Canada is in need of a new generation of red Tories like Bill Davis and Joe Clark
With vaccination rates for COVID-19 increasing across North America we can finally see the end of this terrible pandemic. We still have a few more rough months ahead but we will win this battle.
When it is over it will be interesting to note what permanent changes we will see. For example, will malls and brick and mortar stores ever recover or will online shopping be the new normal? When will people feel comfortable attending a football game along with 25,000 other fans or watch a movie in a theatre? Will indoor dining return to its previous levels at restaurants and pubs?
I argue one change we will see is political. Until the early 1980s, most people in both Canada and the United States viewed government as a source for good. Various governments of all stripes in Canada built the national railway, airports and led our nation through two terrible world wars. In the United States, president Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal assisted in ending the Great Depression. A Republican government lead by president Dwight Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System. A Progressive Conservative government led by prime minister John Diefenbaker combined with president Eisenhower to build the St. Lawrence Seaway. In the 1960s we saw the creation of universal health care in Canada along with the Canada Pension Plan under Liberal prime minister Lester Pearson. In the United States president Lyndon Johnson introduced the Great Society programs. As we moved into the 1970s both nations introduced far reaching environmental laws and car safety laws.
This began changing in the 1980s with the election of Ronald Reagan. He preached that “government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem” and “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I am here to help.”
From there we saw the dismantling of many of the Great Society programs and the slashing of taxes. In Canada we saw the election of Brian Mulroney in 1984 and a much more pro-business agenda.
As we moved into the new century in Canada we saw the near extinction of the traditional red Tories such as Joe Clark and Bill Davis and more “hard right” leaders such as Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney and Doug Ford. Taxes were cut which denied governments the funding they required to maintain let alone expand social programs. While not as extreme right as we saw in the modern Republican Party, leaders like Harper bore little resemblance to Davis or even Mulroney.
When the pandemic hit North America we saw firsthand the results of decades of low taxes and reduced social programs. Public health authorities struggled with huge intakes of hospital patients, we had little or no domestic manufacture of badly needed personal protection equipment and programs such as employment insurance were not prepared for massive amount of unemployed people. In response here in Canada we saw the federal government react quickly and create such programs as the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit which got desperately needed money into the hands of unemployed Canadians. Huge subsidies were given to businesses to assist them in keeping employees on their payroll. In the United States President Joe Biden has introduced the American Rescue Plan, which is sending badly needed money to desperate people. It is the largest such bill in the U.S. in decades.
Now what do these governments pandemic responses show? They disprove what Reagan argued. They showed that government could be a source for good. It could indeed solve problems.
Rising out of the pandemic I believe people in both Canada and the U.S. will reject the mantra of “the hard right.” They saw how huge tax cuts and the resulting cuts in government programs left both nations ill prepared for this emergency. And they saw how government programs could literally save people.
If conservatives wish to remain relevant they need to look to their past. In Canada that means looking to the legacy of red Tories such as Davis, Clark and Peter Lougheed and preaching fiscal conservatism while also being compassionate and socially liberal. We can have efficient government without wasting money. Conservatives helped build North America with wise, efficient public projects and programs. They need to return to that mindset.
Until the early 1980s, most people in both Canada and the United States viewed government as a source for good