Why I am a Progressive Conservative, and proud of it
In a recent opinion piece in this newspaper, Michael Taube suggested that “today’s Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario” is most certainly “‘conservative’ but not remotely ‘progressive.’
He continues that some conservatives like Hugh Segal have “tried to create a separate narrative for Ontario conservatism, and Canadian conservatism in general. This is a gross mischaracterization and an egregious distortion of our history.
Taube rightfully points out that the addition of “Progressive” was a result of the recruitment of John Bracken as party leader. However, conservatives in Ontario had, for decades, advanced an equally progressive and conservative philosophy.
In “John A: The Man Who Made Us,” Richard Gwyn has shown how, as early as 1854, John A. Macdonald stated that political success necessitated enlargement: “... to enlarge the bounds of our party so as to embrace every person desirous of being counted as a ‘progressive conservative.’”
The Liberals dominated Ontario in the new dominion after 1867. It was James Whitney who brought the Ontario Tories out of the political wilderness in 1905. According to Elsbeth Heaman, Whitney had “rewritten the rules of politics … balancing progressive and conservative impulses and reorienting the state to make it fairer and less partisan.” Most famously, he created the Hydro-Electric Power Commission in 1906, converting power generation into a public utility.
In 1959, Leslie Frost declared that “Ontario has led Canada, and indeed the world, in this most important field (Human Rights and Liberties) which is fundamental to the peace of the world — recognition of the dignity of human personality without regard to race, colour, or creed. Our province leads in the elimination of racial and job discrimination. Our objective is, and has been, equality for all.” Does this make him a social justice warrior? These were the words of Leslie Frost, the Progressive Conservative premier between 1949 and 1961.
Taube stated that conservatives do not believe in social welfare programs but it was Leslie Frost who introduced OHIP in 1959, granting health insurance to all Ontarians regardless of their ability to pay out of pocket or having to rely on private charity. Other investments included over $200 million for education.
The image entitled “Ontario Firsts” is taken directly from Leslie Frost’s Report to the People of Ontario in 1959. Those achievements are the result of progressive conservatism. For the sake of brevity, I cannot provide a complete history of the PCs, but progressive conservatism is what allowed conservatives in Ontario to remain in power for over four decades.
Recent history illustrates that progressive conservatism is alive. Patrick Brown was, perhaps, the reddest Tory since Bill Davis. He supports socially progressive policies and the welfare state.
It should also be pointed out that the rightful winner of this year’s leadership contest was the centrist Christine Elliott who supports most of the Red Tory precepts. Doug Ford’s cabinet is full of Red Tories. Vic Fedeli, Christine Elliott, Todd Smith, Laurie Scott, Caroline Mulroney and Sylvia Jones are all politicians who have been referred to as Red Tories. Let’s not forget that Raymond Cho is a former member of the NDP and Liberal Party.
Why would Taube distort the history of conservatism in Ontario? It’s actually a fairly simple answer. He is an ideologue who twists historical facts in the pursuit of “true right-wing stances” by which he means American-style conservatism.
I am no Liberal and certainly not a supporter of Justin Trudeau, but he was right when he declared that “Canada’s proud Tory history has been abandoned by a party that has merely assumed a label and co-opted a political tradition.” Now that Doug Ford is firmly entrenched at Queen’s Park, Taube wants to complete the process of ideological purification by deflating the big blue tent in favour of a narrow, dehumanized, and market-driven organization.
Progressive Conservatives fought for, and strengthened our welfare state. Progressive Conservatives like Phil Gillies and Keith Norton fought for progressive causes like LGTBQ+ rights. I am a Progressive Conservative because I am a Conservative, not because I am “left-leaning.”