What Conservatives should do if they want to replace Trudeau

Revive the ‘Red Tory’ positions that worked well in the past

On Oct. 21 Canadians will go to the polls and decide if the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will receive another mandate to govern or if Andrew Scheer’s Conservative Party will replace them.

Until recently most political pundits were predicting Trudeau would retain power fairly easily. Things are changing now. There have been some prominent broken election promises such as electoral reform, reconciliation with the First Nations, having a more transparent government, etc. And of course the SNC-Lavalin scandal is looking to have the potential of possibly bringing down the government itself.

So, what must the Conservatives successfully do to take advantage of Trudeau’s troubles and win the October election? Here are some suggestions;

First, accept the fact that Canada is a socially liberal nation overall. Yes, there are pockets of social conservatism around the country, but not enough to elect a government. Focusing on such issues as abortion and gay marriage will mean disaster for the Conservatives. Instead, return to the days of “Red Tories” such as Bill Davis, and Peter Lougheed. Their social views mirrored those of most Canadians.

Red Tories were socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Trudeau’s government is terribly vulnerable here. Scheer must produce a detailed plan on balancing the books and keeping them balanced. He must be clear that a Conservative government will never go into debt unless they must deal with a major crisis such as a war or serious economic downturn or they are involved with a massive infrastructure program such as we saw in building the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Party discipline has “strangled” the ability of a MP to speak freely. This must end. The Conservatives must look to their roots with the Reform/Canadian Alliance Party. For example adopt the principles of:

1. Members of Parliament should be bound to vote as per the wishes of their constituents when such a consensus can be determined. I understand the ideals of Edmund Burke who argued that he was elected to use his judgment. Now however party discipline is so strict that Members of Parliament have become “mouth pieces” for their party. Today a majority government in Canada for all intents and purposes means a four-year dictatorship with no checks or balances on a Prime Ministers’ power.

2. To the previous point let’s introduce Recall Petitions. Give Canadians the opportunity between elections to recall their member of Parliament if they are unhappy with their job performance. Almost every working Canadian faces the reality that if they displease their boss or perform poorly they will be fired. Why should politicians be treated any different?

3. When the Reform Party came to Ottawa in 1993 they promised not to engage in the mindless stupidity of such antics as heckling and desk banging. Return to that pledge. If you disagree, then explain to all Canadians what value we receive for our money when a member of Parliament is engaged in such behaviour.

4. Building on this last point, when the Reform Party came to Ottawa they would send the questions they planned to ask the government the following day in Question Period to the PMO the night before. They did so with a request to please ensure the appropriate Minister would give a respectful, substantive answer the next day in Question Period, seeing as they had time to research the question. Now of course the government of Mr. Chrétien didn’t respect this and they showed great disrespect to Reform leader Preston Manning and indeed all Canadians by refusing to give clear answers. Let’s again return to these Reform Party ideals!

Adopting such policies and positions would give Canadians a clear alternative to the crumbling government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Craig Wallace is the author of four historical books and a student of history. His fifth book “Canada in Pieces” will be available later in 2019. He lives in Hamilton.