour rencontrer Manning et Long, «l’Alliance
canadienne peut sortir gagnante. Nous sommes pris en otages par les taxes et les dépenses
des Libéraux» dit-il. «En bout de ligne, ce qui compte c’est de gagner et de
reprendre le Canada. » Throughout the
leadership race, testimonials on the youth web sites of each candidate touted each as the
one who could lead the Alliance to victory over the Liberals. “Canada needs a new
party and a new leader to rid our country of the Liberals’ tax-and-spend
legacy,” one young CA member proclaimed on Preston Manning’s web site. Similar
messages could be found on the Stockwell Day and Tom Long campaign sites. Former federal
Tory Jim Burnett feels very much the same way. “The CA is the party that is most able
to defeat the Liberals,” he says. Burnett, from Toronto, says that he was drawn to
the CA as the way to overcome the split in the right-wing votes. Many view the split
between the Progressive Conservatives and the former Reform party as the reason behind the
Liberal’s recent electoral victories. The “split” in the way the right-wing
vote results in neither the CA or the PCs being able to overcome the number of Liberal
votes. “It’s silly for two parties
to fight over a colour.” The colour, of course, being blue – the colour
traditionally associated with conservatism in Canada. Jon
Bromstein, from Toronto, who
worked first on Tom Long’s campaign and then Stockwell Day’s, expressed similar
sentiments. “The Alliance is the only chance to defeat the Chrétien
government,” he says. “The other three parties are regional in one case and
nearly dead in the other two.” Jon Bromstein de Toronto, qui a travaillé dans le
camp de Tom Long et puis dans celui de Stockwell Day, exprime des opinions similaires.
Selon lui, «l’Alliance canadienne est le seul espoir de vaincre le gouvernement
Chrétien. Des trois autres partis, deux sont de niveau régional et l’autre est
simplement anéanti» dit-il. Bromstein is very blunt about his reasons for joining.
“Young Conservatives need to stop fooling themselves and look at their party. Their
leader is boring, and in case we've forgotten, he's also arguably one of the greatest
failures in Canadian Political history, having lost his government after less than a year.
The PC platform is typical of the mushy middle, with no new ideas or strong positive
changes.“ However, some CA youth say that there
are other reasons to support the CA. Wright, for example, was attracted to the Alliance
policy such as the proposed flat tax. “Progressive Conservative policy is confusing
rather than having a 17 percent flat tax for everyone.” Certains jeunes du parti affirment
qu’il y a d’autres raisons de suppporter l’Alliance canadienne. Par
example, Wright a été attiré par l’Alliance canadienne pour sa politique sur les
taxes, entre autres. «Les politiques du Parti Progressiste-conservateur sont ambigües et
ne comportent pas de volet visant une taxe de 17% pour tous. » Matthew Sinclair,
also from Belleville, says that he came to the Alliance to have a say in the future of the
country. “We’re going to be running the country in the next 10 years,” he
says. “I want to push my ideas for the future.” Not all
right-wing youth have bought the CA’s message. Some
have rallied around Joe Clark and the Progressive Conservatives, as the Alliance has gone
on the attack. Patrick Brown, president of the PC youth wing, is (as one might expect)
scornful of the new party. “Canadians realize this is the same old Reform Party and
it’s not going to go over with them,” he says.
Patrick Brown, président des jeunes du Parti Progressiste-conservateur, est (comme
l’on peut s’y attendre) déçu du nouveau parti. «Les canadiens réalisent bien
qu’il s’agit des mêmes membres du Parti Réformiste et ils n’embarqueront
pas» déclare-t-il. Josh Bennett, a
federal Tory from Kingston, agrees. “The CA is not a real alliance,” he says.
“They are the Reform party with a new name. Unfortunately, a lot of Conservatives buy
into that.” Despite all of
the rhetoric, many Tories—Brown and Bennett among them—do not seem to be against
the idea of uniting the right. “I think that the notion of uniting the right is a
good concept and I agree with it,” says Brown. The problem, he says is that
“it’s a good idea but the Canadian Alliance has gone about it wrong,” he
adds. Brown suggests his
own way he would like to see the right united. “If it were to happen, it would have
to be a very open process. Both parties would have to be equal and not attacking Joe
Clark… You can’t shake hands with a closed fists.” Brown also
indicated that he is frustrated that the PC’s have tended to receive much of the
blame for causing the split in right-wing support in Canada. According to Brown, it was
the Reform party that caused much of the division in the first place. After watching
the Alliance leadership debate, Brown questions the commitment of those who say they wish
to unite the right. “Why didn’t these people get involved in the 1998 PC
Leadership race?” he asks. “Why didn’t Tom Long take his organization and
challenge the Clark leadership? We had one united party in 1988. It was Preston Manning
that had the audacity to break up ‘the family.’ He has essentially been the
architect of disunity on the right yet he’s blaming the PCs. Like the Reform
Party, and unlike the federal Liberals and PCs, the new Canadian Alliance does not have a
youth wing. Citing equality for all members, the Alliance organizers insist that it’s
a part of keeping everyone at the same level. Brown disagrees
with this take on youth wings and offers his own explanation: “Many members of the
Canadian Alliance who were formerly involved in the PC Party felt that the youth had too
much control. They believed that the youth were being too vocal and had too much power.
