There's much work left to do

Adam Daifallah
Ottawa Citizen

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

The day after Paul Martin's government fell last November, I had an article published on this page labelled "How the Tories can win."

My recipe was simple. The Conservatives needed to do three things: give Canadians an idea of what they stand for, not just what they stand against; define Stephen Harper before the Liberals and the media did it first; and present innovative and counterintuitive policies to attract new voters.

The Conservatives did all three. They put out a platform chock-full of ideas that were both positive and forward-looking. Throughout the campaign Mr. Harper stayed on message, looked relaxed and appeared to be having fun. He played the patriotism card and championed national unity. Some of his policies were surprising, such as the GST cut and tax credits for children's sports.

Mr. Harper's stellar campaign, combined with an uncharacteristically gaffe-riddled and undisciplined effort by the Liberals, brought the Tories to victory. They increased their seat total in Ontario and established a stronger than anticipated beachhead in Quebec. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

The question now is: What's next, for both the Conservative party and the conservative movement?

For the party, this government isn't going to be easy. A look at the national seat breakdown brought some troubling realities into full relief. First, the Tories lost five seats in British Columbia, a province that had been a bastion of support for the Reform and Canadian Alliance parties. This is an indication that British Columbians -- many of whose anti-Ottawa voters were attracted to Reform's populism -- have grown weary of the new, professionalized Conservative party. The Tories have some thinking to do about how to win those voters back.

Second, and most important, Monday's victory reinforced the notion that the Conservatives are a rural party. The Tories were completely shut out of seats in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. In Toronto, for example, star Conservative candidate Peter Kent was clobbered by Liberal Carolyn Bennett by a two-to-one margin. And it's not just the inner-city results that were surprising. For the Tories to have run a near-perfect campaign -- albeit with a few hiccups in the last week -- and still be shut out of suburban Ontario ridings like the Mississaugas, the Bramptons and the Londons is worrisome. These are the cities that voted solidly Conservative to give Mike Harris two provincial majorities.

This is a strong signal that urbanites are still not ready to take a chance on the Tories. It is also a sign that many New Canadians are still not ready to break ranks with the Liberals. The Tories need to find out why and fix the problem, because these voters are the key to a majority next time.

As for the conservative movement, the Tory minority presents a huge opportunity. The Liberals have spent the last 40 years building a state-run infrastructure of think-tanks, unaccountable private foundations, scholarship funds and other institutions with taxpayer money. All of these organizations reinforce liberal values and a statist vision of Canada that is anathema to conservatism. The Liberals have successfully shaped a definition of what it means to be Canadian that suits and serves their party. But with the Liberals finally out, they no longer have their hands on the purse strings.

If the Conservative party is to build any sort of long-term coalition, party members and conservative Canadians must build a parallel infrastructure to act as a counterweight. They ought to support those conservative-minded institutions that already exist and build new ones.

These institutions will not only act as a support network for the Conservative party, but will also bring more conservatism to public discourse and convince more Canadians of the merits of conservative ideas.

After 13 years in the wilderness, Monday's win is the culmination of a years-long rebuilding process for the Conservatives for which Stephen Harper deserves the lion's share of the credit.

But what this victory means cannot be misunderstood. The Tories have a mandate to clean up government and cut some taxes -- nothing more. Canadians did not award Harper a mandate to overhaul social programs or reduce the size of government. To win a majority next time and to implement real conservative ideas, the hard work must be done outside the party by the conservative movement. That work must start now, and there's not a minute to waste.

Adam Daifallah is co-author, with Tasha Kheiriddin, of Rescuing Canada's Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2006