Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Time for a new centrist party in Canada?

With Iffy taking a hard left turn, maybe it's time to shake things up a bit... maybe it's time for a new federal Party.

I know, it's just crazy talk, but hear me out on this one... there are a whole lot of socially conservative Liberals who are being systematically pushed out of their own party. Just look at the recent vote on abortion, and Iffy's new orders to vote in favour of keeping the Gun Registry. There are Liberals who know full well that they're going to lose their seats on these two issues alone. I've even been hearing rumblings from supposedly "safe" Liberal seats that their MP's are at risk over their votes in these recent fiascoes.

But I also know full well that there are a few "progressives" who are still with us over here in the Conservative Party of Canada, who have never quite fully integrated within the new Party. Also various activists too, who whine and complain about our positions on various issues, but who hold their nose and vote for us when it comes time at the ballot box.

So, what's the solution? Perhaps it's time for a few of the "Red Tories" and the "Blue Grits" to start talking... perhaps it's time for a new truly "centrist" voice on the political landscape.

Quite frankly, there will probably never be a better time than this to shake up the political landscape in Canada. The creation of a small "centrist" coalition, founded by a core of existing MP's, from both the Liberals and the Conservatives, could shake things up fairly dramatically. They could become the "independents" of the Canadian political landscape, the group to which the other main parties would have to make significant overtures in order to form a Government.

Stop and think about it for a minute, in all seriousness. The Conservatives have no natural allies from which to form a coalition. Likewise neither do the Liberals, due to all the animosity that exists between them and the NDP. The formation of a core centrist "rump", if you will, would allow Canadians to raise their voices on the issues and say "We want something somewhere between both of you guys", which is what I believe a significant amount of Canadians are saying these days.

Of course, I'm not advocating for the formation of a new Party who should make the PMO their goal. What I'm talking about is the formation of a group of MP's who are better able to reflect the views of their constituents, by allowing them to place themselves somewhere ideologically between the two major parties, and allowing them to negotiate on issues between themselves and the other two major parties, thereby allowing them hold some of the cards when it comes time to decide who gets to form the Government after an election.

Yes, it would introduce a degree of uncertainty in our system... but in reality, no more so than currently exists, as I think we're set for a series of minority Parliaments for a number of years to come. I just think that now would be an ideal time for such an initiative to fly, even if it's just a short lived endeavour that lasts only for the next few election cycles. And I think it's something that has a genuine chance to work right now, with the current polarization that's going on within the mainline parties, and the rump of MP's on both sides of the isle that fall somewhere in the middle of all this. I can name off about a dozen MP's who fall into that category, lower profile MP's who could make their mark on the Canadian political system for years to come by pursing such an idea.

My two cents on things. Of course, for the record, I'm not planning on giving up my CPC membership anytime soon... though I certainly would have to give any such new group an honest listen before casting my ballot...

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14 Comments:

  • At Fri Apr 23, 10:46:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Unknown said…

    You may be on to something here.

    I'd be in favour of a new party that is fiscally responsible. Open. Honest. Accountable. Socially progressive, but not radical. Respectful.

    In short, the exact opposite of every option out there today.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 11:04:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Jordan said…

    I'd love to see a red tory party. I am now voting Liberal because Harper is to much of a social conservative. The Progressive Canadian party, which is made up of red tory's, started a few years ago but never really took off.

    I won't be surprised to see the Conservatives seperate after Harper leaves. I think there is a very large division in the party.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 11:33:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Unknown said…

    Nah. They can join us. I just want Libertarians in power even if they have to share it with so-cons. I prefer so-cons any day over liberals and socialists. We've "progressed" far enough thanks. Thank your lucky stars for the Oil patch and uncle Sam or we would look like Greece.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 01:31:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Bert said…

    Right on, Spin Assasin.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 01:41:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    GuelphFirst said: "I love you like a brother man, but this is insane. The CPC is made up of many different factions, Red Tories and Social conservatives only make up a part of the whole.

    We own the centre and the right, right now, we need to keep holding it. Yes we bounce from centre, to right to left, and we're all not 100% happy, but what we do have is 80% of our core beliefs in common and we're not bloody Liberals.

    The formation of ANY new party by us, be it on the right or in the centre will give the Liberals EVERY election until we take our heads outta our butts and merge once again.

    A new party kills the entire conservative movement, all of us."


    Don't disagree with you whatsoever GF... all I'm saying is that if such a thing were to ever occur, NOW would be the time to do it!

    Just to clarify, I'm NOT talking about "us" forming a new Party at all. Forget that, we've seen that sad story before!

    What I'm actually talking about is a new potential venture by some of the so-con and fis-con Liberals that are being pushed out by Iffy's leftward swing. I'm talking about them making the first moves, and leaving the Libs to sit as an independent group. Were that to happen, I think there'd be a couple of "ours" who might want to join them, (I can think of about two) and a bunch of supporters from the middle, who right now aren't happy with the CPC or the Libs, might sign on to such an endeavour.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 02:13:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anne in sw ON said…

    To accomplish exactly what? Other than to further split the two main parties I see no gain in this. What would be the ultimate aim of a new political party which did not aspire to reach government status?

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 02:48:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    To allow them to exact concessions from the largest or second largest Party after an election, in order to allow the Party of their choice to form a Government... which would naturally allow them to hold a great deal of power in and of themselves.

