Conservatism, especially in Canada, seems to suffer from many different flaws—depending on which corner of the conservative tent that you happen to occupy at any given time. It's too hard, it's too squishy, it's too mean, it's too nice; take your pick.
But I'd say that in the right wing's attempt to dominate the political arena, a vague formlessness is probably the Tories’ greatest flaw.
My personal theory is that the right wing tends to be driven by a pragmatism that wants to accomplish certain tasks—in this case, do government-type things. Once these tasks are accomplished, the right wing loses its drive to do anything else. At this point, factionalism and politics ensue.
In the case of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), I would say that this factor has played a part. And when combined with what I think was too short an amount of time for the various composite segments of the conservative movement to gel together, our current situation might just have found an explanation.
Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. Undoubtedly some people are fine with Canadian conservatism’s current situation—the odd prorogue or bailout notwithstanding. And people might be wondering what my problem is. After all, shouldn't I be haranguing the Liberals and the Socialists and Separatists and whatnot, instead of a party made up of my ideological allies?
Well, it's hard to define a specific problem within the CPC. A disheartening focus on Keynesian stimulus spending comes to mind, as does the rather worrying relationship that seems to have formed between Prime Minister Harper and Parliament as of late. But these are really just symptoms, I think, and not the cause.
No, the cause, as near as I can figure, is an erosion of the Conservative Party of Canada's relationship with its base. The Tories are gambling the needs of their traditional base—which adheres to bedrock conservative principles—against the desires of a new base that they're hoping to attract. The Conservatives are betting that their base will not become so upset as to stop supporting the party, even as it attempts to move towards the center on certain issues to win the support of voters with centrist/Liberal leanings.
And since there isn't an alternative in sight for a disillusioned conservative to drift toward, bedrock conservatives have to stay exactly where they are as their party does this.
Oh, sure, every so often the CPC will throw its base a bone: the odd tough-on-crime bill here, the odd spending cut there. But right now, the Tory bedrock has found itself in the rather unenviable position of playing the jilted lover—while the part of the other woman is played by the voting block which the Tories are hoping to gain.
On one hand the CPC coos the odd sweet nothing to its base with removed trading barriers in telecommunications, or the promise of eventual Senate reform. But on the other hand, in an attempt to gain a new voting block, the Conservatives spend on a level that would have given Stephen Harper an aneurysm back in his Reform Party days.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives tell their base that it’s the only party for them. The base, for its part, falls for the rhetoric as the Tories keep on doing whatever they like. Trying to woo that new, exciting base with increased spending and forgotten conservative promises? Big deal: the CPC still loves its old, faithful base—we just know it. And when cracks in the facade begin to grow a little too big and we start to throw a fit, out comes the minority in parliament to keep us in line.
And we wonder why there's a low turn-out during elections.
The CPC can't keep playing this game. Eventually it will have to declare itself: conservative or not; big government or small. Forget the minority. I'd rather take a political loss and have the Party keep its principles. And I think, for once, the electorate—conservative or not—would appreciate the honesty.
Otherwise, what's the point? We have our man in the top spot ... only he's not our man any more. You can only play the role of jilted lover for so long before the whole relationship falls apart.
