Tone, patience and unity
Three things for Conservatives to consider as they move forward
BY DAVID AKIN, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU CHIEF
FIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015
OTTAWA — Freed from the communications lockdown they were in when Stephen Harper ran the joint, Conservatives everywhere are now freely offering up their opinions, criticisms, and correctives in the wake of Monday’s election loss.
It’s been very entertaining to listen to Conservative MPs, who would normally never venture beyond the talking points handed to them, now sailing forth with abandon, often in the presence of a reporter’s microphone.
But once they get that out of their system and the serious work of retuning the party begins, it would be wise to agree on a few winning principles: Avoid regional factionalism; have some patience; encourage an adult communications approach that acknowledges alternative views and avoids demonizing those who hold them.
Several Conservatives I’ve spoken to who will be influential in shaping the leadership race and, therefore, prefer not to be quoted by name just yet, said that, whatever happens, the next leader cannot be drawn into any debate that would pit one region against another.
Some Tory insiders told me they do not expect that to happen but it’s useful to remember that, after nearly a decade of Stephen Harper's government, Quebec nationalism is at at generational low tide at the same time there appears to be an absence of the kind of Western Canadian alienation that prompted Harper and friends to write their famous 2001 “firewall” letter.
That was the one in which Harper and others urged then Alberta premier Ralph Klein to essentially disconnect as much as possible from the then Liberal government in Ottawa.
One of the authors of that letter was Ken Boessenkool, who went on to play senior and central roles in every national Conservative campaign that Harper led, including the one just concluded.
“No one did more for national unity than the Harper government,” Boessenkool told me when I talked to him last week. “We’ve got peace in Canada.”
Boessenkool has been freely dispensing his advice about the party’s future since Monday’s loss.
Among the most interesting observations he’s offered is that the party should seriously consider the advantage a female candidate would have over Justin Trudeau in 2019.
“It’s quite remarkable. Women don’t lose,” Boessenkool said.
He singles out Christy Clark, Alison Redford, Rachel Notley, Kathleen Wynne, and Pauline Marois as examples of female politicians who, in their first try, won.
(We’ll overlook Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath as the exception that proves the rule, perhaps.)
It’s an interesting proposition to consider, particularly since three current female members of the Conservative caucus are being encouraged to consider seeking their party’s leadership: Michelle Rempel of Alberta, Kellie Leitch and Lisa Raitt, both of Ontario.
“The person who’s been making the most intelligent points since the election is Lisa,” a well-connected Conservative from Ontario told me Friday.
But there’s no rush to choose. The first thing a Conservative war room veteran told me on Tuesday was the silver lining in the cloud that was the Trudeau majority government, was that it gave the party four years to get ready for the next election.
I’ve heard the same sentiment from others, the implication being that the leadership race should take a year to 18 months to unfold, followed by at least a year or so of policy renewal. That still leaves the new leader and party plenty of time to find new candidates and get on an election footing for 2019.
I also think it’s wise for Conservative partisans to assume their new leader may not win his or her first election.
Look for some electoral success in 2019, but an outright first-time win, conceivable if the party makes all the right choices in the next 24 months, is not essential for the next leader.
One of the things to get right is the tone the party and its leader use regarding political opponents and the media. Ever since Trudeau became Liberal leader, my inbox would regularly include a complaint from someone describing themselves as a “grassroots” Conservative who was embarrassed by the often juvenile way political opponents were treated in party advertising and by some MPs themselves.
If that’s how dyed-in-the-wool partisans felt, you can imagine how much it turned off potential or “soft” Conservative supporters.
Diane Finley, a Harper cabinet minister re-elected in southern Ontario, said, in announcing her intention to seek her party's interim leadership that, “Canadians expect from us a dignified, respectful but critical eye on the newly elected government.”
Indeed, they do. But Conservatives also expect a dignified, respectful government. Conservatives would be wise to remember that as they re-make their party.
