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Home > Features > The Conservative
Party of Canada: Uniting the Right |
Future of Canada’s Political Right
Will voters view the Conservative Party of Canada as a credible
alternative to the governing Liberals?
Whether the new party will succeed depends on several factors:
- Who is chosen to be the leader
- How the public perceives the party
- What impact the CA has on the structure of the new party and its policy platform
- What impact Tory antimerger forces have on the party
In the short term, the new Conservative party’s electoral success will depend largely
on how much the party is identified with the CA. There are already signs that the public
views the merger as a takeover of the PCs by the Alliance. An Ipsos-Reid poll conducted
shortly after the merger was announced found that sixty-eight of respondents believed
the new party will face the same problems as the CA attracting voters from Ontario and
Quebec (source: Ipsos-Reid Website). Statements by antimerger opponents such as David
Orchard that the PC party is “hiding behind Stephen Harper’s skirts…” do not help matters.
However, this could change if a high profile conservative is chosen to lead the party.
Most analysts agree that the party will not be a major force in the next federal election.
Realistically, the most it can hope for is to cut into the Liberal’s majority by holding
the seats the PCs currently hold in the Atlantic provinces, winning some seats in Ontario
and picking up more seats in Western Canada. Reducing the Liberals to a minority government
would be a major achievement. Whether the new Conservative party succeeds in the long
term depends on whether it can develop a momentum of its own and evolve into more than
just an amalgamation of the CA and PC parties. It will be interesting to see how the
party performs in the subsequent federal election.
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