More than a decade out of Parliament and the leadership of a federal political party, former Reform party leader Preston Manning still matters in the public debate.
In fact, unlike most former political leaders who fade away into the woodwork — remember the last time former prime minister Joe Clark’s opinion was pivotal — it can be argued that removed from partisan politics, Manning’s stature has grown, his opinions taken with more gravitas in the years since.
He has morphed from geeky rightwing Prairie Visigoth knocking on the liberal gates of Ottawa to an elder statesman with an influential Manning Centre for Building Democracy centre (and mainly conservative democratic movements) carrying his name.
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He still has a keen analytical mind and some relevant thoughts on contemporary political problems. And without official office, he is unbounded by the restraints of political correctness.
When Manning speaks, many voters and opinion molders tend to listen.
So his surprising April 19 Calgary Herald commentary essentially endorsing Wildrose to replace the Progressive Conservative 41-year dynasty that replaced his father’s 36-year-old Social Credit dynasty in 1971 (father Ernest had retired as premier several years earlier) got attention in the days preceding the April 23 election.
If Preston was suggesting a “spring house cleaning at the Alberta legislature” after 41 years, the effect was to more than counteract the embrace of the Progressive Conservative incumbent government by PC icon and once-premier Peter Lougheed.
From his elder statesman pulpit, Manning’s analysis still is respected.
So it was in the days following the late March election of Quebec MP Thomas Mulcair as the new NDP leader when Manning suggested it was a mistake for the party.
He delved into history and argued that after its 1961 formation, the NDP erred by downplaying its western agrarian, populist and religious roots in search of central Canadian academic and union votes.
In 2012, the party opted to elect a leader with Quebec roots at a time when the national centre of gravity is moving west.
“Has the NDP zigged again when it should have zagged?” he asked.
It is a question New Democrats may be asking themselves if Mulcair fails to engineer a breakthrough in western ridings where the NDP once reigned. Without the West, NDP chances of moving from opposition to government are slim.
Manning raised the sensitive issue of a risky Quebec-centric NDP gamble that few analysts would touch.
And the fact that it drew no “anti-Quebec” pushback reaction suggests Manning has come a long way in gaining credibility since his days as Reform leader when a suggestion that Canada had had enough Quebec-based leaders for awhile drew fierce criticism in Central Canada as a symptom of an anti-Quebec western bias.
These days, long out of partisan politics, Manning’s conservative and populist musings have gained more credibility, although his relationship with Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper remains cool to non-existent.
Manning is living proof that some politicians do get a second chance to make a first impression.
