Poli Sci Paper

1 In politics as in life timing is everything. The Canadian Political scene in the 1980’s resulted in a crescendo of discontent in western Canada and the birth of a new political party and movement, Reform. The seeds of discontent had been sown since confederation. “In 1980, Roger Gibbins defined Western alienation as follows: A regionally distinct political culture through and within which are expressed economic discontent, the rejection of a semi-colonial status within the Canadian state, antipathy towards Quebec and FrenchCanadian influence within the national government, the irritation of the West’s partisan weakness within a succession of Liberal national governments, and the demand from provincial political elites for greater jurisdictional

autonomy.” In addition to these issues socially conservative 1

Canadians felt as if a progressive agenda had been slowly but consistently forced upon them. So the stage was set for a new political entity the Reform party. This new party would go on to articulate the grievances of Western Canadians that felt themselves to be disenfranchised on the national political scene. The vigor with which

2 the Reform Party would oppose successive Liberal majority governments in the 1990’s would eventually be turned inwards, resulting in Reform’s ‘Reform’ as it were into the Canadian Alliance and eventually the Conservative Party of Canada. This movement was the 1

Dyck, Rand. Canadian Politics, Critical Approaches, 5th ed. United States: Nelson, a division of Canada limited, 2004: p. 67-68. :Gibbins, Roger. Prairie Politics and Society. (Toronto: Buttersworth 1980), p.191.

made possible by the political climate in Canada and the world at large, the implosion of the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1993 federal election. Last but not least, the man who started it all, Preston Manning. For those of conservative sensibilities in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the course of world events would seem to indicate a shift towards their own political ideology. “The death of the soviet Communist party, the defeat of socialism in Sweden, the redrawing of borders along ethnic lines in Eastern Europe, all fit the reformers belief in the bankruptcy of ‘collectivist’ government.” In the Canadian 2

context, “Reformers see all these forces of a corrupt, bankrupt system that no longer represents their traditional faith in family, frugality, the

2

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. Storming Babylon, Preston Manning and the Rise of the Reform Party. (Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited, 1992), p. 6.

rights of the individual, and one united but decentralized nation.” 3

3 The Father of the reform Party, Preston Manning is first and foremost a man of deep faith and religious conviction. Better put in Mr. Manning’s own words, “I have always been interested in relating religion to business, science, politics and conflict resolution.” The link 4

between his faith and the policies he would develop and espouse is quite obvious as one literally follows the other. The, “evangelical view of humans as especially alone in the struggle for salvation leads to a gospel of the individual and also, naturally enough, ‘in the world’ to the gospel of free enterprise and capitalism. This fundamentalist view

3

4

Braid & Sharpe. p. 1.

Dobbin, Murray. Preston Manning and the Reform Party. (Toronto: James Lorimer and Company, Publishers, 1991), p. 8.

commands its adherents to promote capitalism as the ‘best Hope’ of the poor.”

5

Preston Manning upon entering the political arena followed in his Father’s footsteps in the unusually homogenous political environment of Alberta. “His Father, Earnest Manning, was not just premier for twenty-five years but Premier of what was often called a one-party state.” With a large conservative base predominantly rural 6

conservative and Christian in Alberta, the Manning’s had their political

4 Base of support. “These articles of Preston Manning’s faith are not simply his personal and private beliefs. They impel his actions and

5

Dobbin, Murray. p. 9.

6

Dobbin, Murray. p. 1.

command him to act in the world to change it.”

7

Even by his appearance and manner Preston Manning was unusual and “seems to be the very opposite of a slick and seasoned politician. He could easily be mistaken for the shy, modest proprietor of a religious supply store in rural Alberta.”

8

In the late 1980’s the full effect of the policies and failures of Brian Mulroney’s government became evident to Canadians, as well as Mr. Manning. “His timing was excellent; he moved in the spring of 1987, just before English Canada’s discontent began to explode into a true fury over Meech Lake, the national debt, the Goods and Services Tax, Quebec’s law against English signs, the rise of the Bloc Quebecois, and criminal charges against Tory politicians.” This was only the most 9

7

Dobbin, Murray. P. 11.

8

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. p. 2.

9

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. p. 5.

recent fodder that Mr. Manning used to fan the flames of discontent felt by westerners during this time.