This is an indication that the Canadian Alliance lacks vision.” According to
Brown, not having a youth wing stifles a party’s growth and development. “It
enables youth to have a serious voice in the party,” says Brown. “The PC youth
wing has created leader after leader. The youth wing helps to provide the party longevity
and training. If you look at the Young PCs, our leader Joe Clark was re-elected twice.
Federally, the PC youth helped to create Brian Mulroney, Hugh Segal, Ted Rogers. There are
former PC youth in Mike Harris’ cabinet. The list goes on and on. The people running
the show are people who gained their skills on the youth wing level.” « Les jeunes du
parti Progressiste-conservateur ont produit chef après chef. Les jeunes du parti servent à insufler
longévité au parti. Les jeunes conservateurs ont aidé à réélire Joe Clark à deux
reprises. Du point de vue fédéral, les jeunes conservateurs ont participé à la
création des Brian Mulroney, Hugh Segal et Ted Rogers. On retrouve même certains anciens
jeunes conservateurs au cabinet de Mike Harris. Les têtes dirigeantes sont celles qui ont
acquis leur expérience à même les sections jeunes de la droite. » Preston Manning
dismisses such arguments. “We believe that it is important that the youth get
involved on the same level as everyone else rather than as a special group. Young people
can get real positions in the party and that is a plus.” As an example, he cites the
number of youth working on the various campaigns during the leadership race. Preston Manning rejette cette façon
de faire. « Nous croyons qu’il est
important que les jeunes s’impliquent au même niveau que les autres membres, »
dit-il, « non dans un groupe à part. Les jeunes peuvent obtenir des positions et des
postes importants au sein du parti et c’est très bien. » À titre d’example, il cite des jeunes qui
ont travaillé aux diverses campagnes pendant la course à la chefferie. According to
Manning, it is Alliance policy and what the new party represents that makes it attractive
for it’s youth members. “For one
thing, the Canadian Alliance is new and it represents change. A lot of young people are
interested in new things and change,” he says. The flat tax and education policies
were two areas that Manning cites as examples. Selon Manning, ce
sont les politiques de l’Alliance canadienne et ce que le nouveau parti représente
qui attire les jeunes membres. Il dit «le
parti de l’Alliance canadienne est nouveau et représente le changement». Il ajoute
que « plusieurs jeunes sont intéressés par le changement et par les nouveautés ».
L’impôt universel et les politiques sur l’éducation sont deux examples cités
par Manning. Tom Long, also a
former Alliance candidate felt very much the same way. “Young people are attracted to
the Alliance because opportunities aren’t as great as they ought to be, because they
don’t want to have to go to the U.S. and because they need a sense of
direction,” he said. Tom Long, ancien
candidat au sein de l’Alliance canadienne est du même avis. «Les jeunes sont
attirés par l’Alliance canadienne parce que les opportunités ne sont pas aussi
alléchantes qu’elles devraient être ici, parce qu’ils ne veulent pas avoir à
se rendre aux Etats-Unis et parce qu’ils ont besoin de direction ferme », dit-il. What will the
future bring? Bromstein predicts that the old Progressive Conservative party will not be
around for long. “You can't set much stock in pre-election polls, but the fact of the
matter is that Joe Clark is a nobody leading a dying party.” Qu’est-ce
que l’avenir nous apportera? Bromstein prédit que le vieux parti
Progressiste-conservateur ne sera pas là pour longtemps. « Vous ne pouvez miser que sur
les sondages pré-électoraux, et Joe Clark n’est pas la personne tout indiquée pour
diriger un parti agonisant», dit-il. Bennett, on the
other hand, indicates that he was not sure where the future lies for the two parties.
“One of the two parties is going to die,” he said. “I’m not putting my
money on either.” With a new
energetic, yet controversial leader, and much recent media attention for the Alliance,
many believe that only time – and the next election, will tell who’s right. Hi there. I wrote this and I would love to hear what you think. Rebuttals anyone? |