ipolitics conservative convention full

PRESTON MANNING HELPS TO EXPLAIN WHY STEPHEN HARPER WON A

MAJORITY

BOB PLAMONDON CONSIDERS THE QUESTION

THAT HAS DIVIDED THE CPC SINCE ITS START

TONY CLEMENT OFFERS A SNEAK PEEK AT

STRATEGIC REVIEW

!ursday, June 9, 2011

Bring on the PartyToasts, tussles, and talk of 2015

www.iPolitics.ca

TODAY’S SCHEDULE, TONY’S TWEETS AND ...

THE MORNING BRIEF

YOUR GUIDE TO THE CONSERVATIVE CONVENTION 2011

THE CANADIAN PRESS

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2011

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The Morning BriefSchedule

Good !ursday morning to you and, to Conservative Party convention del-egates, welcome to Ottawa.

Today is the day many Conservatives have been dreading for nearly a year — the release of the audit of last year’s G-8 and G-20 summits. !e report, which is expected to reveal multimil-lions in waste and shoddy controls over funds, will be delivered by interim AG John Wiersema. It is unlikely to pack the punch of Sheila Fraser’s infamous “every rule in the book” comment, but he has many on tenterhooks all the same. Watch iPolitics.ca for full cover-age of the report.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

wasn’t sitting around fretting over the AG’s report last night. Instead, he was in Boston watching as the Bruins beat the Canucks 4-0.

!e PMO said Harper will pay $1,000

toward the cost of the government Challenger aircra" that ferried him and others to the Garden for the game.

Far from Boston, Defence Minister

Peter MacKay is in Brussels for NATO

meetings. He is scheduled to brief report-ers this morning on the state of the mis-sion over Libya. iPolitics.ca will be on the call, so watch our website for an update.

Statistics Canada releases its inter-

national trade #gures for April today, along with the new housing price in-dex for the same month.

Heritage Minister James Moore, who

was also in Boston for the game, is back in Ottawa to roll out the Canada Day 2011 program, including the visit by Prince William and Kate Middle-ton, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Former Canadian Alliance leader

and Harper government cabinet stal-wart Stockwell Day will open the 2011 Conservative Party convention this evening with a keynote address.

Former Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is in

court today for a motion in her alleged abuse of a former nanny.

Ontario’s Economic Development

and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello will today make a funding announce-ment aimed at making the tool and die

sector more competitive. B.C. Premier Christy Clark and NDP

leader Adrian Dix will take turns ad-dressing the First Nations Summit in North Vancouver.

Another day, another honorary de-

gree for Craig and Marc Kielburger, co-founders of Free the Children, this time from Laurier University.

Ryerson bestows an honorary degree

on Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

And #nally, Winnipeg MPs Kevin

Lamoureux and Pat Martin showed Manitobans that they won’t have to wait for the season to see some scrap-ping. Lamoureux wore a Winnipeg Jets jersey into the House of Commons Wednesday, prompting Martin, a New-Dem, to accuse his Liberal counterpart of being a fair-weather fan — joining the parade rather than leading it … or raining on it.

!e Morning Brief is a daily bulletin

delivered to your e-mail each morning. For a free trial, go to www.ipolitics.ca.

Today

Noon to 6:30All events at the Ottawa Convention Centre.Registration: Main foyer, ground $oor.A"er registering, make way for the welcome reception in the Parliament Foyer on the third $oor.

4 p.m. to 6:30Canada Hall, third $oor:Warm-up show featuring live music from Ottawa talents.

6:30: Opening ceremoniesCanada Hall, third $oor:Lyndon Slewidge will sing O Canada, then John Baird will open the show.Watch for Jason Kenney, followed by a keynote address from Stockwell Day.

9:30: Make way for the Hospitality Suites.


The life of the Party

Conservatives from across Canada are gathering in the nation’s capi-

tal to celebrate the big win, extend gratitude to the campaign ground troops, and begin the grunt work of charting course for the next four years.

Last month’s majority election victo-ry set a jubilant tone for the three-day Conservative Party of Canada policy convention, where thousands of del-egates and members will tussle over everything from foreign policy to tax relief.

Scott Lamb, president of the North Vancouver electoral district associa-tion, said there’s a great mood of opti-mism. “!ere’s a sense of a very positive future for the party and the country as a whole,” he told iPolitics. “In politics it’s always an uneasy road to follow with ups and downs all the time. But right now, things are very, very good.”

Lamb said the vibe is high not only due to the majority win, but also be-cause of the decimation of the Bloc Québécois.

!e Conservative Party is well-posi-tioned to recruit and maintain mem-bers and also to raise funds — drawing on its populist roots that have relied more heavily on lots of small individ-ual donations rather than big contri-butions from corporations or unions, Lamb said. !at capacity is especially important as the government moves to end taxpayer-funded subsidies to po-litical parties.

“!ey may not be large, but we get a lot of them, from a broad spectrum of Canadians,” he said.

Conservative strategist Goldy Hyder said party members are highly moti-vated to build on momentum with one eye on the next election.

“Everyone loves a winner,” he said. “Everyone will be energized, and it makes you want to work that much harder to keep what you earned. !at’s part of the message that will come out of this weekend: Let’s not forget what got us here.”

Hyder said the convention is a time to toast the election victory – a “great achievement” as the #rst Tory majority in 20 years – and show appreciation for the ground troops. He believes much of the Conservative Party’s success has come by tapping in to the inherently conservative values of long-established and new Canadians: hard work, less intrusive government, the importance of family and community, and the em-phasis of Canada’s prominent place in the world.

“What this government has done, what this party has done, is taken a very pragmatic approach to conser-vatism and successfully maneouvred itself in to occupy more and more of the centre of the political spectrum,” Hyder said. “So much so, that there are some Conservatives yearning to see it back more on the conservative right – particularly on the #scal side.”

Matt Richardson, founder of the ‘Blue Youth’ group in the Northum-berland Quinte West riding, said the Conservative Party is also growing in popularity with younger Canadians.

“I think to youth, what’s appealing is that the messaging is clear, and it’s a party of action,” he said. “!ey are also not afraid of making controver-sial decisions instead of going with the wind.” !e Conservative conven-tion — the #rst since the fall of 2008 — will feature workshops, ministerial speeches, and hospitality suites. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will deliver the keynote address at the new Ottawa Congress Centre Friday night.

[email protected]

KATHLEEN HARRIS

Word on the Hill

How do you think a majority

style?

Do you think

worked in the

wake of the

toasts, tussles, and talk of 2015

Post-election, pre-convention, iPolitics.ca hit the Hill on Budget Day to talk to 50 random strangers about the state of the nation. Here are the results of our most uno!cial poll. Legwork by Devon Black and Kyle Hamilton.

KYLE HAMILTON


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ELIZABETH THOMPSON

With a stable majority govern-ment for the next four years and

the Liberal Party still reeling from the election results, Prime Minister Ste-phen Harper’s Conservative Party is calling on supporters to dip into their wallets to help the party counter a new foe.

In a letter sent out in the past few days, Conservative Party President John Walsh is urging supporters to help the party counter a “hailstorm” of negative attacks from the media, pun-dits and the “opinion elite.”

Walsh says the party had to #ght o% attacks during the last election and ex-pects them to continue.

“During this election campaign, we faced an onslaught of negative attacks like never before from the media, from pundits and from anti-Conservative

lobby groups and union executives,” Walsh wrote in the copy of the letter obtained by iPolitics.

!e problem, said Walsh, is that a Conservative government jeopardizes their interests.

“!e fear among the opinion estab-lishment is that if our government is successful, and Canadians see the ben-e#ts of lower taxes, sensible and less-interventionist government and more personal freedom, the Conservative Party of Canada will continue to win future elections,” he wrote.

“Quite simply, smaller government means less power for the le"-leaning, opinion establishment and they will #ght every step of the way. We saw their tactics last time and they will be even nastier and more desperate next time.”

Walsh calls on supporters to become Conservative Party Partners so the party can promote Harper’s low tax, job creation plans and “educate Ca-nadians on the bene#ts of less govern-ment and a stronger Canada.”

!at plan includes #ve key priorities: creating jobs through training, trade

and low taxes; supporting families with the party’s Family Tax Cut and more support for seniors and caregiv-ers; eliminating the de#cit by 2014-15 by “controlling spending and cutting fat;” making streets safe with new laws to protect children and the elderly and defending Canada by developing Canada’s North, cracking down on hu-man smuggling and strengthening the

armed forces.However, Walsh warns “the anti-

Conservative opinion elite” will #ght the Conservatives “every step of the way.”

“Your support now will help us coun-ter the hailstorm of negative attacks that are already raining down on our democratically elected government.”

!e letter does not say how the party plans to counter the groups it identi#es as a threat.

!e letter comes as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has tabled a budget that calls for the $2 per vote public subsidy that parties receive to be phased out. !e move means parties will be more dependent on raising money directly from potential supporters with letters such as Walsh’s.

In recent years, the Conservative Party has been far more successful than any of its rivals in raising money through direct donations to the party.

Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLorey has not yet responded to a re-quest for an interview.

[email protected]

government means

establishment and

time and they will be

even nastier and more


Canadians are increasingly adopt-ing conservative values as their

own, according to a new report by the Manning Centre. Its post-election poll found more people favour self-reliance, private initiative, and balanced bud-gets, across party lines.

“!ey just don’t think these big gov-ernment solutions work,” Preston Manning said at the report’s release yesterday morning.

!e public’s conservative leaning helps to explain Stephen Harper’s ma-jority victory, Carleton University’s Andre Turcotte said.

“Either by design or by surprise, the Harper government tapped into some-thing that was in line with what people wanted from the government,” Tur-cotte said. “People really want a gov-ernment that concentrates on things that are relevant to them.”

