The Star’s View: It’s not just the tone,

As Conservatives begin to lick their wounds under interim leader Rona Ambrose, many are seeking solace in the convenient fiction that they were bested by Justin Trudeau’s “sunny ways,” more than anything else. Get the tone right and victory will follow, they seem to be saying. It’s all about the optics.

Jason Kenney, for example, sees the need for a “Conservatism that is sunnier and more optimistic.”

Nice thought, that. But it hardly begins to address the challenges the party faces.

Canadians clearly voted for change on Oct. 19, but change from what, exactly?

From a hyper-partisan Conservative party that had grown cynical, sneering and closed under Stephen Harper. From practices that showed contempt for Parliament, the Supreme Court and science itself. From ugly, divisive, Muslim-baiting electoral tactics. And from deeply misguided policies that favoured the moneyed few and that sold out civil liberties amid hyped fears of terror.

All this alienated the broader spectrum of Canadians that the Tories needed to win and reduced the party base largely to smalltown and rural areas.

If Canadians felt disenchanted with nearly a decade of Harperism, driven as it was by an obsession to eviscerate the Liberal party as an institution, sap the federal government and turn the country into something unrecognizable, they had good reason. It has been a discouraging era.

Slapping a smiley face on this toxic Toryism isn’t going to rebuild a battered brand. Whatever some loyalists may believe, the party’s fundamentals are far from sound.

There’s a pressing need for root-and-branch reform, under new leadership that has some inkling of what progressive conservatism can be, with its sense of nationhood, social conscience and natural moderation. Pandering to the hardcore Reform crowd proved to be the low road to defeat.

Under Ambrose, a seasoned Alberta MP with cabinet experience who styles herself a libertarian, Conservatives have an opportunity to begin the long process of rebuilding, better than before.

Graciously, she seized the occasion on being chosen interim leader to congratulate Trudeau on his win and said, “I look forward to working with him and with Mr. Mulcair . . . to get good things done.” On another positive note, she promised “extremely constructive” opposition.

Despite the election rebuff, the Conservatives are far from a spent force. They have a robust Commons contingent of 99 MPs, including 33 rookies, anchored by figures such as Harper himself (who says he plans to keep a low profile in caucus), as well as Kenney, Diane Finley, Erin O’Toole, Lisa Raitt, Rob Nicholson, Kellie Leitch, Candice Bergen, Michelle Rempel, Mike Lake and Denis Lebel.

They are well-placed to quickly regroup in Parliament, to provide a credible opposition to the Liberal government and ultimately to coalesce around a permanent leader and a healthier approach to partisan politics and public policy, if that’s the path they choose.

They will only further dilute their party’s appeal if they revert to shrill, mindless obstructionism, or champion obtuse, regressive policies.

As Ambrose has observed, Canadians would welcome a Conservative party that is prepared to work constructively with other parties, in a respectful and civil manner, on legislation that moves the nation forward. And, as Raitt has warned her colleagues: “How we behave is going to be watched.” Closely.

It’s not just the tone that the party needs to get right. Or the optics. It’s the long-term leadership, vision and policies.

The Conservatives under interim leader Rona Ambrose need more than a sunnier tone