I disagree with your attempt to twist the term into something I wasn’t saying. The closest you come to being correct is when you tie it to the term ‘outlier’, which is a reasonably useful and non-pejorative term. What I refer to as the ‘fringe’, in the context of the CPC, is the socially regressive quasi-faction that delivers a few votes, usually in safe ridings. but costs many more when they’re catered to. This is the group on the wing that has learned they need to be relatively quiet about it, but who still have a desire to see rollbacks on things like same sex marriage, LGBT rights, separation of religion and the state, abortion, etc. In the past few years there has also emerged a much more vocal and distinct crowd that latches quickly on to the conspiracy du jour. They seem more motivated by opposition to the current government than by pushing specifically for any mainstream CPC platform; this is more the sort of fringe I speak of the party excising.
You suggest the only the CPC can be seen as having such a ‘fringe’. That, of course, is silly. Any party has those who somewhat align but want to push some policies or positions much farther than your average person would deem reasonable or prudent. Any party has some people who want to wear their team colours but who make the main stream party figures cringe when they attract attention. This is far from just a CPC issue. I think you’re trying to portray it as such to suggest the CPC are being treated unfairly in this discourse. They’re not. They’re just the party currently in the unenviable position of trying to be a strong opposition and a viable contender to form the next government, while some loud lunatics and ideologies stay latched on and add friction to their efforts.
Any term we choose - fringe, outliers, periphery or what have you is of course subjective. Your ‘fringe’ is not my ‘fringe’. I don’t use the term pejoratively, but just to describe the existence of people who identify most with (in this case) the CPC, but who are an electoral liability. No matter what else the party wants to do or achieve, those electoral realities have to be accepted and dealt with.
