SNOBELEN: Conservative race must focus on uniting Canadians

Lucas2022-07-01

Pierre Poilievre, left, Jean Charest, center, and Patrick Brown are among several candidates for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party. Canadian Press / Postmedia Network / Files

Will Rogers once joked that he was not a member of any organized political party – he was a Democrat.

I think I know how old Will was. Heck I have worse things – I’m a conservative.

Depending on who you ask, a conservative is either a white guy who hates vaccines, buys crypto, drives a truck, or a pale red liberal. It’s a dilemma for me because although I’m a party member, I don’t own bitcoin, I don’t care about occasional shots, and I like truckers but I’m not a fan of lockdowns in particular and events in general.

I’m mostly not any kind of pale red. In fact, as my wrinkles deepened, my distrust of debt fueled government spending and well-meaning social programs.

You can see I’m in a bit of a pickle here. I joined the Conservative party knowing that the party wasn’t perfect and that the leader might not always be someone, as the cowboys say, that I would like to share a six-pack with and a journey of 500 miles.

The Conservative Party was suitable because, across the political spectrum, Conservatives were inclined toward individual responsibility in balancing individual and collective rights and responsibilities. Traditionally, the Liberal Party leaned a bit more towards collective responsibility and the NDP – well, the NDP was the party of free bubble and rainbow stew.

Those of us who join a political party are probably just a delusional freckle. Most of us believe that we can help make the party and the country a little better. It turns out that improving a political party isn’t a particularly quick or easy thing to do.

My Liberal friends certainly find the road a bit bumpy these days. Ten years ago, they despised Stephen Harper because he ran, at least in their eyes, a secret government that had far too much central control.

So damn it they chose Justin Trudeau as their leader and since attending a masterclass on secrecy, disregard for law and process, integrity issues, ousting powerful women from the caucuses, wrangling with the Integrity Commissioner and embarrassment on the world stage. As I said, being a party member is not easy.

If the Liberals are stuck with a weak leader, we Conservatives seem stuck in an endless leadership race. You’d think we’d be good at this now. But not so much.

While much of the country focuses on the ever-escalating cost of everything, long lines for basic government services, and chaos at federally-regulated airports, we seem to be obsessed with other issues.

The long pandemic has made many Canadians doubt our public institutions. The federal government’s response often seemed ill-informed and haphazard. He has now become obstinate.

Amid the pandemic, Trudeau called an election and vilified the unvaccinated. It was despicable politics.

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But it was easy. So did the equally despicable attempts to politicize the Freedom Convoy that illegally blocked the streets of Ottawa. If Conservative leadership rests on the rights of protesters rather than the rights of Ottawa citizens, we have lost track.

Vaccination mandates have gone too far for too long. But that was last year. We have work to do to restore peace, order and good government and address the serious challenges we face.

I suspect Will Rogers would tell the Conservative Party to abandon the freedom debate and get on with the inglorious task of uniting Canadians and leading the country.