5 The most painful memory in Alberta’s history of battles with the national government was the 1980 Liberal Government’s implementation of the Nation Energy Program. Before the Reform Party existed there was the, “Western Assembly on Canada’s Economic and Political future; its initial slogan, ‘the west wants in’; and its fervent promotion of the Triple-E Senate as a remedy to ‘antiWesternism’ in National politics-all helped to cement this impression. Preston Manning and his colleagues often referred to the transfer of Western provinces’ resource wealth to the rest of Canada via the National Energy Program, citing figures so shocking that journalists presented them as

incredible.” One such estimate put the figure as high as “110 billion 10

from the ‘producing provinces to the federal treasury and the energy consumers of central and eastern Canada’ from 1980 to 1985” 11

The Reform Party of Canada was form in 1987 and Preston Manning was chosen as the party’s leader. “The new party had fewer 12

6 than 1000 members, a vaguely crackpot image, and money in the bank only because rich donors believed enough to give.” “The reformers 13

want a nation at once united and decentralized, a country without public debt where all people are declared equal but no individual 10

Laycock, David. The New Right and Democracy in Canada. (Don Mills, Oxford University Press Canada, 2002), p. 67. 11

Manning, Preston. The New Canada. (Toronto: Macmillan,1992), p. 121.

12

“A long, winding road,” The Vancouver Sun. (Vancouver: Oct 16, 2003), p. A.5.

13

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. p. 7.

receives special help. They believe that women should make their way without affirmative action or any Federal programs to lift them up. Reformers apply the same thinking to special groups within society such as recent immigrants, people of colour, other, ‘visible minorities’ and, of course, Quebec. There would be no official multiculturalism, sharply limited bilingualism, and no funding for any group to preserve its identity. The provinces would develop policies in this area without federal money. Provincial governments would also have full control over Medicare and most social programs. The Reform Party goal, is to create a Canada where citizens shed their hyphenated identities and everyone has equal opportunity but no state guarantees of equal outcomes. Essentially the belief in the individual is Reform’s key

value.”

14

What is a popular in Alberta is not necessarily popular in the 7 rest of Canada, in fact it is unlikely to be, very unlikely, consider the Reform Party’s position on Quebec. “Reform is the only national party that makes no effort to accommodate Quebec within Canada. Its policy boils down to ‘here’s our view of the country, take it or leave it’.” 15

“Manning led the way with his calls for explicit rejection of the ‘compact theory’ of confederation and Canadian federalism, seen as the historical foundation of Quebec’s claim for ‘special status’.” 16

Preston Manning and the Reform Party also had their eyes set on the current state of federalism as it had come to operate in practice 14

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. p. 10.

15

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. p. 11.

16

Laycock, David. p. 69.

in Canada. “The preamble to reform’s initial Party constitution identified three such organizations-the Progressive Party, the CCF, and Social Credit-as having spoken for those ‘subjected to systematic injustice or inequality of treatment’ by ‘unresponsive institutions of government’ and called for ‘a contemporary expression of reform tradition in Canadian federal politics. Two points were of particular importance to this theory. One was the futility of the expecting the Senate, as currently constituted to serve as an instrument of regional wills. The other was the fact that Liberal and Conservative majority 8 governments alike relied on a large block of Quebec seats.” 17

“After years of developing a groundswell of grassroots support 17

Laycock, David. p. 67-68.

in the West, Deborah Grey wins Reform’s first seat in the House of Commons in a March 13, 1989, by-election in Alberta. After the 1997 federal election, the party raises its total to 60 MPs and becomes the official Opposition in the House of Commons, but Reformers fail to extend the Party’s base beyond Western Canada and Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s Liberals win their second consecutive majority government. Throughout 1998, Manning continues bridge-building efforts among like-minded conservatives searching for informal solutions to unite the right. Those efforts were especially focused in Ontario where vote splitting among conservatives was blamed for clearing the way for grit victories. On March 25th, 2000, Reformers, heeding Manning’s plea, vote overwhelmingly to dissolve their party and fight the next election under

the banner of the Canadian Alliance. The endorsement ended the an often divisive two-year crusade by Manning to persuade party members that building a broader coalition of small-c conservatives is 9 their fastest track to power in Ottawa. At the July 8th, 2000, Alliance leadership convention the party and the nation are stunned when Stockwell Day wins more than twothirds of the delegates support and wrestles away the Party’s leadership from Preston Manning. In the November 2000 federal election, the Alliance fails to capitalize on the momentum of that summer’s leadership and is defeated soundly by the Liberals. The party retains official Opposition status with 66 seats, but again fails to gain that elusive foothold in Ontario. There is dissent among Canadian Alliance MPs, who claim they

