Right in the centre - A major shift in Canadian politics
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- Published on Thursday, March 15, 2018
Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
When a political party can win a majority government with 40 per cent or less of the vote it is not unexpected that the vote swings back and forth between parties. The political climate across Canada seems to be swinging to the conservative side. Manitoba voted Progressive Conservative two years ago with the largest majority in 100 years.
Saskatchewan has been voting conservative for years and it looks like it may do so again. Alberta’s experiment with the NDP brand of socialism has been a disaster. Alberta’s whole economy has been rooted in conservatism for decades. Only because the conservatives split into two parties and allowed the NDP to come up the middle did Alberta end up with a left-wing government.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have been out of office for a long time. The Ontario Liberals are crashing but the PCs have done everything they could to lose the upcoming June election. Even their leadership convention went off the rails and they elected a radical. To most observers, it would appear that new leader Doug Ford might be the least electable candidate. Examination of the results might show a different picture. The second place candidate, Christine Elliott was certainly well qualified but her team didn’t get the vote out in the right places, Ford did. Caroline Mulroney didn’t have enough experience, had lots of money but some voters didn’t want to start another Canadian political dynasty, at least not yet. Perhaps Ontario voters have had enough of the Trudeau dynasty already. The candidate that the media wrote off was Tanya Granic Allen. She made no apologies for being a pro-life conservative. When it was all over, she handled herself well with the media, she stayed loyal to the party and her votes migrated heavily to Ford. Where else would they go? If smart conservatives have learned anything in the last 30 years, it is to put forward your policies up front and then vote strategically to advance the overall cause. Vote splitting caused conservatism much grief in the last 30 years.
Doug Ford “says” he will throw out the Ontario sex-ed program which nearly every person says needs an overhaul. The Ontario school math program has become a disaster so it may go down the road. The hydro industry and the rates are so much of a burden that people may vote for anyone who “says” they will even try to fix it.
If Saskatchewan and Manitoba stay conservative and Alberta and Ontario vote conservative next time around then the federal Liberals may be ousted in two years. Understandably, most conservatives can hardly wait because the majority of people have come to realize that governments aren’t the answer to every problem. The conservatives still do too much government intervention but at least they have the sense and decency to do it less than the Liberals and NDP.