!is includes an emphasis on basic needs, such personal security, and pol-icies they can relate to, like tax breaks for their childrens’ activities.

“!ere’s a clear message here,” Tur-cotte said. “Just focus on things that are immediate problems, and don’t try to be too visionary.”

Manning says this is where Stephen Harper comes in. “He is cautious, he is incredimentalist, he is skeptical. !ose personal characteristics certainly res-onate better than if he was a grand visionary.”

!e budget is a prime example of do-nothing success, Harris-Decima poll-ster Allan Gregg said.

“!is budget, which everyone just said was kind of a big yawn, basi-cally hit the public opinion bull’s-eye. Because that’s basically what people wanted right now, is a big yawn.”

But the Conservatives shouldn’t adopt the “natural governing party” title just yet.

Manning said while the party’s poli-cies may resonate with more and more Canadians, the emerging trend is a double-edged sword. As these values normalize, the public will identify them less as Conservative Party values.

!is means in the future, the suc-cessful party will be the one that best explains — in plain language — how they will operate and achieve those objectives.

“!e dispute now is not so much about the goals, but is your plan better than their plan,” Manning told iPoli-tics in an interview.

!e Canadian brand of conservatism is di%erent from the U.S. variety, the study found. It’s not a Tea Party style rejection of government. It’s a unique strain, combining free market prin-ciples, moderation, and social justice.

One area where Canadians split from conservative thinking was on the importance of the military to the national interest. !ere was a 30 per cent decline in military support this year, compared to the 2010 study. !e

authors attributed this to fatigue over the war in Afghanistan.

As well, despite the overall conserva-tive trend, only 50 of the 1,000 survey respondents said the best thing about the election was Harper’s majority.

“!e #rst thing that came to their mind was, ‘I really didn’t like the elec-tion campaign,’” Manning said. !at was the response of more than one-third of those surveyed.

!is high level of disengagement has the study authors worried.

In the new Parliament, Canadians said they want to see their Members of Parliament represent them, and hold the government to account, particular-ly on their No. 1 issue — the economy.

Currently, more than three-quarters of respondents said the government doesn’t share their views on the impor-tant issues.

“It’s the old democratic story,” Man-ning said. “If you can align yourself where your people’s heads are at, you’ll be able to do well electorally.”

[email protected]

SONYA BELL

do more or get smaller

Expectations

your view?

that are immediate

KYLE HAMILTON


When the emissaries of PC and Alliance parties met in the

summer of 2003, they accomplished far more than anyone thought possible. Without stress or rancor, they quickly agreed on the party name, a party con-stitution, and a timetable for a leader-ship race. !ere was only one issue that caused tempers to $are and had the potential to keep the parties apart.

Stephen Harper believed in one-member, one vote on leadership selec-tion. Peter MacKay believed each con-stituency — whether it had 10, 100, or 1,000 members — should get the same number of votes, or delegates, to elect the leader.

Harper contended it was a matter of basic democratic fairness. MacKay ar-gued that giving each riding the same in$uence was fundamental to building a national party, and entirely consis-tent with how governments are elected in Canada.

Under MacKay’s “equal-weight sys-tem,” leadership candidates would be forced to establish networks and mem-bers in every region and riding in Can-ada in the same way national political parties must be relevant in all parts of the country if they want to form government.

Under Harper’s system, leadership candidates would go wherever party members were most plentiful. Alliance negotiators argued that in some Que-bec ridings the membership rolls of the Alliance party were non-existent, and Tory membership numbers were ane-mically low. In fact, one of Alberta’s 28 ridings might well have more members than the entire province of Quebec with its 75 ridings.

MacKay saw riding equality as a nec-essary founding principle for a party that wanted to form a national govern-ment. “Regionalism is the root cause of

how we got ourselves in perpetual op-position,” argued MacKay.

When the merger emissaries reached a stalemate, the leaders intervened.

Harper suggested various compro-mises, but MacKay would not budge. “!is is my stepping-o% point,” MacK-ay told Harper. “!e party will respect the equality of ridings or there will be no merger.”

Just before the 2003 !anksgiving weekend Harper spoke with MacKay and o%ered to accept the equality of ridings, but with a formula that would be determined only at the party’s founding policy convention. Again, MacKay said no. Both leaders decided to take the long weekend to re$ect.

Harper understood that MacKay was not blu&ng. Either he accepted MacK-ay’s rules or the merger was o%. John Weissenberger, Harper friend and con-servative activist, recalled that, “It was better to get a deal than to get a deal that was good for us. It was a calculated risk to accept the PC party rules.”

As Harper and MacKay met via conference call for the #nal negotia-tion session, they arrived at the sec-tion of the document that dealt with leadership selection, Harper paused. “I have been thinking a lot about this. We have made a lot of progress,” said Harper. “!is is a very historic deci-sion,” MacKay replied. Signalling that he was accepting all MacKay’s condi-tions, including the equality of ridings in party decision-making, Harper said, “We should do this.”

In the end, MacKay got everything he had asked for at the negotiating table. But Harper won as well, with a merger and a leadership contest, even if it meant he would have to campaign in regions of Canada where he was weak.

Read part two in tomorrow’s edition.

… plenty of debate

We might expect the Conservative Party National Convention that begins today would be nothing but a celebration of electoral triumph. Instead, a nasty "ght is brewing that may expose a ri# between the old Progressive Conservative clan and the western-based populists from the Reform Party. $e issue that divides is how the party makes decisions, including how it chooses a leader. Should each riding get the equal say, or should decisions be made on the basis of one-member one-vote? Both sides are gearing up for what might be a nasty "ght on the convention %oor.

iPolitics is providing context to the con%ict by providing excerpts from iPolitics columnist Bob Plamondon’s bestselling book, Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics. We begin today with a behind-the-scenes account of how the merger between the Alliance and PC Party in 2003 almost came apart over the issue of leadership selection.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

BOB PLAMONDON

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DArcy - Orleans 10_5x4_5 Ad 06-2011 copy.pdf 1 6/7/2011 3:20:05 PM


Open letters to the prime minister

In an age of austerity, everything be-comes sharper in de#nition because the margins for error are too costly. It means looking through the right end of the telescope – that of the national interest. It requires recognition that foreign and defence policy is about power and the projection of power in the places that count.

Get this right and the rest will fall into place.

We have identi#ed eight priorities for the Harper government. !e top three?

1. Lower taxes on those businesses that are investing in new products, new technologies and the skills of their employees. Maintain currently legis-lated targets for reducing corporate tax rates.

2. Extend the two-year straight-line depreciation for investments in manu-facturing and processing machinery

and equipment. !e Accelerated Capi-tal Cost Allowance encourages compa-nies to invest in technologies that are essential in improving productivity and environmental management.

3. Encourage innovation and the commercialization of new products and technologies. Canada’s Scien-ti#c Research and Experimental Development tax credit should be fully refundable and the processes for application and approval should be simpli#ed. Tax credits should be considered to encourage workplace training, new market development and improvements in productivity, energy e&ciency, and environmental management. Better ways to transfer knowledge from research labs to busi-nesses need to be found.

Jayson MyersPresident & CEO

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters

What is good for First Nations is good for Canada. !is is about all of us and our shared future.

Education is the most urgent mat-ter and the one that holds the greatest potential and promise. Our people are the fastest growing population in the

country, yet our youth are more likely to end up in jail than to graduate high school. We must not accept this.

!is Parliament will face both the greatest urgency and the greatest po-tential to address our issues.

Shawn A-in-chut AtleoNational chief

Assembly of First Nations

To be e%ective, you need to simplify. We have plenty of suggestions. Here are our top three:

1. Put the World Trade Organization #le to the side. !ere won’t be a deal this

year and likely not for years to come. 2. Your #rst priority is the perim-

eter initiative with the United States. !ere’s an opportunity here to make real progress on issues that a%ect Ca-nadian businesses every day. Seize it.

3. Work with your o&cials, your pro-vincial counterparts, and others on a possible end game for negotiations with the European Union. A deal is possible and even probable.

Phil RourkeExecutive director

Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL)

Carleton University/ University of Ottawa

We invited business leaders to tell us what they’d most like to see during the Conservative government’s majority mandate. What follows is a sampling of their replies. For full commentary, go to iPolitics.ca. Watch for more letters in the Friday edition of the iPolitics guide to #CPC2011.

Colin RobertsonVice president

Canadian Defence and Foreign A!airs Institute

President of the National Capital Branch of the Canadian International Council


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Two words inspired by strategic

‘User fees’

In a speech to public service ex-ecutives yesterday, Treasury Board

President Tony Clement said every de-partment and program must go under the microscope to #nd cost savings and productivity gains. !e sweeping review to trim #ve to 10 per cent of program spending is “business as usu-al” in the private sector and will be-come par for the course in the federal public sector as the government seeks to work “smarter, better and faster,” he said.

“What we are doing is expanding the scope of our review such that ministers and deputy ministers have the latitude to re-imagine their business models entirely,” he said. “We are encouraging departments to develop a full range of options in areas such as administra-tive and program e&ciencies, business consolidation, and user fees.”

Some of those changes could require

legislative or machinery tinkering, Clement said, without providing de-tails on where new fees might be imposed.

During the operational and strate-gic review, o&cials must ask the “hard questions” about whether the program is valuable, e&cient, and cost-e%ective, Clement said. “Is this a government priority, and is it a%ordable during a period of #scal restraint? Are we achieving value for money? !ese are some of the questions we must ask our-selves in making our determinations.”

Calling his speech a “sneak peek” at the details of the operational and stra-tegic review that will be released in coming weeks, Clement said the broad quest for $4 billion in annual program spending cuts will involve 67 govern-ment departments and agencies. Each one will be asked to develop both #ve and 10 per cent savings scenarios that consider wages, salaries, professional service contracts, and grants.

