A rchive Date
[ 23-02-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
|
[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mulroney.html
Alliance votes to remain as the Bloc Alberta
Harper leads party back to its western roots
By BEN MULRONEY - Tor the Sun
March 24, 2002
Everything old is new again. Hip huggers are back in, so are flared collars, funk music, Shaft and Pumas. Old School is cool, and everyone is looking to go retro, including the Canadian Alliance.
Congratulations must go out to our newly minted opposition leader, Stephen Harper.
Having won a hard-fought battle over Stockwell Day on the first ballot of the Canadian Alliance leadership contest, Harper saved his party - and the country - both the time and trouble of having to endure another two weeks of campaigning and a second mail-in vote.
Entirely too many people are rushing to judge this man who has not been active in politics for the better part of a decade.
Many are pointing to opinions he has expressed in his essays, speeches and papers, in an attempt to project how he will act, or what he will say when he takes his seat in the House of Commons.
While his past statements should indicate where he is coming from, they probably won't tell the tale of his future.
Commenting on politics from the lofty position of a think tank is much like commenting on politics in a newspaper column: It is very safe because it is free of consequences.
OTTAWA'S DIFFERENT
Shaping policy and negotiating Ottawa's halls of power are part of an entirely different beast. Unlike the world of political commentary, in Ottawa, coalitions must be built, concessions must sometimes be made, and every once in a while, crow must be eaten.
What does seem to be clear is that the membership of the Canadian Alliance has selected a leader in the mold of the Reform Party founder, Preston Manning: conservative, bookish and cool towards relations with the federal Tories.
The Alliance is trying out a new look that could be called "Reform Retro" and it signals what voters have known for years: A mere name change cannot transform a regional party into a national force.
PARTY OF PROTEST
A regional grassroots party, borne out of protest cannot transform itself into an inclusive "big tent" national party without forsaking its original raison d'etre, which is the promotion of a specific regional social and political agenda.
Having been rejected by voters east of Manitoba, the Alliance will return to its grassroots - at least temporarily.
The Canadian Alliance has been drifting aimlessly since it decided it needed a name change. At the very least, under the Reform banner, everyone knew what the party stood for.
And with Stephen Harper at the helm, a new course will be charted. So the Alliance is returning to its roots, with a leader whose brand of conservatism harkens back to the old Reform days.
The Canadian Alliance will continue looking inward in an attempt to get leaner and meaner.
Some may scoff at this theory and say that I am being dismissive of Canada's Official Opposition. I don't think so.
If the Alliance was still looking to project itself as a national force, inclusive of all of our nation's diverse regions, and if indeed it was hoping to break free of its image as a western protest movement, why then did it hold its leadership vote in Calgary?
Read Mulroney on Sundays and watch him on talktv's the chatroom and Canada AM on CTV. Reach him at benedictmulroney@hotmail.com Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|