The festival of the far-right enlightened boisterous is in danger of ending very badly for the Conservative Party.
The pro-Poilievre henchmen managed to get rid of the candidate Patrick Brown. They think they did a good job removing his votes from the second round, which could give Jean Charest some hope in the race for the lead.
Now confident that Pierre Poilievre is sure to win, these great scientists, like Dr. Frankenstein, too late to realize that their shenanigans have created a monster they cannot control.
A new conservative party?
In all seriousness of the world, many conservatives are beginning to implore the founding of a new party. Tired of putting up with the gimmicks of Harper’s emulators, they’re looking for another way. A path that could give them a chance against the Liberals. Happiness that just doesn’t exist when Pierre Poilievre and his fringe take on Trudeau (or Freeland or Carney…).
A group calling itself the Center Ice Conservatives will meet in Edmonton next month to discuss the principles on which this momentous, understated conservative movement, like Poilievre’s current party, stands.
To be clear, these center conservatives have nothing in common with the cave dwellers who invaded Ottawa last winter and were praised and encouraged by Poilievre. The Poilievre clan loves their hero and everyone will vote for him no matter what. Unrelated to. At least nothing rational.
And therein lies the rub: Competent, experienced, and victorious Conservatives recognize that Poilievre is a public entertainer with no chance of winning a general election. He may be happy with Maxime Bernier’s base, but not many other Canadians. The average voter is looking for more solutions, not more uncertainty.
Preston Manning 2.0
The Conservative Party, then called the Progressive Conservative Party, spawned its own opposition in the past when Preston Manning founded the Reform Party. His cause was western Canada, which he ignored by the liberals and took for granted by the CP.
It’s Preston Manning’s model that might initially inspire these center-conservatives: a protest party.
You will also be able to ogle and study the CAQ model. François Legault created a party that abandoned an old dichotomy of sovereignism and federalism and managed to form a government in Canada’s second largest province in just a few years. An achievement.
The Reform/Alliance’s unholy union with the Progressive Conservatives may have elected Stephen Harper three times, but it has been a defeat ever since.
Make way for the moderates
The moderate wing takes the blame, and right-wing extremists like Poilievre are convinced they will win if they move even further to the right. This is not meant to understand the Canadian electorate, who want a clean, competent, responsive and…realistic government.
These Canadians can vote for both British Columbia’s new Democrat, John Horgan, and Ontario’s progressive conservative, Doug Ford. They have their ideological starting point, but they know the center!
Canadians generally don’t want to hear about ideological wars, and Pierre Poilievre’s party might find out the hard way.