Insisting the review’s success rests on a “strong and respectful partner-ship” between the government and the public service, Clement praised senior bureaucrats for leadership and innovation and for delivering the gov-ernment’s massive stimulus package quickly and with accountability.

Savings that come from the operat-ing review are to be announced and booked in next year’s budget, but NDP leader Jack Layton is demanding de-tails now on what Prime Minister Ste-phen Harper has “up his sleeve.” !e government should look to subsidies to oil companies, tax havens, and cor-porate tax giveaways to save money before stripping away valued public services, he said.

“Instead, we have cuts to environ-ment, to #sheries, to defence, to the National Gallery. It speaks to the gov-ernment’s priorities,” he said. “!e corporate fat cats get the gold and Ca-nadians gets the coal.”

Many tax watchdogs have denounced user fees as taxes by another name.

Peter Coleman, president of the Na-tional Citizens’ Coalition, said he is not opposed to charging new or rais-ing existing federal fees for certain services, such as cost-recovery for government research provided to pri-vate-sector #rms or a modest fee for a hospital visit to remind users there are heavy costs attached.

Coleman also suggested there is much room for savings by consolidat-ing government departments and lim-iting loans to corporations.

“Clement and the Conservatives have an opportunity to look at this from a business perspective: What do we need, what do we not need, where do we need to spend more in today’s economic environment, and where are we just wasting money without getting any value for it?”

[email protected]

KATHLEEN HARRIS

THE CANADIAN PRESS/ SEAN KILPATRICK


In a campaign-like swing through Ottawa on Wednesday, Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak accused the premier of having hid-den plans for tax increases. “!e McGuinty team probably has their next round already planned,” he warned. “!ey just don’t want to tell you until a"er the next provincial election.” For more on Hudak’s speech, check out iPolitics.ca.

The Conservative Party has con-#rmed that computer hackers ac-

cessed names, and email information of individuals who donated online.

“In some instances, the #rst four and last four digits of the credit card were taken,” the party said Wednesday in a release. “But no useful credit card in-formation was taken and our internal database was not hacked.”

“We are very disturbed by this hack-ing and will continue our internal in-vestigation,” the party said. It added that it will work with authorities on the case.

!e release stated that the hacker — or hackers — who tampered with the Conservative site on Tuesday may be linked to recent hacks on Sony, Nin-tendo, and PBS gaming servers. !e Conservatives said they will review practices and make necessary changes to prevent future hacks.

On Wednesday, a Twitter user named @LulzRa" claimed to have hacked the site and posted a link to a list titled “Conservative Donation Contribu-tors - A Small Sample.” !e list posted

features more than 5,600 names and emails, including parliamentary and PMO-based email addresses.

“!e Conservatives said no contributor data was accessed,” tweeted LuzlRa". “I wonder where this sample came from then!”

Brian Mitchell, a partner at Mitch-ell Gattuso Lawyers in Montreal and a past Conservative party executive member, is on the list. When informed of the hack, he said he was not con-cerned. “It’s public information who donates to a party, so I’m not worried,” said Mitchell. “I’m Conservative and proudly support the party.”

Mitchell said he’s con#dent the party will act quickly to clear up any prob-lems with website security.

It was yet to be determined whether or not the released names are from a Conservative mailing list or an actual donors’ list.

Conservative spokesman Fred De-Lorey had said the hack was limited to the party website and did not a%ect any party databases that hold personal in-formation about the party’s members.

On Tuesday morning, hackers posted a fake press release on the Conservative

website reporting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had been airli"ed to a Toronto hospital a"er choking on a hash brown. !e PMO was quick to respond with news of the prime minis-ter’s good health — just not before the story travelled far and wide on Twitter.

MyHusky.ca was also hacked Wednesday, o%ering a discount related to the hash brown headlines. “Due to yesterday’s Harper hoax, we feel it is necessary to show Conservatives that we care. So today, June 8, we will be providing free gas to all Conserva-tives. Just use the coupon code ‘hash-browns,’” the site said until it was re-moved by Husky.

[email protected]

MEG WILCOX

KYLE HAMILTON

Hudak speech

OFF TO A GOOD STARTGood Friday morning to you, Stephen Harper will have just about

an hour to bask in the adoration of del-egates at the Conservative convention before he’ll want to make way for hock-ey. Game 5 of the Stanley Cup !nals goes tonight at 8 p.m., exactly an hour a"er the prime minister is scheduled to address the party faithful.

#e convention got o$ to a rousing

start last night with headline speeches from Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney. Day, who retired in March, said the Conservatives aim to get government “su%ciently o$ the backs and out of the pockets of Canadians, and let Cana-dians run with their own vision.” (See page 3.)

Today at 8 a.m., party president John

Walsh kicks o$ the policy workshops. In the a"ernoon, the National Council holds candidate speeches while Con-servative MPs will hold a forum to dis-cuss individual projects. Later, in the main event, Harper is expected to cel-ebrate the party’s election victory, while focusing forward on the economy and government spending.

Harper’s speech is expected to li"

the party from the gloom of the dam-aging auditor general’s report that ac-cused the government of misleading Parliament last year over $50 million in spending on the G-8 and G-20 sum-mits. It also comes amid a pre-summer stock market swoon and this morning’s release of employment !gures for May.

Statistics Canada will also release !g-

ures for labour productivity, compen-sation, and unit labour cost for the !rst quarter of 2011.

One of the highest levels of unem-

ployment is among students, which Human Resources Minister Diane Fin-ley hopes to alleviate with the Canada Summer Jobs program, which she will unveil today.

Postal strikes continue today with

walkouts in Quebec City.

Friday, June 10, 2011www.iPolitics.ca


(continued on pg. 2)

THE WORD ON THE HILL

A GUIDE TO THE CAN CON COLOUR CODE

DAY’S NIGHT

TAX BREAKS, RED TAPE, AND RESOLUTIONS

OPEN LETTERS TO THE PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011

Your guide to today’s events6:30 a.m - 6:30 p.m. Registration7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Breakfast (Par-liament foyer)7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Interfaith breakfast hosted by John Walsh, president, CPC National Council (Trillium Ballroom)8 a.m. - 8:15 a.m. Welcome (Cana-da Hall)8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Constitution Handout Ballot drop off outside room 206/208

8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. Policy Workshops:

Economic Development (Room 205/207 Gatineau Salon 1)Canada’s Social Fabric (Room 213/215 Ottawa Salon 1)Role of Government, Taxation, and Crime (Room 214 Ottawa Salon 1)8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. Constitution Workshop (Room 206/208 Gatineau Salon 2)8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. C-Vote Pre-sentation (Room 209)

9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Pundits Panel (Trillium Ballroom)10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. - noon Policy and constitutional workshops:

10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. “State of Canada’s Conservative Move-ment” featuring Preston Manning and André Turcotte (Trillium Ballroom)10:30 a.m.- noon C-Vote Presenta-tion (Room 209)11 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Growing Your Donor Base - EDA Fundraising (Room 202)Noon - 1:30 p.m. Bu!et lunch (Parliament Foyer, 3rd "oor and Trillium Ballroom)Noon - 5 p.m. Alternate Upgrade registration1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Constitution Workshop (Room 206/208 Gatin-eau Salon 2)1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. Ministerial

information sessions:Economic Development (Room 205/207 Gatineau Salon 1)Canada’s Social Fabric (Room 213/215 Ottawa Salon 1)Role of Government, Taxation, and Crime (Room 214 Ottawa Salon 1)1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. C-Vote Pre-sentation (Room 209)2 p.m. - 4 p.m. National Coun-cil candidate speeches (Trillium Ballroom)3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Workshop on Outreach to Cultural Commu-nities moderated by Jason Kenney (Room 205/207 Gatineau Salon 1)4 p.m. Break (no dinner provided for delegates)4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Keynote address reception and entertainment 6:30 p.m. Evening program (Cana-da Hall, 3rd "oor)7 p.m. Keynote Address: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Main Stage, Canada Hall)

Did you know?Did you know?

Learn more about how Canada’s Forest Products Industry creates jobs and prosperity at: www.fpac.ca/bio-pathways

This is not just a tree.It’s part of Canada’s innovative bio-economy.

(continued from pg. 1)Also in the Quebec capital yester-

day, Le Journal de Québec, a Quebecor newspaper, waded into the provincial debate over taxpayer funds being used to fund 90 per cent of a new $400-mil-lion arena to enable it to bring the NHL back to La Vieille Capitale. #e news-paper reported a Leger poll showing 83 per cent of Quebec City residents want a new arena and 54 per cent want pub-lic funds to pay for it.

Rumours that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is likely to be made head of the International Monetary Fund is “Grade-A bullshit” insist her top spokesman, Philippe Reines. #e story emerged yesterday a$ernoon a$er Reuters quoted three unnamed sources that a deal was close.

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich lost 11 key campaign sta! over what they termed philosophi-cal di!erences. #e consensus appears to be the workers didn’t believe Gin-grich was willing to work hard enough to win.

To start your day with #e Morning Brief in your email, go to www.ipolitics.ca and sign up for a free trial.


James Baxter, Editor and Publisher

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REPORTERSElizabeth !ompson, Kathleen Harris, Eric Beauchesne, Alex Binkley, Sonya Bell, Colin Horgan, BJ Siekierski, Meg Wilcox, Emily Senger, Devon Black

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Head O!ce:World Exchange Plaza45 O’Connor St, Suite 530 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1P 1A4Phone: 613-216-9638

MISSION: iPolitics is independent, non-partisan and committed to providing timely, relevant, insightful news coverage to those whose professional or personal interests require that they stay on top of political developments in Ottawa and the provinces.

KATHLEEN HARRIS

The new face of Parliament will pres-ent Canadians with a stark choice

for the best path ahead for the country, says Conservative stalwart Stockwell Day.