can no longer support Day as leader, this dissent reaches a boiling point in the spring of 2001 when several MPs, Lead by Deborah Grey and Chuck Strahl, bolted from the Canadian Alliance benches to sit as the Democratic Representative Caucus. Later that year, Joe Clark’s Tories, sensing an opportunity to capitalize on Alliance turmoil, invite the Canadian Alliance MPs – now know as the dissidents – to sit with the Progressive Conservatives. They accept and the working coalition becomes known as the Progressive ConservativeDemocratic Representative Coalition. The group, however, is not formally 10 recognized as a party by the Speaker of the House of Commons. This puts pressure on Stockwell Day to resign as party leader, he continues through 2001 and on December 12th he calls a leadership race for the

winter-spring of 2002, and declares himself a candidate. Stephen Harper was elected leader of the Canadian Alliance on March 20th 2002. Mr. Harper achieved this victory by winning more 55% of the mail-in ballots during the campaign; Stockwell Day who was his nearest rival in a field of four candidates, received 37% of the vote. After the leadership race most of the dissident MPs later returned to the Benches of the Canadian Alliance.”

18

Before the political aspirations of Stephen Harper could be fully realized; putting together a coalition that could rival the Liberal Party of Canada. A great deal of political wrangling would have to be done within what remains of the Progressive Conservative Party. “On August 6th 2002, Tory Leader Joe Clark announces he will step down. Mr. Harper calls for a joint Tory-Alliance leadership race by 18

“A long, winding road,” The Vancouver Sun. (Vancouver: Oct 16, 2003), p. A.5.

the end of the summer, a move that Clark rejects. At a Tory convention in Edmonton later that month delegates reject a motion to join forces 11 with the Canadian Alliance. On January 15th 2003, Nova Scotia MP Peter Mackay declares his candidacy for the Tory leadership, which he wins on the fourth ballot with 64% of the delegate support in June. Mr. Mackay beats Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, but makes a convention floor deal with candidate David Orchard. The deal included the promise the Tories would run candidates in every riding. Reports, however emerge that Mr. Harper and Mr. Mackay agreed in June to begin an exploratory merger process.”

19

The result of the eventual Merging of the Canadian

19

“A long, winding road,” The Vancouver Sun. (Vancouver: Oct 16, 2003), p. A.5.

Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party is the Conservative Party of Canada, with Stephen Harper as its leader. Eventually in 2006 the new party would form a minority government and the dreams of Preston Manning would be realized, the West would be in at last but at what cost? The unyielding compromise necessary to appeal to a broad enough base nationally saw the Conservative Party of Canada moving away from the values of social conservatism that were what made its Great Grand founder, Mr. Manning, Mr. Manning. The efforts of the

12 Harper government towards Senate reform have fallen on deaf ears in all the provinces and territories with the exception of Alberta. The gusts that Preston Manning sought when he said, “I am building a kite and I

need wind for it to fly,” seem only to propel even the Conservative Party of Canada to minority governments. In the world at large with recent collapse in financial markets exhibiting the flaws in the free market system the political fortunes of neoconservatives are going on a similar trajectory, down, down, down.

Bibliography

Braid, Don & Sharpe, Sydney. Storming Babylon, Preston Manning and the Rise of the Reform Party. Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited, 1992Dobbin, Dobbin, Murray. Preston Manning and the Reform Party. Toronto: James Lorimer and Company, Publishers, 1991. Dyck, Rand. Canadian Politics, Critical Approaches, 5th ed. United States: Nelson, a division of Canada limited, 2004. Gibbins, Roger. Prairie Politics and Society. Toronto: Buttersworth, 1980. Laycock, David. The New Right and Democracy in Canada. Don Mills, Oxford University Press Canada, 2002. Manning, Preston. The New Canada. Toronto: Macmillan, 1992. [A long, winding road] The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver: Oct 16, 2003.

The Rise and Fall of Reform

Joseph McIntosh Student # 100104897 Term Paper: Political Science 1119

Stephen Phillips November 6th 2008 Further Reading Mackay, Lloyd. Like Father, Like Son: Enest Amnning and Preston Manning. Toronto: ECW Press, 1997. Wells, Paul. Right Side Up: The Fall of the Paul Martin and the Rise of Steph Harper’s New Conservatism. Toronto: Douglas Gibson Books, 2006.