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Party of Canada: Uniting the Right |
Uniting the Right in Canada
What exactly does the term mean?
The phrase “Unite the Right” was invented by the media to describe efforts by conservatives
to develop a united strategy to fight the Liberals. Many conservatives believe that
vote splitting between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance has contributed
to the Liberals winning three successive majority governments. Suggestions for uniting
the right have ranged from informal strategies - such as splitting up the ridings across
the country, with the CA agreeing not to run a candidates in PC ridings and vice versa
- to the current proposal for merging the two political parties into a new third party.
Which Political Parties Make-up the “Right” in Canada?
The Canadian Alliance is the successor to the Reform Party. Formed in 1987, the Reform
Party was the latest in a series of western-based protest parties that include the Progressives,
and the Commonwealth Cooperative Federation (CCF). Adopting the slogan “The West Wants
In,” Reform elected its first MP, Deborah Grey, in 1987. In 1991, the party made the
decision to expand into Ontario and the Atlantic provinces (not Quebec). In the 1997
federal election, the party won sixty seats and formed the Official Opposition. However,
due to repeated failures to expand into eastern Canada, the party reformed as the Canadian
Alliance in 2000.
Formed in 1942, the Progressive Conservative party was a merger between the western
Progressives – a western-based protest party formed to represent farmer’s rights - and
the Conservative party. Forming Canada’s first government under John A. McDonald, in
the early 1940s the Conservatives were trying to improve their image, which had been
badly tarnished by the policies of Conservative Prime Minister R.B. Bennett during the
1930s depression, particularly in the west. Both parties were in disarray at this point
– the PCs won only sixty-seven out of 245 seats in the 1940 federal election. Officials
in the newly formed Progressive Conservative party put together financial and social
policies designed to appeal to a large number of groups, including farmers and big business.
Like the Liberals, the PCs are classified as a brokerage party. A brokerage party attempts
to achieve consensus between different regional, linguistic, and other groups, both
to achieve electoral success and to allow a number of different voices to be represented
in Parliament. PC leader Brian Mulroney’s electoral success between 1984 – 1992 came
from his ability to forge a coalition between a number of diverse interests, including
Quebec. By contrast, although they have tried to expand their support base, Reform began
as a classic western protest party. Ideologically driven, protest parties have a harder
time modifying their policies and principles to achieve electoral success.
Why Attempt to Unite the Right?
There are several practical reasons for uniting the conservative forces, both in the
short-term and the long-term.
- Newly elected Liberal leader Paul Martin is expected to call an election for Spring,
2004. This means that the merger must take place quickly to have any impact on the
next election.
- Despite changes of name and leadership, the CA has not expanded its electoral support
base. Without winning more seats in Eastern Canada, the best it can hope for is Official
Opposition status
- Despite several leadership changes, the PCs have never recovered from their devastating
performance in the 1993 federal election, when the party went from a majority government
to only two seats. PCs won only twenty seats in the 1997 federal election, and barely
managed to cling to official party status by winning twelve seats in 2000.
- The debt-ridden PC party lacks funds for mounting a costly federal election campaign.
By contrast, future Liberal leader Paul Martin has substantive financial backing from
the business community
- In the 1997 election, despite winning a combined total of only eighty seats, the
total percentage of votes for the two parties came close to the Liberals. This indicates
some vote splitting is taking place.
The PC’s problems began when Lucien Bouchard, Environment Minister in the Mulroney
cabinet, left the PC party to form the separatist Bloq Quebecois (BQ). However, Quebec’s
separatist movement has lost ground in recent years, and the Progressive Conservatives
still have not regained their former status.
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