Speaking to a boisterous crowd of party faithful gathered in Ottawa for a three-day Conservative Party policy convention, the former federal cabinet minister said a Conservative majority government with a “socialist” NDP Of-"cial Opposition gives electors a wide diversity of perspective.

“It is on these principles that Canadi-ans for the next four years will be able to see clearly articulated debate on which set of policies is going to bring the most prosperity to the most Canadians,” he said. “!e Liberals were always able to camou#age that.”

Day, who was fêted for long-time pub-lic service, said the NDP has been bold in its positions: raising taxes, increasing

regulations, and hiking de"cits. By comparison, the Conservative push is for lower taxes and less government intervention.

“Our vision is get government suf-"ciently o$ the backs and out of the pockets of Canadians, and let Canadi-ans run with their own vision,” he said to thunderous applause.

Evoking an observation from Win-ston Churchill comparing the two sys-tems, he noted that while the downside of conservatism is that the wealth was distributed unequally, the downside of socialism is that the “misery is shared equally.”

Day accused Liberals of having a sense of entitlement and mainstream media of making personal attacks on politicians. He also criticized all those mocked young new NDP MPs for their “youthfulness,” and said any single mother working to support a family should be applauded, not mocked.

!ousands of Conservatives have travelled from coast to coast for the convention — the "rst since members gathered in Winnipeg in 2008.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister

Jason Kenney said much has changed since those years. Outlining the party’s transformation from its “bleak” days of division to a wide party that welcomes aboriginals and new Canadians, Ken-ney said the party’s success rests with tapping the values of all citizens that are inherently “conservative.”

“We don’t think only of our rights — we are mindful of our responsibilities,” he said. “We don’t mistake relativism for tolerance, and we’re not afraid to call certain barbaric cultural practices what they are. We seek unity in diversity and we know it can #ourish only when sup-ported by our common values. As Con-servatives, as Canadians, our heroes are not protesters or celebrity activists. Our heroes are the practical visionaries who united our country — the immigrants who le% everything behind to help build it, the brave soldiers in every gen-eration, including our own, who have laid down their lives to defend it.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper gives Friday’s keynote address Friday evening.

[email protected]

Bring on the debate, Day says Conservative statesmen

look back, press forward


But we also need be!er tools, including world-class intellectual property protection that can help us turn innovative ideas into the next generation of new life saving or life enhancing medicine. These new cu!ing edge medicines will also help by reducing surgery, hospital visits and other health costs.

We want Canada to be one of the leading places where more new medicines and vaccines are developed to treat and prevent cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other conditions.

Canada is currently negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union (EU) that would put us in the unique position of being the only country in the world to have favoured trading status with both the Europeans and the U.S.

An internationally competitive intellectual protection regime for Canada is part of the discussions. A deal with the EU will preserve and create jobs in life sciences and provide a $12 billion boost to the Canadian economy while increasing our bilateral trade by 20 %.*

By opening the doors to innovation, we improve the quality of life of all Canadians.

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Innovation is A!itude — Canada has the right ingredients for success: smart, highly motivated and highly trained people in every province as well as some of the best research and learning institutions in the world.


ELIZABETH THOMPSON

Special tax breaks for small busi-ness and home caregivers, less red

tape, and amending the Constitution to enshrine property rights are on the agenda this weekend at the Conserva-tive convention in Ottawa.

Also to be discussed are some po-tentially controversial issues including recognizing the right of religious insti-tutions to refuse to perform same sex marriages, refusing to legalize assisted suicide or euthanasia and one reso-lution from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s own riding on sexual exploi-tation and prostitution.

Party members will also debate whether law-abiding citizens should have a right to use force to defend themselves and resolutions widening the de!nition of who quali!es as a dangerous o"ender.

Until now, much of the attention has been on a proposal to shi# voting in future leaderships to one member one vote — a proposal that is more likely to bene!t the much more numerous Re-form Party side of the Conservatives over the Progressive Conservative side of the family.

However, delegates will also be de-bating dozens of resolutions put for-ward by riding associations across the country, resolutions that risk in$uenc-ing the Conservative government’s fu-ture direction.

Some are already in the process of being implemented by the govern-ment, such as a tax credit for volunteer

!re!ghters.In many ways, the 87-page book of

resolutions provides a glimpse into the current priorities and the preoc-cupations of grassroots Conservatives across the country.

In some cases, the resolutions al-ready have the support of several rid-ings. For example, 17 Ontario ridings are backing a resolution lauding small business as the backbone of the econo-my and calling on the federal govern-ment to encourage that success and help them face foreign competition.

“%e Conservative Party supports, therefore, the reduction of the income tax paid by such small businesses ei-ther by increasing the small business tax credit, by increasing the small business income limit or by some combination of similar methods. %e Conservative Party will consider the economic and practical feasibility of special provisions that result in in-creased, full-time and long-term em-ployment and in increased exports or increased imports.”

%e question of property rights and the principle that “no person shall be deprived of their just right without the due process of law and full, just and timely compensation,” is also on the agenda. %e resolution calls on the federal government to seek provincial agreement to enshrine the principle in the Constitution.

%e resolution going into the con-vention with the backing of the largest number of ridings, 20 Ontario ridings, is a proposal included in this year’s

budget. “%e Conservative Party recognizes

the value of the home caregiver and supports tax relief for families who provide homecare.”

%e resolution does not spell out who has to give or receive the homecare or the circumstances in which the tax break should apply.

Eliminating red tape, a popular theme for Conservatives, is there as is breaking down interprovincial barri-ers in areas such as the recognition of professional quali!cations and energy transmission.

While the Conservatives have tra-ditionally favoured relaxing foreign ownership rules to allow more com-petition, a couple of resolutions would allow the government to scrutinize large deals involving the natural re-source sector. %ere appear to be fewer concerns about foreign competition, however, in other areas of the econo-my such as telecommunications and the Internet.

Several resolutions deal with devel-oping the Arctic — from developing tourism and mining to ensuring a strong military presence and buying more icebreakers.

Several ridings are calling for a na-tional palliative care strategy. How-ever, the same ridings have also put forward a second resolution calling for the Conservative Party to not support any legislation to legalize euthanasia or assisted suicide.

A resolution from Conservative MP Mike Lake’s riding of Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont would amend the party’s position on family and mar-riage to de!ne marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.”

Instead of saying the party supports the freedom of religious organiza-tions to determine their own practic-es, the resolution would “support the

freedom of religious organizations to refuse to perform unions or allow the use of their facilities for events that are incompatible with their faith and beliefs.”

Harper’s riding of Calgary Southwest has proposed a resolution opposing “the normalization of prostitution” and calls on the Conservative Party to “develop a comprehensive strategy to address and prevent the legalization of keeping a common bawdy house, liv-ing o" the avails of prostitution and communication for the purpose of prostitution.”

Andrew Scheer’s riding of Regina Qu’Appelle wants to see more rights for victims of crime to turn on their aggressors.

“Our party believes that the justice system should have greater recogni-tion for the rights of law abiding citi-zens who use force to prevent criminal actions aimed at them,” says the rid-ing’s resolution.

%ere is far less sympathy, however, for immigrants, permanent residents ,or refugee claimants who abuse the system or are disloyal to Canada.

One resolution from Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s riding of Calgary Southeast, which seems to be inspired by the case of Omar Khadr, would invalidate the citizenship of anyone who takes up arms against Canada and subject them to a trial for high treason when they are returned to Canadian jurisdiction.

Others call for faster refugee claims hearings to curb the in$ux of “bogus and unquali!ed” refugee claimants.

One, from the Montreal riding of Hochelaga on foreign a"airs policy includes a proposal to keep those who enter Canada illegally in detention centres near the Canadian border.

[email protected]

Tax breaks, red tape, controversial social issues top Conservative resolutions

WORDLE.NET

87 pages of resolutions, one word cloud


Word on the Hill

Do you think the election results give Harper a clear mandate to

push Conservative priorities?


DEVON BLACK

Conferences are all about meeting people, getting stu! done, and

learning new things Conferences are also about free stu!.

Mark Gebriel, delegate from Cha-tham-Kent-Essex, o!ered iPolitics a sneak peek inside the swag bags at the Conservative Party Convention. If you’re not there, here’s what you are missing out on:

Item one: "e bag. It’s a plain black shoulder bag, emblazoned with the Conservative Convention logo. It also features a transparent pocket, presum-ably intended for a business card. We suggest #lling it with something more interesting — a stylized image of your favourite MP, perhaps?

The biggest content of the bag?

Paper. Policy f loor resolutions, a copy of the party constitution, a convention program, ads for things to do in Ottawa. We understand the Ottawa Convention Centre has a great recycling system, which is good news since most of this stuff won’t be packed for home.

Fans of “Inception” have something to look forward to, as the swag bag is really a bag within a bag. (What we’re trying to say is that one of the items in the swag bag is a tote.)

Last but not least, there’s an invita-tion from the Conservative Party’s Na-tional Council President, John Walsh, to hang out at his “Hospitality Suit.”

“"e only thing Liberal is the way we pour our drink,” the invite says. ” May-be keep an eye out tonight at the end of the prime minister’s “speec.”

What’s in the bag? CPC swag

What do you think of rogue page Brigitte DePape’s

protest during the Speech from the Throne?


@Tony X 2Seeing double?

At the Conservative Party Conven-tion yesterday, iPolitics.ca snapped this photo of Treasury Board Presi-dent and Proli!c Tweeter Tony Clement modelling a rather unique portrait.

With the magic of Photoshop, iP-olitics graphic designer Jessie Willms created the image for the !rst-ever iP-olitics print edition.

