More than a celebration of the May 2 election of a Conservative majority government, last weekend’s Conservative Party national convention was an anticipation of at least eight more years.
As more than 2,000 delegates gathered in Ottawa to mark the first Conservative majority victory in 23 years, there was a clear message that if they govern well, re-election in October 2015 is all but assured.
“If we stay faithful to our commitments and if we stay focused on serving Canadians, in four years time Canadians will say Conservatives can be trusted, Conservatives know what they are doing, Conservatives are the people, the only people, who deserve our vote,” prime minister Stephen Harper told cheering delegates June 10.
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But immigration minister Jason Kenney from Calgary, touted as a key factor in the party’s breakthrough in ethnic ridings, told delegates June 9 they cannot become complacent about the next years of majority.
Party activists have to keep the government’s conservative feet to the fire, said Kenney.
“This is a special responsibility for you, the grassroots of our party, to ensure our government does not waver and that we stay true to our conservative principles,” he told delegates.
Preston Manning, founder of the Reform party and an icon in its successor Conservative party, told delegates the political base is there to accomplish their dreams of making Conservatives the new natural governing party in Canada.
Post-election public opinion polling done for his Manning Centre for Building Democracy by Carleton University’s André Turcotte shows an increasing movement of Canadians to conservative values of smaller government, more personal responsibility and equality of opportunity rather than equality of results.
The result cuts across voters who favour all political parties, Turcotte said.
Manning told a June 10 session that the Canadian move toward conservative values has no political affiliation.
“What used to be considered conservative values are more and more being shared by many Canadians,” Manning said.
“They have become mainstream values and this offers a tremendous opportunity for the party. Canadians’ perception of the role of government appears to be changing significantly.”
According to Turcotte’s polling, fewer Canadians are looking for grand government visions. Instead, they are looking for governments with limited visions that aim to help Canadians help themselves. ”
Manning called it an attraction to what Harper has provided in the form of “managerial conservatism.”
Yet Turcotte also told delegates that his polling shows an increasing number of Canadians expressing a disinterest in politics.
The number rose in a post-election poll despite a higher voter turnout and a political upheaval that saw the New Democrats become the second party, Liberals falling to an historic low and the Bloc Québécois decimated.
“A large part of the electorate is seriously disengaged from the political process and that is a huge problem for the system,” said Turcotte.
Yet among those who are engaged, the news is generally good for the Conservatives.
“After all these years, I can stand before you and tell you this, Conservative values are Canada’s values and the Conservative party is Canada’s party,” Harper told delegates.
He also predicted that while the Conservatives fell to just five Quebec seats, losing six as the NDP soared from one to 59, Quebec remains fertile ground for the Conservatives.
“The honeymoon with the NDP will pass,” he said.
“As many of us know, no honeymoon passes as quickly as one with the NDP.”
