Can there be an NDP of the right?

Despite Andrew Coynes almost religious but sometimes warranted attacks on the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Harper, I have to admit I admire the man a great deal. It is very rare that I read something of his and don't find myself nodding in agreement. He is very intelligent, articulate, and is a gift to the small "c" conservative movement in this country.

His most recent piece entitled "An Idea Without a Party" has got me thinking more than a newspaper column usually does. The article seemed all over the place as I read it and I had no idea where Coyne was going with it, but in the end was very good.

It started off with the release of the Ontario PC's platform, took a few subtle shots at the federal Conservatives, then compared the Canadian Conservative movement to the Canadian Socialist movement, and concluded that we needed a party to the right of the Conservative party, with no chance of ever forming government, to give those people a true voice.

He ends off asking the readers "Might the time have come for an NDP of the right?"

This really got me pondering the idea myself. I mean, at least part of the Liberal parties success over the past 100 years can be attributed (arguably) to having what could have been some of their more radical members, as members of the NDP instead. I mean, if nothing else, the Liberals have always been able to use to their situation and brand themselves as a safe vote, free of radicals on either side.

If there were a true conservative party to the right of the Conservative party couldn't the Conservative party use the same strategy as the Liberals to help win elections. While at the same time giving those so-called "radicals" a voice in an other party that can act out of principle without the burden of possibly forming government.

On paper it sounds like a pure stroke of genius. But if its such a good idea, why hasn't anything of that nature ever taken foot.

Then I remembered back about 10 years or so ago, when we had two right of center political parties in Canada. Remember that, before the whole "unite the right" thing.

Was Reform the NDP of the right? I mean, based on some of their policies, they were never going to win across the country given the political climate at the time. They were certainly to the right of the old PC's. And as Preston Manning told MacLeans on the 20th anniversary of the birth of the Reform Party, they were very effective in changing the direction of the national agenda. Had it not been for a Reform party in opposition, I highly doubt that the public concern about the debt would have remained at its early 90's levels. We might even be dealing with it today had it not been for Reform.

The problem was though, that Reform didn't want to simply be in opposition, they wanted to form government. That was clear in the party's constitution in that it stated that if the party did not form government in 10 years, it would cease to exist. To add to that, the Reform party was much more successful than the PC's. If the Reform were to the PC's, what the NDP is to the Liberal's, then the PC party would have to ATLEAST be as competitive as Reform. This was just simply not the case.

Slowly but surely though, the ideas behind Reform got watered down. First there was the Alliance, then the merger and a new party, and now the new government that has abandoned all its Reform policies save for a watered down belief in Senate reform. In a round about way, Reform is in government with its first policy chief as Prime Minister.

What Mr. Coyne is talking about therefore, cannot be another Reform. The Reform Party, in my mind, was not an NDP of the right. Nor do I think that a NDP of the right is at all possible. The biggest difference, I believe lies in the differences between the socialist and conservative movements both around the world and at home.

Around the world, there are a number of successful conservative movements that give great pride to conservatives in Canada. Whether with Ronald Reagan in the United States, Margret Thatcher in Britain, John Howard in Australia, or even the prospects of a successful conservative revolution in France under Nicolas Sarkozy. We have even had examples of them at home with Mike Harris's Common Sense Revolution, or Ralph Kleins reforms in Alberta. While these movements do still have their critics here in Canada, they do provide ordinary Canadians examples or real conservative movements that have been for the most part successful, and provide hope to conservatives that their values can resonate with the general population.

Socialist parties like the NDP do not have the same examples to look to. What successful socialist movements do exist in the world, seem more aligned with the watered down socialism or statism of the Liberal party, not of the NDP. To Canadians, the NDP is the party of Hugo Chavez socialism, not Tony Blair. The recent extreme examples of conservatism around the world, have not been as opposed to by ordinary citizens as Mr. Chavez's socialism.

There may be an exception when looking at George W Bush's conservatism in the United States, but I hazard to guess that those who would be in this NDP of the right, would look at George Bush as the least conservative US President in years. And even if the Left tries to align Bush and Canadian conservatives, those Canadians conservatives will not look at Bush like they would look at Reagan or Thatcher.

What I am trying to say is that the conservatives have success stories from around the world to look at and to follow, where socialists and the NDP do not. For this reason, conservatives are always going to believe they can achieve power in some way, and will never be satisfied with being another NDP, when their ideological cousins around the world are having successes.

Another important dynamic at play is the regional politics in Canada. Conservatism in Canada is much more regional then Socialism. While the support of the NDP is stronger in certain areas of the country, it is nothing in comparison to the regionalism of the conservative movements. I doubt Alberta will ever split its vote between two conservative parties. Traditionally Albertans have voted in waves, both federally and provincially, and in order for a true NDP of the right to exist, an Alberta vote split would be very important, if not necessary.

So if there can be no NDP of the right, then what do I suppose we do. If Stephen Harper can't be trusted to act conservatively as the Conservative Prime Minister, is there any hope?

I think that their is. As Preston Manning observed in a column for the Globe and Mail recently, Reform failed because it "sought to be both a movement for change and a political party at the same time". He goes on to say this...

"The job of a political movement is to move public thinking and opinion. Reform, the movement, for example, sought to move public opinion from that of tolerating deficit spending toward supporting balanced budgets."
"The primary job of modern political parties (regrettably, in my view) is simply to run and win election campaigns. To do so, they generally seek to accommodate public opinion as it exists, rather than attempt to change it."

Manning's view, which I agree with, is that it is the role of political parties to win elections in the current landscape of the nation. Which right now is a desire for changein government, but not an all encompassing change in direction. There is no imminent national crisis on our hands and the economy is the best it has been in years. The best we can hope for right now is a moderate conservative government in power operating within the current political climate, while at the same time having a conservative movement moving public opinion slowly to the right.

This is what Manning is trying to accomplish through his new center, the Manning Center. And it is what all of us are doing on Blogging Tories. It is also publishing more conservative columnists (Andrew Coyne), attracting more conservative university profs (Dr. Tom Flanagan), having more conservative think tanks and most of all developing future conservative leaders.
All these things are steps in creating a truly conservative force in Canada.

Unfortunately, we can take all these steps and it still may not be enough. I am convinced that in order for Canada to have a truly conservative revolution, the economy will have to be in worse shape then it is. It will take a slowdown in the economy, combined with a Liberal government before the Canadian electorate Will tolerate a truly conservative agenda. Mike Harris came to power in Ontario in the 90's because Ontario's economy was in disarray and there was a grassroots conservative movement taking hold.

It may not take an alignment of the stars in order for a truly conservative government to revolutionize this country, but something will need to give it that extra push.What is important is that we as conservatives are ready to fight together when the conditions present themselves, and not be stuck fighting the same "he's not conservative enough for me" fights that have plagued us in the past.

In the mean time lets keep working to engage the grassroots across this country and we will win this war of attrition. It may become frustrating at times, but our time will come if we stick together. Lets not miss the next opportunity to change this country for the better by risking another fraction of the right.

Just think, if a truly conservative revolution is underway in France, it can happen anywhere, including Canada.