The urban-rural split that tore apart conservative voters in the 1990s, leading to 12 years of Liberal party rule, has been healing.
But the Conservative party still needs to stitch that deep wound so it doesn’t again bleed away Canada’s right.
“The lesson of the last 10 years is that if you do divide the right, it’s not going to be able to elect any small-c conservatives, or any conservatives at all,” said Tasha Kheiriddin, co-author of Rescuing the Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution.
“I think people realize now that supporting another party is not the solution.”
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The Progressive Conservative party of former prime minister Brian Mulroney flew apart when its contradictions became overwhelming. Preston Manning’s populist Reform party roared out of the prairie and Pacific to become the official opposition, while the PCs collapsed.
But Reform could never break through in Eastern Canada, and years of effort have been necessary to pull together most of the old constituents of the PC party and give the Conservatives a shot at winning an election.
But Kheiriddin, who spoke to the Frontier Centre right wing think-tank last week, said the party still needs to bridge some gaps that lie between western social conservatives and eastern urban conservatives.
“You can do that, but everyone will have to give something up,” she said about issues such as gay marriage, which is opposed in parts of rural Canada but generally supported by urban Canadians.
Kheiriddin said conservatives can bridge that divide by taking a pro-family and tolerant position that most people could support.
“Let’s not make a moral judgment of what that family is. Let’s say that it is good for all Canadians to form families. That means inherently we will depend less on the government and more on each other,” said Kheiriddin.
“We say whether it’s gay or straight, you should form a family. The gay marriage debate is done.”
Similarly, she said conservatives need to bridge the divide between urban “greens” and strong property rights supporters, such as farmers.
Environmentalism should be a conservative virtue. But instead of championing government-led environmentalism, which is typical today, Canadian conservatives should develop free market environmental policies that protect property rights.
“Property rights as a solution to environmental issues is something that has to be explained to voters,” she said, expressing her frustration with conservatives’ apparent lack of interest in the issue.
“I think it would resonate with farmers. The right to do the right thing for your land, as you choose, is important to them. The Conservative party isn’t talking about it yet. Maybe they will.”
Kheiriddin said she thinks the Conservative party could work much better with the Green party than with the NDP.