    It's part of my overall vision for "political reform and realignment" which has been thus far been impossible here in Canada, thanks to the continued existence of the behemoth political slug known as the Liberal Party of Canada.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 03:56:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "It's part of my overall vision for "political reform and realignment" which has been thus far been impossible here in Canada, thanks to the continued existence of the behemoth political slug known as the Liberal Party of Canada"

    Yeah, that attitude will go a long way towards political reform...

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 04:17:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    Anon@3:56, you'll need to look back over several years of my posts to understand that statement... I have consistently said that the one thing that has stifled any meaningful consideration electoral reform in Canada is the "Big Tent" "Mushy Middle" Party known as the LPC... mainly because they want power for power's sake.

    Stop and think about it. The Liberals have consistently tried to portray themselves as the "centrist" option, whereas in reality they're on the left of the spectrum. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party of Canada, many will agree, has simply become a vehicle for power. They don't have a clue what they stand for anymore, other than a desire to govern.

    With their past record of election wins, they're not interested in making any serious reform to their Party structure, have no interest in defining what exactly they stand for, and refuse to listen to their "grassroots" who have been calling for change. And I submit to you that it's not healthy for Canada on the whole.

    Contrast that with the Conservatives... we have a fairly good idea of what we stand for, but are willing to make compromises when warranted. (ie - stimulus spending) At the same time, we were willing to wander in the wilderness for a while, while we found our soul, as it were. (1993-2003) As such, we're now back, stronger than ever, and organized in such a manner that when we're eventually removed from office, we'll be able to have a healthy debate and leadership race, from which we'll quickly begin the process of rebuilding to return to Government.

    The Liberals? Four years out of power, and they STILL haven't got a clue on what they need to do to rebuild. I call it like I see it... the behemoth political slug known as the Liberal Party of Canada.

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 04:47:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger cycroft said…

    A new centrist party in Canada? How crowded can the centre get? Let's get to work within the two "centrists" parties we already have and make them over into what we believe will be best for Canada.

    Will never happen, though, will it?

     
  • At Fri Apr 23, 05:44:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous dollops said…

    O'Sullivan's Law (former NR ed. John O) states in effect that any political entity not overtly conservative will gravitate to the left. Do we want an endless series of centrist parties that will repeatedly betray us conservatives? BTW, *Christian Conservative* is redundant, those conservatives who are not yet Christian simply need more time. *Libertarian* means nascent conservative or libertine, time will tell.

     
  • At Sat Apr 24, 02:32:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Anon1152 said…

    Hi CC,

    I couldn't help but notice one label you didn't use for this post: coalition.

    The country is too big, and too diverse, for anyone to govern without a coalition of some sort. I think that this has always been the case. The liberals used to have solid support across the country. Mulroney was able to govern with the support of Quebec and the West. Even John A. MacDonald's government depended on an alliance of sorts between upper and lower Canada; John A. MacDonald and Georges Etienne Cartier.

    I see one problem with your new-party proposal. Where will these votes come from? Where will the seats come from? A party will only succeed if it has enough votes concentrated geographically.

    Simply having more competitive parties on the ballot does not make the system more democratic; it just means that that a party can win with an even smaller percentage of the popular vote.

    Your party is far more internally united than any of the others. You may lose some "progressive" conservatives. But that would only increase the purity of your own party. Other parties would see a drop in support.

    Your proposal, in the context of our electoral system, would most likely enhance your own electoral prospects, without any increase in support from the Canadian electorate.

    So I guess when I said that I see a problem with your proposal, it is a problem for all non-conservatives out there.

    Unless...

    Would you support some form of proportional representation, to facilitate the new party you suggest, and the coalition(s) that would be possible?

     
  • At Sat May 07, 01:21:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger CentristParty said…

    Hi, I am someone who believes the best way to reform Canada is to create a movement that is strong in the centre is to make sure we have a party on the centre to centre-right which is moderate conservative, for social justice, for maintaining health and education and doing conservatism right by following the British model of conservatism which is lower taxes, a moderate social safety net, following the old Progressive Conservative party, using strategies that the Europeans have followed for their conservative parties and this is the best way to revive centrism and moderate conservatism for Canada. In this way, Canada can finally have a party which is centre to centre-right that can speak for the majority of Canadians. The party is on facebook and we need 250 members to start and then this party I believe could be huge.

    It is called the Centrist Party of Canada on facebook. Also, this is the way to follow the traditions which made Canada good like peacekeeping, health and education for those who cannot afford it and to maintain the social order. If Canada followed the old PC party then it would be good. It needs a good name and the Centrist Party of Canada is that party. Thank you and I look forward to comments about what I just wrote.

    Also, since the Liberals are going to merge this is needed and we are looking for those who want to unite red tories and blue liberals. This would help bring Canada back to normality.

    Also, I would urge people who are serious to go to facebook and check out the Centrist Party of Canada for more info.

     
  • At Sat May 07, 01:34:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger CentristParty said…

    If you are interested in creating this idea you can email me at centristpartyofcanada@gmail.com.

    We are people who want to create a christian democratic party in Canada like the ones in Europe where they combine liberal conservatism, christian democracy, neoliberalism, maintaining our social programs, our health and education system and combining red tories and blue liberals to create a strong party.

    The name we came up with is the Centrist Party of Canada and I have thought about the Christian Democratic Party or the Moderate Party of Canada.

    We can be found on facebook under Centrist Party of Canada.

    Thank you. Hope this happens for all moderate conservative, conservative liberal and centrist Canadians. That would be good for Canada. It would also help since we want to be one nation conservatives who would be focused on nation building, ending heckling and moving to democratic reform such as prop rep.

     

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