“I’ve read every one of Tony Clem-ent’s tweets from the last month-and-a-half,” she said. “A photo of Tony Clement holding a portrait of Tony Clement made up of Tony Clement’s Twitterfeed. It’s pretty meta.”

DEVON BLACK

Near the entrance to the Ottawa Convention Centre is a small

table that will see a steady stream of tra"c this weekend: #e merchandise table.

Beyond the standard convention fare — tote bags, bumper stickers, water bottles — are Conservative-branded items designed to meet many needs.

Take the Conservative combination lock USB drive ($23), for example. Given the recent LulzRa$ incursion on conservative.ca, it’s never been more important to protect digital information.

For the fashion-forward Conserva-tive, there is a wide array of T-shirts — including a pink ringer ($13). Watch out, ladies: You may think he’s

coming back for you, but he might only be coming back for your style.

Also on o%er, vintage pieces: Check out the “Dion’s Tax on Everything” T-shirts straight out of 2008. At $15, you can be sure you won’t be “tricked into paying more.”

And now that summer’s here, time to stock up on backyard party supplies. Pick up a pack of Conservative bal-loons (100 for $25), then get ready to Stand Up for Canada beside your bar-becue in a Conservative apron ($10).

Top seller at the table? #e Stephen Harper bobblehead.

“If we were charging people who touched the bobbleheads we’d be rich,” said the individual manning the table.

Who knows — maybe a new busi-ness model is in order.

Been there, got the T-shirt … BBQ apron … bobblehead



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During the !rst post-merger meet-ing of the party in 2005, an at-

tempt to change the party’s constitu-tion exposed the fragility of newly merged Conservative Party of Canada.

At its !rst post-merger convention in Montreal in 2005, Conservative Party unity was tested over the issue of the equality of ridings.

Scott Reid, one of Harper’s emis-saries in the 2003 merger discussions, took the lead on two proposed con-stitutional amendments. "e !rst was to amend the party’s byaws to allow a one-member, one-vote system for electing the leader. "e second would link the number of delegates a constit-uency could send to a convention with the number of party members.

"at was enough to bring Peter MacKay to his feet. With the ink barely dry on the 17-month-old party consti-tution, MacKay was #ummoxed that a fundamental provision of the agree-ment he had signed was up for discus-sion. An indignant MacKay told del-egates he would never have agreed to

merge had the equality-of-ridings pro-vision not been included: “"is is about ensuring that every region of the coun-try has an opportunity to build this party, to demonstrate to the country that we respect every region equally.”

Later, MacKay defended the inten-sity of his outburst, telling the press, “"is was a decision I felt impacted on our ability to present ourselves to the country as ready to govern. I was up-set. I am not denying that. And I was emotional about it because I was very involved in the bringing together of these parties and one of the things we insisted upon was the equality of rid-ings, and we made concessions to get there … I am not apologizing one little bit. I felt strongly about it.”

Reid’s amendment may have been di-visive, but not illegitimate. "e MacK-ay–Harper agreement stipulated that the party’s !rst convention would be used to review the constitution. More speci!cally, Section 6 of the merger agreement stipulated that, “"e system used to elect the !rst leader need not be used for later leadership elections and the membership of the Conservative

Party of Canada could select an alter-native method of electing future lead-ers.” To MacKay this opened the door to a delegated convention, rather than the adopted system where each riding was entitled to an equal number of points under a preferential ballot. To Scott Reid it meant the possibility of the one-member, one-vote system that he had proposed as a Harper emissary in the merger negotiations.

Scott Reid’s motions made it out of the workshop, but by the time they got to the plenary session they were dead in the water. When Scott Reid ad-dressed the 2,200 delegates, MacKay already had the convention on his side. Reid took the brunt of the rejection,

and some boos. Harper was not direct-ly involved in the fracas and made no statements about it to the media, but he believed the motions had merit. One senior party o$cial overheard him say, “I have no problem with the motion proposed by Scott.”

Whether Harper put Reid up to pro-posing constitutional amendments it is not known. In the end, Harper ceded to MacKay’s conviction and sent a sig-nal through his spokesman that the motion should be defeated. But Harp-er was clearly mi%ed party unity had been tested.

It was simply too early in the new party to be revisiting issues that had been negotiated and agreed upon a year earlier. Former Progressive Con-servative Party director Denis Jolette remarked that it was as if a motion had been placed on the #oor to change the name of the party to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. “Peo-ple would have thought us a bit crazy. Likewise, we didn’t think it was right to start changing a fundamental part of the deal we just negotiated. Why risk dividing the party?”

The Big Blue Tent

an attempt to change the party’s constitution exposed the

fragility of the merger. Even today, fractures remain

!e Conservative Party is divided over how the party makes decisions, including how it chooses a leader. Should each riding get the equal say, or should decisions be made on the basis of one-member one-vote? Both sides are gearing up for what might be a nasty "ght on the convention #oor.

Yesterday, iPolitics columnist Bob Plamondon provided a behind-the-scenes account of how the merger between the Alliance and PC Party in 2003 just about came apart over the issue of leadership selection. Today, in an excerpt from his bestselling book, Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics, he tells the story of a 2005 meeting that tested party unity.

How should the party

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since its start

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Le saviez-vous?

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Ceci n’est pas qu’un arbre.C’est un élément de la bioéconomie novatrice du Canada.

Le saviez-vous?

KATE CHAPPELL

A motion to create a youth wing of the Conservative Party of Canada is being dismissed as a destructive ini-tiative that would “force youth into a sandbox.”

In reaction to Resolution C-114, a group of Conservative Party members created a website, www.noyouthwing.ca, which is calling on delegates not to support the constitutional amend-ment. According to !iers distributed at the convention, C-114 is being opposed by such notable MPs as Pierre Poilievre, Rob Anders and Lynne Yelich, plus Ray Novak, principal secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Campus Conservative groups from Carleton and Queen’s Universities are also opposed to the resolution.

Delegates in attendance on opening day appear to share the opinion that it would split the party.

“I believe that it is one of the strengths of the party, unlike some of

the other parties where they develop the youth wing and they’re not consid-ered equals,” said Mark "ompson, a delegate from Ontario who is running for the party’s national council. “I see nothing wrong with having a youth committee, but it should be a commit-tee within the master structure, just like we have committees for seniors

and other types of demographics.”"e resolution, which was tabled by

party members from several B.C. rid-ings, calls for a youth wing with mem-bership of those under age 30. Accord-ing to the resolution, it would grant no special status or voting privileges to members. Rather, it would act more as an organizing and unifying force, and

would target university and college campuses to ensure continuity once the academic year is #nished.

Similar motions were also rejected at conventions in 2004 and 2008.

“"is is e$ectively a rehash of 2005, when the youth wing was voted out,” said Toronto delegate Daniel Strauss, who is 24.

“I most assuredly oppose the youth wing. "e party doesn’t need two tiers of members, one that makes the real decisions and another that is just in a sandbox. I don’t believe that for the next six years of the life of the party, I should be relegated to the side.”

Andrea Kettle-Burelle, a 29-year-old constituency president for the riding of Hull-Aylmer, agrees.

“"e youth should take action within the party, as members of the party,” she said. “It wouldn’t serve any purpose, and we already have campus clubs.”

If a youth wing were to start, it would divert the attention and resources of young people from participating in campaigns and would turn them against one another as they vied for power to run the youth wing, oppo-nents claim.

Delegates fear resolution

could split the party


Simplify the tax system

One might wonder why a national or-ganization serving thousands of pro-fessional accountants and business leaders would be a strong advocate for tax simpli!cation, as an overly com-plex tax system requires the expertise of professionals who can navigate all its twists and turns. "e answer is simple.

Tax simpli!cation is in the public’s best interest — it is good for taxpayers, businesses, and government, as well as Canada’s economy. Our members — CGAs in business, industry, and pri-vate practice — overwhelmingly tell us it is the No. 1 issue they want govern-ments to tackle. You might say it’s be-cause CGAs look beyond the numbers to see the implications and opportuni-ties they reveal.

CGA-Canada challenges the prime

minister and the new cabinet to look at how Canada’s tax regime could be simpli!ed and streamlined in order to help build a strong, competitive 21st century economy.

Anthony Ariganello, CPA (Delaware), FCGA

President & Chief Executive O!cer"e Certi#ed General Accountants

Association of Canada

The way to the future

Canada’s citizens and its businesses have great hope that your government can ful!l its commitment to deliver the economic bene!ts of a stable majority, including completing our economic recovery, creating jobs and laying the foundation for a brighter economic future. Above all, we need to avoid becoming complacent about Canada’s

relatively positive global economic position. "e opportunity to build greater prosperity is enormous, but we will place ourselves in economic peril if we do not address our lagging productivity.

Perrin BeattyPresident

"e Canadian Chamber of Commerce CETA matters

"e negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement be-tween the Canada and the EU will be one way to build a prosperous Canada.

CETA matters. It matters not only to business including the 50 companies that Rx&D represents. It also matters to every Canadian — all governments within Canada, every research centre, every hospital, university and patients. And particularly it matters to our youth.

Why? Because if the talks succeed, Canada would become one of the only countries in the world to have signed a comprehensive trade deal with both the United States and the 27-nation EU. "e EU is Canada’s second larg-est export market. NAFTA and CETA combined would provide our relatively

small economy of 33 million people with privileged access to a market of al-most 1 billion prosperous consumers.

Russell WilliamsPresident and CEO

Rx&D

Listen to your elders

"ere was unprecedented attention paid in this election to issues that reso-nate with older Canadians — and for good reason: they remain the most po-litically engaged and committed vot-ers. CARP members indicated in our polling that they wanted a Conserva-tive majority but wanted the promises o#ered by the Opposition. So a word to the wise: a decisive majority is not a blank cheque — even from the most loyal voters.

