Following the dismissal of Erin O’Toole as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (PCC), the hypothesis of an even more right turn in the party is plausible. The ousted leader nurtured that idea in the days leading up to the confidence vote he lost, saying the party was in danger of turning into a “right-wing NDP,” a euphemism for a party more concerned with the certainty of the moral superiority of its values than by seizing power.
“Ideology without power is only vanity. Seeking power without ideology is just arrogance,” he said. Judging by the past week of political activity, the risk of a more pronounced CCP slide to the right is real. The ultra-conservative wing indiscriminately cajoled the so-called “Freedom Convoy” that transformed downtown Ottawa into a safe space of the alternative right thanks to the inadmissible improvisation and inaction of the police forces. In the House of Commons, some Conservative MPs on Friday called for an end to the occupation and the protests, although this line is not unanimous within the CCP.
Among the contenders for the succession of O’Toole, ghosts of the Canadian Alliance and the Reform Party dream of a decentering of the party around polarizing issues: the restriction of the right to abortion, the laxity in the control of firearms, continued criminalization of drug use, trivialization of climate change, etc.
The ideas of the right are less and less favored by voters, noted our guest columnist, Jean-François Lisée. During the last federal election, six out of ten voters voted more to the left of the Conservative vision, and only 5% more to the right. Erin O’Toole was the wrong messenger at the right time, but her words will resonate with the leadership race to come.
Before concluding that the dice are cast, let’s not lose sight of a significant detail in the result of the vote of confidence. No less than 73 deputies voted against him. The social conservatives are influential within the CCP, but not to the point of encompassing 60% of the conservative deputies. O’Toole’s style and manner, as well as the unpredictable evolution of his positions on public policy issues, got the better of him. Weather vanes look bad in politics. In a short time, O’Toole had accumulated enough contradictions and reversals to make him the weak link in the next campaign.
While some heavyweights of the Conservative Party are getting closer to anti-health populism, the Liberals are taking it easy, even if Justin Trudeau shows the symptoms of a terrible disease: the arrogance of power. In his blunt condemnation of the protests in Ottawa, he failed to distinguish sound from fury. The Prime Minister is looking for a moment just watch me to demonstrate that he will not give in to anything or anyone to preserve Canada’s progressive values. While condemning the extremists, he could have shown listening and empathy for those who awkwardly expressed their fed up with health measures.
Every time conservatives take a step further to the moral right, that sickening import from the United States, the bogus theory of natural governing party is expanding. The Liberals drape themselves in the tinsel of virtue and feel legitimized in the pursuit of their program, freed from the weight of the political scandals which follow one another without leaving scars. In our parliamentary system based on bipartisanship, there must be an alternative to the party in power, a real option for the voters. This relative balance acts on the one hand as a bulwark against the excesses of confidence and greed of the elected government, and on the other hand it carries the hope of a renewal of the democratic debate.
On the Canadian political spectrum, there is room for a Conservative Party closer to its progressive origins. Fiscal prudence, decentralization, respect for the jurisdictions of the provinces, in particular those of Quebec, are entirely honorable elements of the Conservative vision. Elements that are not found with as much conviction among the Liberals.
Seen from Quebec, where social conservatism is not popular, the decentering of the CCP would have serious consequences. It would place the modest Quebec caucus, made up of ten deputies, in a fragile position. In addition to relegating the PCC to the benches of the opposition for a good decade, decentering would widen the gap of incomprehension between the West and Quebec. Even if the Bloc Québécois defends Quebec’s traditional demands with conviction, there would then be hardly any obstacles or alternative solution to the centralizing aims of the Liberals.