Progressive Conservatism or Centrist Liberalism?

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”                   William Butler Yeats

For over 70 years, Canada enjoyed the presence of a Progressive Conservative Party – progressive since it sought to address changing societal realities, and conservative because it also promoted private sector business and greater fiscal responsibility.

The Progressive Conservatives won three majority governments and provided at least the same quality of governance as did the Liberal party when it governed.

Both parties governed for centrist Canadians, avoiding pandering to the extremes of the political spectrum.

From 1984 until 1993, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney enjoyed two parliamentary majorities, and used them to fundamentally transform Canada. He created a coalition of Quebec nationalists and Western Canadian conservatives that held for most of his government’s two mandates.

This led to strong government in a world under extraordinary transformation with the fall of communism and the freeing of Eastern Europe from the Soviet grip. It saw the creation of the greatest global coalition (to face the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait) since the second world war in which Mr. Mulroney played a key part.

His government led in supporting the antiapartheid movement against South Africa that transformed Nelson Mandela from a political prisoner to a global hero, and the end of apartheid.

Prime Minister Mulroney was a world statesman whose counsel was always sought and respected by other world leaders.

Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien won three majority mandates and governed Canada well, bringing fiscal responsibility, bringing in balanced budgets, and bringing down the debt. His government brought in the Clarity Act to set the parameters for any province wishing to leave the Federation.

When Prime Minister Mulroney passed away last week, Prime Minister Chrétien said that they had been “opponents, not enemies”.

That was the nature of politics then, when being opponents didn’t mean being hateful or disrespectful.

Could this be replicated in today’s Canada?

I doubt it.

After Prime Minister Mulroney’s retirement, the Progressive Conservatives divided into two parties: the Western Conservatives became the Reform Party (later the Canadian Alliance) and the Quebec nationalists became the Bloc Quebecois. The Reform party moved much further to the right of the political spectrum, and the Bloc remained a social democratic Quebec separatist party.

In the 1993 election, the Progressive Conservatives were limited to 2 seats, while the Bloc Quebecois became the official opposition and Reform was not far behind.

During the 1990’s, the Liberal Party provided a centrist liberal government that provided centrists with an opportunity to govern effectively and limit any influence that the extreme left could have.

Both parties prevented the extremes from having any influence, and thus provided a political environment free from the rancor and polarization that we currently face.

Today, the Conservative Party (formed in 2003 by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and what was left of the progressive Conservatives) is led by Pierre Poilievre, a divisive leader whose political discourse is to insult and belittle his opponents, lie when possible, rail against the media, and pander to the extremist elements of the right.

This follows the pattern set by Donald Trump whose political model serves as an inspiration for Poilievre and the Conservatives.

The Liberal party is not better off.

It has moved to the left, allowing the leftist wing of the party and the social democratic New Democratic Party to influence government policy, much to the chagrin of many voters and dividing Canadians.

It is ruled by political correctness even when this makes no sense. One egregious example is that, in the name of gender equality, women’s sanitary products are now placed in men’s washrooms in all government buildings. When common sense flies out the window, those who take these decisions must suffer the political consequences!

Rocked by repeated scandals, the Liberals find themselves lying to the public on numerous issues, hiding the facts which could further embarrass them and dividing Canadians with ridiculous policies like the ones already mentioned. The result is that they sit well behind the Conservatives in the polls and stand a good chance of being trounced in the federal election scheduled for 2025.

Both parties today suffer from their tails wagging the dogs.

The center is bereft of representation, a situation that will lead many voters to hold their noses and vote Conservative or stay at home for lack of a viable Liberal leader.

Canada desperately needs one of two things: new centrist leaders at the federal level, or a new centrist party that can combine the best of the old Progressive Conservative Party and the moderate Liberals to bring the political spectrum back to the center.

The late Prime Minister Mulroney, along with former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien, were the last two leaders to provide such governments. Their leadership focused on creating a political “big tent” in which most Canadians could find a home and carry on a political discourse that focused on policy rather than on personal insults.

Today Canada is deeply divided by two opposing visions of where the country should go and what it should stand for.

The Conservatives have imported many of the Trumpian politics one finds south of the border, and the Liberals seem governed by woke politics that at times make little sense and seem targeted towards small minorities rather than addressing the major issues that confront all Canadians.

This leads me to ask whether Canadians’ values have fundamentally changed, or whether the fact that leaders are not providing a centrist proposal that addresses voters’ concerns is driving Canadians to distrust government and find both parties wanting?

Can the center hold in a Canada buffeted by governance from the extremes, or will centrifugal forces result in a weaker or non-existent union?

That is the question Canadian voters must think about and demand responses from their political classes.