Every party made promises to ad-dress pension reform, caregiver sup-port, poverty among pensioners, and elder abuse. With such consensus, Par-liament should be able to move quickly on these pressing issues.

Susan EngVice-President for Advocacy

Canadian Association of Retired Persons

Open letters to the prime ministerDear Stephen Harper …

Invited to tell the prime minister what they’d most like to see from a Conservative majority government, business leaders and industry organizations were only too happy to write.

You’ll !nd all of the letters we received on our website. What follows is a sampling of the replies:


Tory blue? It’s only the startYour guide to the Can Con colour code

DEVON BLACK | PHOTOS BY KYLE HAMILTON

You’re in.You have a swag bag, a copy of an iPolitics print edition, and a Stephen

Harper bobblehead. Even better? You have landed a convention badge: Your ticket to all the policy workshops and hospitality suites you can handle.

Question is, what’s with the colours? Convention attendees are decked in red, green, even orange, badges. Has the opposition in!ltrated the proceedings?!

Fear not. iPolitics has cracked the colour code. Read on for your complete guide to the 2011 Conservative Party Convention badges.

BLUEFirst up, in friendly Conservative blue: !e delegates. !ese illustrious indi-viduals have been elected to represent their Electoral District Associations (EDAs), and are the only convention participants eligible to vote. !ere are as many as 10 delegates from each rid-ing. !e EDA president is usually one. If a 10-person contingent is selected, at least one of the delegates must be a youth member (under the age of 23).

GREYIn grey? !e alternates. If an EDA elects 10 delegates, they can also elect "ve alternates. In the event a delegate gets lost in Ottawa’s maze of one-way streets or falls into the Rideau Canal, it will be time for the alternate to shine.

Grey is also the colour for member-observers: Conservative party mem-bers who want to observe the pro-ceedings. (See? It was a tough code to crack!) Member-observers don’t get to vote during the proceedings, but they do get to sit in and watch.

ORANGEConvention volunteers earn or-ange badges, but even without that helpful hint they’re easy to spot. Most of them are sporting

stylish, light blue Conservative Party T-shirts, and they’re sta-

tioned strategically throughout the convention centre checking badges,

o#ering directions, and helping out convention sta#.

OLIVESpeaking of convention sta#, they’re wearing olive-green badges. If you’ll indulge a colour metaphor, these ol-ive-clad foot soldiers aim to keep the convention running with military precision.

GREENGreen badges are for ob-servers. Registering as an observer is one of the few ways mem-bers of the general public without a Conservative Party membership can get in. It’s not cheap: A pass costs $1,050 — and there is no early-bird discount!

REDLast up are the media, in red. Media don’t get access to workshops or pre-sentations, but we do get our very own "ling room — complete with a televi-sion tuned to Sun TV.

‘WE STILL HAVE MORE TO DO’Saturday, June 11, 2011www.iPolitics.ca


PM Harper focuses party on 2015, vows to woo Quebec from NDP

ELIZABETH THOMPSON

Prime Minister Stephen Harper moved Friday to shore up the Con-

servative Party’s support in Quebec, promising to work harder than ever to win seats in the province in the next election.

Speaking to more than 2,000 del-egates to his party’s convention last night, Harper said he would have liked to have won more seats in Quebec and pledged to practise open federalism and work to help families, workers, and seniors.

“We will roll up our sleeves and work harder to gain the con!dence of all Ca-nadians. And we will work harder than ever to gain the con!dence of Quebec-ers as well.”

While only !ve of Quebec’s 75 ridings elected Conservatives, those !ve MPs will be listened to, Harper promised.

Four of the !ve were named to cabi-net, Christian Paradis, Denis Lebel, Steven Blaney, and Maxime Bernier. "e !#h, Jacques Gourde, was named a parliamentary secretary.

Harper predicted Quebec’s a$ection for the NDP will end quickly.

“In the next election, once the hon-eymoon with the NDP has ended, Quebecers will turn to our party, the only one which lowers taxes and in-come taxes. "e only one that man-ages the economy prudently. "e only one that believes in a con!dent, au-tonomous and proud Quebec nation within a strong, united, independent, and proud Canada — the Conservative Party of Canada.”

While Harper won a majority gov-ernment in the May 2 election, the Conservatives lost more than half its Quebec caucus to the NDP tsunami that swept the province. Moreover, 23 candidates failed to garner more than

Behind this newspaper is a website: iPolitics.ca — informative, insightful, in!uential.

(continues on pg. 5)

MACKAY VS. REID, ROUND 2 LESSONS FROM CPC HISTORY THE PAGE VS. THE PM, ROUND 2 POLICY, PARTIES, PROTESTERS WORD ON THE HILL TWEETS FROM THE FLOOR THE MORNING BRIEF

Canucks 1Bruins 0

SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2011

Good Saturday morning to you, Stephen Harper struck a comfortable

balance between celebration and dedi-cation to the work ahead, including winning back support in Quebec.

“We will roll up our sleeves and work

harder to gain the con!dence of all Ca-nadians,” he said. “And we will work harder than ever to gain the con!dence of Quebecers as well.”

But Harper also cautioned party

members against expecting the Con-servatives to veer away from their ded-ication to slowly and steadily changing Canadian society.

“By saying what we will do and doing

what we say, one step at a time we are moving Canada in a Conservative di-rection and Canadians are moving with us.”

Following the plenary sessions,

Harper will address the party again this a"ernoon at the closing ceremo-nies, which begin at 4 p.m.

By then, the Conservatives are ex-

pected to have voted on resolutions aimed at pressing for family-friendly tax relief, a range of social conserva-tive motions, and a contentious motion to change how the next leader will be chosen.

Brigette DePape, the so-called rogue

Senate page with the “Stop Harper”

sign, took aim at the prime minister again headlining a protest at the Con-servative national convention. “We’re here today because we know the real security threat to people in this coun-try is Stephen Harper and the Conser-vative agenda,” she said.

#at’s not the biggest threat facing

us, according to Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of Defense. In one of his !nal speeches, Gates questioned the viabil-ity of NATO, saying its members’ pen-ny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of U.S. support.

On penny pinching, Finance Minis-

ter Jim Flaherty has decided to deep-six meetings with his provincial coun-terparts, which had been scheduled for

later this month. O$cials said bureau-crats had been overstretched by this week’s reintroduction of the March 22 budget so couldn’t get the meeting to-gether in time.

#e release of Sarah Palin’s emails

from her !rst two years as governor of Alaska was 24,199 bits of nothing much.

Question Period #e Musical! debuts

Sunday at the Ottawa FringeFest. #e “fun and funky musical comedy about Canadian politics and Parliament, will also be staged next weekend and on June 25.

Have a great weekend and safe travels.

The most important email of the day.

Wake up to the iPolitics Morning Brief.


SONYA BELL

Conservative delegates will vote Saturday morning on a constitu-

tional amendment that would signi!-cantly change the way the party elects Stephen Harper’s successor.

Ontario MP Scott Reid put forward the motion calling for a new weighted election process. "e current system gives all ridings equal say at leadership conventions, regardless of membership size. Reid’s balanced leadership motion is being promoted to delegates as a com-promise between the current system and a one-member, one-vote system.

“It’s a hybrid. We’re trying to get the best of both,” balanced leadership spokesman Philip Joannou said.

If Reid’s motion is adopted, the num-ber of votes a riding association gets at a leadership convention would vary depending on membership size. Ev-ery riding association would be guar-anteed 100 votes to put toward a new leader, even if it has fewer than 100 members. "e maximum number of votes is 400, for associations with 400 or more members.

"e balanced leadership resolution was voted down in a heated !rst-round debate Friday.

Peter MacKay, who is !rmly behind the current system, welcomed the outcome.

“It was soundly defeated so the mem-bership has pronounced itself again,” MacKay said. “Why change a formula that works?”

However, because the proposal has the 100 signatures required to push

for a full membership vote, it will go straight to the convention #oor Satur-day morning, despite its defeat today.

Joannou said the !rst-round outcome was disappointing, but his side is un-deterred. A lot of people are receptive to change, although there is a hardened group that’s opposed, he said.

"e group against the proposal tends to be delegates from Quebec and At-lantic Canada, who fear the shi$ will constitute a Western takeover of the party. For these smaller riding asso-ciations, an even more dangerous idea comes from Jason Kenney’s Alberta riding association, which is advocating a one-member, one-vote system. But it has less support than Reid’s weighted election proposal.

Reid’s work on the weighted election motion began before the convention,

with his team contacting riding asso-ciations across the country to ask for their support in Ottawa.

In a letter distributed to delegates Friday morning, high-pro!le minis-ters John Baird, Diane Finley, Jason Kenney, and Gordon O’Connor asked Conservatives to “join the growing number of delegates who support bal-anced leadership.”

"e proposal will encourage smaller associations to sign up more members, but make sure larger associations don’t drown out their voices, the letter says.

"e balanced leadership campaign has been very visible throughout the convention, with many delegates sporting blue-and-white balanced leadership buttons. Reid also hosted a hospitality suite at the Westin Ho-tel where pamphlets and buttons were

distributed to delegates.Reid’s team also got copies of the par-

ty’s founding agreement into the hands of delegates, where a highlighted pas-sage clearly states that the system used to elect the !rst leader does not need to be used for future leadership elections. An alternative method can be decided by the party membership.

"e issue stirs up old wounds be-tween the Reform/Alliance and Pro-gressive Conservative camps, but Que-bec MP Pierre Poilievre said the debate is worth having.

“If someone put it forward through the democratic process the party has in place, and the members are smart enough, we’re all adults, we can debate it,” Poilievre said Friday.

[email protected]

MacKay welcomes defeat

of leadership resolution,

though it’s still headed

Quebec MP Pierre Poilievre says the leadership debate is one worth having. ‘We’re all adults, we can debate it,’ he says.


