Conservative

Friday May 20, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 20, 2022

Don’t look now, but conservatives are developing a culture of cancelling their own

Jason Kenney Cartoon Gallery

Jason Kenney was ousted by the Alberta United Conservative Party he created. Ed Fast was pushed out of his post as federal Conservative finance critic for suggesting it might hurt Canada’s financial credibility if political leaders such as Pierre Poilievre attack the independence of the Bank of Canada by promising to fire the Governor. That came a few months after Erin O’Toole was dumped as leader.

It sure seems like conservatives in Canada are turning their parties into meat grinders that are churning their own into pieces.

Oh, there are always reasons, from Mr. Kenney’s haughty disconnect to Mr. Fast’s daring to criticize a leadership contender to Mr. O’Toole’s identity flip-flops.

But while there have always been squabbles inside the conservative tent, more people are being cast out of it now – and more quickly. Say, what do you call a political culture where people keep getting cancelled?

Wednesday May 18, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 18, 2022

Conservative Party leadership race divides along Harper, Mulroney lines

Nov. 12, 2007

Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney are at war again over the future of the Conservative Party.

While neither former prime minister has said so publicly, everyone knows Mr. Harper opposes the efforts of former Quebec premier Jean Charest to become Conservative leader, while Mr. Mulroney is a Charest supporter.

Mr. Harper speaks to a conservatism that supports lower taxes and balanced budgets, that places a lower priority on fighting climate change than on developing oil and gas. As leader, he paid careful attention to the needs of Western voters.

Mr. Mulroney’s supporters place a stronger emphasis on environmental issues and are less dogmatic on taxes and deficits. As leader, Mr. Mulroney paid careful attention to the needs of Quebec.

Thursday May 5, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 5, 2022

Canadian Conservatives reluctant to comment on report that U.S. Supreme Court will overturn abortion law

September 14, 2021

Conservative MPs and candidates for the party’s leadership were reluctant to talk Tuesday about a leaked report that suggests the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn decades-old case law on abortion.

A decision by the U.S. top court to upend abortion services would have little practical effect on Canadians; some women pursuing late-term abortions go south of the border for care because of limited access here at home. But the political ramifications could be enormous.

Late Monday, Politico published a copy of an initial draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, a Republican appointee, that suggests a majority of justices are prepared to overrule Roe v. Wade — the landmark decision that allowed legal abortions in the U.S. — and return the issue to state legislatures.

The opinion claims the 1973 Roe decision was constitutionally dubious and “egregiously wrong from the start” because its reasoning was “exceptionally weak.”

Alito said that decades-old decision, which essentially found that the right to privacy extended to reproductive choices like an abortion, has had “damaging consequences” by dividing a nation into anti-abortion and pro-choice factions and robbing state officials of the power to regulate the practice.

Tuesday April 26, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 26, 2022

Pierre Poilievre’s infuriating campaign to be Canada’s Conservative leader

March 8, 2022

In September, Canadian Conservatives will choose their next leader. The last two, Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole, will go down in history as a couple of one-and-dones — leaders who ran against a prime minister, failed to form a government and were ousted by their party soon after. Never mind that each won more votes than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party. Parliamentary democracy doesn’t simply tabulate the popular vote and declare a winner. Only seat count and the capacity to command the confidence of the House of Commons matter, and the two most recent Conservative leaders couldn’t get the job done. The next one might.

Of the leadership candidates, member of Parliament Pierre Poilievre is particularly infuriating and reckless. He peddles an angry and appealing message: that Canadians are getting screwed, and he’s here to save them. The recklessness isn’t so much in the tone of his messaging — folks ought to be angry at an economic and political system that structurally marginalizes, underpays and excludes them — but rather Poilievre’s plan, or lack thereof, to address the underlying causes of discontent while demonizing the state capacity that will be necessary for reform.

Poilievre is a market fundamentalist and ideologue. He believes government is the problem, deficits and debts are a threat to the well-being of this generation of Canadians and the next, cryptocurrency is the solution to inflation, and the carbon tax must go because it’s wasteful and useless. He believes in the libertarian conception of freedom all the way. In February, he boosted the occupiers in Ottawa — a convoy of truckers and hangers-on who besieged the city for a month — saying he was “proud” of and stood with them.

Tuesday March 8, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 8, 2022

Who’s in, who’s out, and who else might join the Conservative Party leadership race

With Sept. 10 picked as the date for when the Conservative Party of Canada will have a new leader, time is ticking for prospective candidates and their teams to get into place. Those running have until April 19 to throw their hat into the ring and until June 3 to sell memberships.

Here’s a look at the contest so far:

March 3, 2022

IN: Pierre Poilievre: The 42-year-old Ottawa-area MP and well-known Conservative declared his candidacy almost one month ago. He has begun fundraising and holding events. At one, he pledged to cancel the federal carbon tax.

May 24, 2012

CONSIDERING: Jean Charest: The former Quebec premier who led the federal Progressive Conservatives in the mid-1990s is considering a run. He recently held a reception for MPs and senators in Ottawa and met with more of them one-on-one. He says he wanted to see the rules of the race before making a final decision.