But we also need be!er tools, including world-class intellectual property protection that can help us turn innovative ideas into the next generation of new life saving or life enhancing medicine. These new cu!ing edge medicines will also help by reducing surgery, hospital visits and other health costs.

We want Canada to be one of the leading places where more new medicines and vaccines are developed to treat and prevent cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other conditions.

Canada is currently negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union (EU) that would put us in the unique position of being the only country in the world to have favoured trading status with both the Europeans and the U.S.

An internationally competitive intellectual protection regime for Canada is part of the discussions. A deal with the EU will preserve and create jobs in life sciences and provide a $12 billion boost to the Canadian economy while increasing our bilateral trade by 20 %.*

By opening the doors to innovation, we improve the quality of life of all Canadians.

www.raredisorders.ca www.lifesciencesbc.cawww.lsam.ca

www.canada-europe.org

www.canadapharma.orgwww.ipcouncil.cawww.actiononinnovation.ca

www.alzheimer.ca

www.fccq.ca

www.ceocouncil.ca

www.occ.on.ca!www.montreal-invivo.com

www.chamber.ca

www.lifesciencesontario.ca

that Canada can be a world leader in generating jobs and investment in life sciences and the knowledge economy?

www.optimizinghealth.org www.agwest.sk.ca www.bcbc.com www.bioatlantech.nb.ca www.bioquebec.com

*h!p://www.international.gc.ca/media_commerce/comm/news-communiques/2009/386908.aspx?lang=eng

Innovation is A!itude — Canada has the right ingredients for success: smart, highly motivated and highly trained people in every province as well as some of the best research and learning institutions in the world.


10 per cent of the vote, meaning they won’t be able to have a portion of their expenses reimbursed by Elections Canada — something that could cost ridings thousands of dollars.

Quebec was the only part of the coun-try where any Conservative candidate failed to reach the 10 per cent threshold.

In the corridors to the Conservative convention Friday, delegates from Que-bec were still grumbling that the party hadn’t really made Quebec a priority in the election campaign and hadn’t done enough to support its candidates.

Some lay the blame on the party’s decision shortly a!er the 2006 election to ally itself with the provincial Action Démocratique Party, a decision that strained the Conservative Party’s rela-tions with Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest’s government which has a far larger political organization than does ADQ.

One of the chief architects of that strategy, Harper’s director of com-munications Dimitri Soudas, has an-nounced he will be leaving the PMO in early September.

Taking the stage to a standing room only audience, Harper said Canada is becoming more Conservative.

“By saying what we will do and doing

what we say, one step at a time we are moving Canada in a Conservative di-rection and Canadians are moving with us.”

Harper pledged to re-equip the mili-tary and defend Canada’s national sov-ereignty but said that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to establish-ing Canada’s place in the world.

“We also have a purpose and that pur-pose is no longer just to go along and get along with everyone else’s agenda. It is no longer to please every dictator with a vote at the United Nations,” he

said to a standing ovation.“And I confess that I don’t know

why past attempts to do so were ever thought to be in Canada’s national interest. Now we know where our in-terests lie and who our friends are. We take strong, principled positions in our dealings with other nations – whether popular or not and that is what the world can count on from Canada.”

Harper also suggested that Canada’s position now counts for more.

“"ese views matter, not just because

we now have the tools to act but also the capacity. Because we are no longer in the middle of the pack but among the world’s top performing economies.”

Harper said his government will move to adopt Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s budget as well as ending the Wheat Board’s monopoly, introducing Senate reform legislation, changing the representation in the House of Com-mons and eliminating the per vote subsidy for political parties.

Within the #rst 100 days of the elec-tion, the Conservatives will introduce and pass an omnibus crime bill, he promised. However, the measure that got one of the biggest reactions from party faithful was the pledge to scrap the #rearms registry in the fall.

"e Conservatives aren’t a party of entitlement, said Harper, adding the party has the next four years to prove to Canadians that they can trust the Conservatives.

“If we stay faithful to our commit-ments and if we stay focused on serving Canadians, in four years time people will say, ‘Conservatives can be trusted; Conservatives know what they are do-ing; Conservatives are the people — the only people –— who deserve our vote.”

[email protected]

Le saviez-vous?

Pour savoir comment l’industrie canadienne des produits forestiers crée des emplois et de la prospérité, visitez le www.fpac.ca

Ceci n’est pas qu’un arbre.C’est la source de la principale exportation canadienne en Asie.

(continued from pg. 1)



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BJ SIEKIERSKI

A week a!er interrupting the throne speech and gaining in-

ternational media attention, Brigette DePape took aim at the prime minis-ter again — this time with throngs of protesters in a march to the Conserva-tive national convention.

Many groups, including the striking Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement, cheered her on.“My name is Brigette. Some of you may know me as the rogue page,” she said, standing atop a bench in Ottawa’s Dundonald Park.

“Others know me by the title given to me by the Honourable Jason Kenney:

Le!y kook,” DePape said. “Still oth-ers know me as a potential security threat. We’re here today because we know the real security threat to peo-ple in this country is Stephen Harper and the Conservative agenda.”

Many protesters held imitations of her “Stop Harper” sign, and Jo Wood, a member of the Raging Grannies, said she was carrying hers to say “thank you” to DePape.

Dan Sawyer from the group Under Pressure lead the rally.

A!er telling the protesters the rally would stop near Citizenship and Im-migration, outside Heritage Canada, the Israeli embassy, and the Ottawa Recruitment Centre for the Canadi-an military, he gave Canada’s newest cause célèbre a rousing introduction.

“One last speaker before we leave the park — and I think you folks might have heard of her — there was thing last week…in the Senate,” Sawyer

joked.“When we started organizing this

march, the message that Brigette De-Pape — rogue page — put forward through that action and through her media statement is exactly why we wanted to bring people together in the streets today,” Sawyer said. “We do believe that we do need a Canadian Arab spring.”

DePape followed up on that notion in her speech.

“Since my action, I was honoured to receive a message from young activists in Egypt,” she said. “It was passed on by a group of Canadian activists who had travelled there. "ey were cheer-ing in Cairo when they saw photos of my action with the message to Stop Harper. And they con#rmed our call

to bring the spirit of the Arab spring here.”

She also declared her support for postal workers whose strike she said “is an important part of the broader #ght against the Harper agenda.”

Canadian Union of Postal Workers vice-president Lynn Bue spoke before DePape’s address.

“Our struggle is one about the future of working people and public services in Canada,” she said.

DePape, though, was clearly the cen-tre of attention. And as the rally was getting antsy to move, she gave the crowd the rallying call they expected:

“When I say, ‘Stop!’ you say, ‘Harper.’”

[email protected]

C

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DArcy - Orleans 10_5x4_5 Ad 06-2011 copy.pdf 1 6/7/2011 3:20:05 PM

VIDEO PORTRAITS: Why are you here? It’s a question 9 activists answer online at iPolitics.ca

The Page vs. the PM: Round 2

Rogue page leads protesters

in march to CPC convention


BJ SIEKIERSKI

If you’re a blue collar tradesperson, an a!uent Green party supporter, or

just plain “ordinary,” the Conservative Party of Canada should be targeting your vote.

"at was the message senior Man-ning Centre analysts Nicholas Gafuik, André Turcotte, and former Reform party leader Preston Manning himself delivered to the Conservative conven-tion Friday.

"e lesson was pulled from the results of a poll the centre conducted right af-ter the election. (For more on this, see Sonya Bell’s story in the June 8 edition.)

"at poll helped answer an important

question for Conservatives, Gafuik explained.

Pointing to a map outlining support for conservative Toronto mayor Rob Ford in the 2010 municipal election, Gafuik asked why those Torontonians who supported Rob Ford did not sup-port the Conservatives en masse in the federal election.

“"is gives us an opportunity to get a sense of: Where do people live? Who are they in terms of who are the next groups of people we should be reaching out to and talking to?” he asked.

"ose in attendance weren’t le#

wondering:“"e kinds of people we think we

should be reaching out to: blue collar and tradespeople, Conservative-orient-ed Greens — that’s an interesting one, the people who vote for the Green party in suburban a!uent areas have a very similar pro$le to Conservative sup-porters — and then the other one is the ordinary bread-and-butter Canadians.”

But just who are these “ordinary bread-and-butter Canadians?”

“"e people who just want to get the work done: get the roads $xed, get the constituency repairs taken care of.”

When it came to audience questions, John Koury the Conservative candi-date for Nanaimo-Cowichan wanted Manning’s opinion on proportional representation.

Koury, who won 38 per cent of the riding on May 2, lost to the NDP’s Jean Crowder.

He said he would roll his eyes when the issue was raised during the cam-paign, but in re%ecting on his loss, he appeared to have doubts.

“"e NDP was going around talking about proportional representation ver-sus $rst past the post. And it seemed to be an emphasis on this particular can-didate’s plank. So, I was wondering, is there any correlation with the research that you’re doing with the democratic process in terms of $rst passed the post versus proportional representation?”

Manning told Koury the NDP’s stance on proportional representation is hypocritical.

“On the PR thing, John, if I was at a debate with an NDP on that, and par-ticularly a federal NDP who was argu-ing for proportional representation, I’d say if that’s such a good idea, how come no provincial NDP government which has been in a position to change the electoral laws of that province has implemented it?”

Under suburban Green? Tory blueManning Centre analysts

explain why Conservatives

must reach out to bread-

and-butter Canadians

On Friday morning Preston Manning briefed Conservatives on the votes out there to win.


Word on the Hill

How long do you think the pledges for civility in the House of

Commons will last?


government’s composition before and after the election?

A day 4

A month 19

A week 9

Permanently 2

A year 12

Everyone knows the only reason to sit through a day of dreary

policy is to enjoy the delight that is the hospitality suite. Who

had the best at the Conservative Convention? Go to iPolitics.ca

and check out the reviews from Meg Wilcox.

While you’re there, check out her report on the much-hyped

Fabulous Blue Tent.

Amusing #cpc11 delegates are getting their Parl Hill pix in front of a blue screen It’s a 7 min. walk!

@jenditchburn

I wonder if there are any bacon hospitality suites at #CPC11 this morning?

@ArmourJim

Excited to see how strong our new kungfu (c-vote) will be #cpc11

@RyanHastman

Rode the shuttle from the parking lot to with two kids screaming “Disneyland! Disneyland! Disneyland!”. #cpc11 is my Disneyland!

@StevenDollansky

Lisa Raitt (minister of labour) says, “a woman in Labour always delivers!” #CPC11@jordanpaquet

Mercilessly attacked by small angry bird en route to #cpc11 Tory convention. I blame John Baird.

@CBCTerry

THAT IS DEFINITELY TRUE HOSPITALITY SUITES GUARENTEE (LIQUID) SATISFACTION. RT @acoyne: @nspector4 There

delegates.@INFOALERTBOT

Health Minister Aglukkaq not big on #CPC11 motion by @PMJAMacdonald & I to classify scoth & champagne as nonprescription pharmaseuticals.

@tuppercharles

When delegates tweet: #cpc11: #beentheredonethat

Q. What could be better than attend-ing the CPC convention? A. Following CPC convention tweets. Don’t believe us? Go to iPolitics.ca and check out the report from Ellen Burch.


KATHLEEN HARRIS

Conservatives want to use their majority clout to implement fam-

ily-friendly tax policy and ease reli-ance on government programs, say some delegates at the convention in Ottawa.

Nicole Charbonneau Barron, a del-egate and former candidate from sub-urban Montreal, said much discussion revolves around measures that lend !-nancial support to struggling families and Canadians in need, while encour-aging people to take more personal responsibility.

“Everything in the Conservative Par-ty is coming to help the family — this is the goal,” she told iPolitics. “You have to put some of the responsibility to the people. We have to ask more of some people so we can help those who can not help themselves. "is is the spirit.”

Charbonneau Barron said there is also a determination to tackle the debt and rein in government spending, in contrast to the other political parties that are “more socialist.”

Fellow delegate Ellen de Grandpre said while there is a strong will to re-duce taxes and get the federal !nances in order, there is also broad under-standing that cutbacks can’t come so fast that they will ravage valued public services.

“You can’t just make drastic tax re-ductions in one area,” she said. “You still need money for programs. It’s nice to say you want taxes cut and you want them cut now, but you have to be sen-sible about the repercussions in areas the government is also responsible for.”

Calgary West delegate Wilmer Doerkson sees much room for across-the-board tax cuts — even during un-certain economic times.

“If you lower taxes for business, they’ll create more jobs. If you lower taxes for individuals, they’ll go out and buy more things,” he said.

Doerkson said any civilization that lowers taxes is progressive, insisting raising taxes only “kills the golden goose.” He takes Harper on his word that the government will slay the de!-cit by 2014 and expects he will also make good on a pledge to cut govern-ment spending.

“We’ll get it under control. We’re a majority government now,” he said.

"e March federal budget projected balanced books by 2015-2016, but this month’s retabled version accelerates the de!cit reduction date by one year to 2014-2015.

Dave Quist, executive director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Can-ada, said there are hopes and expecta-tions that come with the Conservatives

moving from minority to majority power. He welcomes midrange plans for family-income splitting, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper an-nounced would be implemented once the de!cit is wiped out.

“Obviously we’d rather see it sooner rather than later, but we’ll take at least an acknowledgement and the hat tip that they’re going to move on it at least as a positive sign,” he said. “And we’ll be there to continue to remind them and make sure they don’t forget about it.”

Quist also praised the sprinkling of tax credits that bene!t Canadian families, but hopes for even more measures that strengthen traditional families, such as education around the societal advantages of marriage versus cohabitation.

[email protected]

Delegates urge Harper to expedite tax relief for families

"e pressure is on Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as he heads into the CPC convention.


BOB PLAMONDON

“Let there be no splits.”!ese were the sage words of Sir

John A. Macdonald when he sought to build a grand political alliance that ended up winning six of Canada’s "rst seven elections. But, this morning, Conservative factions are expected to engage in open warfare in a plenary session over the issue of the equality of ridings in selecting the party leader.

For his part, Macdonald was never one to burn bridges. He would not back someone into a corner who he might later want to call upon for sup-port. Treating people respectfully, es-pecially minorities, was how he built the alliances necessary to win and hold power.

Since the days of Macdonald the Conservative Party have o#en failed to heed Macdonald’s dictums. Divi-sion and disunity have been a Tory disease, which made them an op-position party for much of the 20th century.

Preston Manning re$ected on the Tory penchant for self-destruction in his memoirs: “I wondered whether the Conservatives had been born un-der an unlucky star, with a congeni-tal inability to govern themselves, let alone the country.” When a lowly op-position, or a majority government, the Tories have o#en been their own worst enemy.

We might think that having recently won a decisive majority government, their "rst since 1988, that Conserva-tives would take time to celebrate their accomplishment before return-ing to their divisive ways. But the rancour over the equality of ridings threatens to fatally disrupt party uni-ty and undermine their prospects of sustaining and advancing their politi-cal fortunes.

Conservative MP Scott Reid, as well as cabinet ministers Jason Kenney and John Baird, are taking this moment of party triumph to launch a civil war. While Tories at their national conven-tion may believe they are debating the equality of ridings in party decision-making, the real issue is unity and re-spect among the component parts of the Conservative coalition.

!is convention $oor is dominated by delegates who come from rid-ing associations where the Tories are strong — where membership lists are robust and there is money in the bank. !e ridings at the opposite end of the spectrum, mostly from Quebec and Atlantic Canada, are not as well represented. It is these weak ridings who would be most diminished by the movement to end riding equality.

Along the way, the messy public de-bate has created resentments and bad blood on all sides. !e consequences could be more severe and long last-ing if the motions that reward the stronger riding associations with more clout were ever passed. In this circumstance, we can expect that del-egates from Quebec and many small ridings will leave the convention feel-ing like second class citizens. Some may disengage, leaving the Tory party in worse shape in the very ridings where they have the most work to do.

Had Harper not agreed to the equal-ity of ridings in 2003, there would have been no merger. Changing course to-day, at least as far as the old Progres-sive Conservative clan is concerned, would be a broken trust. Relation-ships will be shattered. Other divi-sions, such as on social policy, will be accentuated. !e unity of cabinet, at least among ministers who have taken a strong stand on the equality issue, will be weakened and rivalries estab-lished. All this over an issue that will not have any practical signi"cance until Harper resigns as party leader.

!is is the third consecutive Con-servative meeting where forces have clashed on the convention $oor over riding equality. But it may be the "rst time that lavish hospitality suites have been organized over an issue with the party’s constitution. !ose advocating change hosted an extravagant party

at the Westin Hotel Friday evening, replete with an open bar and gour-met treats that one experienced ho-telier estimated could have cost over $30,000. !is is a far cry from Reform Party meetings that were typically held in church basements where a hat was passed to cover costs. Whoever picked up the tab for the spread on Friday night has not been disclosed, but it’s worth asking where this "ts under the laws governing political activity.

Macdonald used to say that when you treat people like they are part of a faction, as opposed to embracing them within the mainstream, they become factious. Stephen Harper recognized this fact in pre-merger days when he wrote, “If co-operation is ever to work, the fragments of Canadian con-servatism must recognize that each represents an authentic aspect of a larger conservative philosophy.”

!e approach to resolving this dif-ference of opinion, over three conven-tions, has been anything but respect-ful and cooperative. !e protagonists prefer a messy "ght on the convention

$oor to a resolution by more posi-tive and respectful means. !e real-ity is the Tories have more important problems to address, such as making themselves attractive to Quebecers. It seems peculiar that the decisive is-sue of the 2011 convention is a pro-posal that could alienate the few Que-bec Tories who are trying to make a di%erence.

!e Conservative legacy for the past century is incessant internal debates, personality con$icts, and regional-ism. !e most important lesson Con-servatives can learn from their his-tory is that disunity and division are a guarantee of failure. While conven-tion delegates may debate the relative theoretical merits of one-member-one vote, the real issue being played out is party unity. Following electoral tri-umph they look old school by creating divisions that may never heal.

Bob Plamondon is the author of three national bestsellers, including, most recently, Blue !under: !e Truth about Conservatives from Macdonald to Harper.

The most important lesson from Conservative history?

Disunity and division are a

guarantee of failure ... which

is to say it’s time to move on

“…rancour over the

equality of ridings

threatens to fatally

disrupt party unity

and undermine their

prospects of sustaining

and advancing their

political fortunes.”


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James Baxter, Editor and Publisher

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TodayToday7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Registration7:30 a.m. - 10 a.m.: National Council Election (Rooms 205, 206, 207 & 208 Gatineau Salon)8 - 9 a.m.: Breakfast (Parliament Foyer)8:15 a.m.: Doors open to Canada Hall9 a.m. Program begins9:05 a.m. - 9:35 a.m. Conservative Fund report, Hon. Irving R. Ger-stein, (Canada Hall, 3rd !oor) 9:35 a.m. - 10 a.m. Maple Leaf Awards, Laureen Harper, (Canada Hall, 3rd !oor)10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Break10:30 a.m. - Noon Constitution Ple-nary Session (Canada Hall, 3rd !oor)Noon - 1:30 p.m. Lunch1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.: Policy Plenary Session4 p.m.: National Council election results (Canada Hall, 3rd !oor)4:05 p.m: Closing ceremonies4:30 p.m. Formal portion of conven-tion concludes

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