I have a proposal for conservatives in Canada, that I offer legitimately in the spirit of getting the best for the country: Become the party of democracy. Ditch the crazies (and their reactionary grievance politics), and embrace electoral reform.
I know most people say electoral reform is the kiss of death for them, but I'm not sure I agree:
- If they kick out the crazies, they will be a smaller party and their chances at holding SOME power will increase if we have some manner of PR or ranked ballot in place.
- The Liberals have taken the patriotism brand from them (Poilievre was an idiot for giving that one up to them), but they can take the democracy brand from them easily if they shift their approach - especially since the Liberals have fumbled electoral reform so badly ("We will do what the Liberals couldn't do...because we're the party of democracy!"). It also gives them a patriotic 'foot in the door', since they can tie democracy to Canadian identity and fundamental Canadian values. Finally, it will distinguish them from the Republicans and the US in general, which is what they need to do right now.
- When people make the claim that the Conservatives would suffer under electoral reform, the calculus assumes that voting habits don't change...but this is a foolish assumption, particularly in this case, since this maneuver would fundamentally shift the landscape
- Conservatives would be rebranding entirely and would be perceived as a brand new party - truly the party of change.
- Canadian Conservatives would set an example for right wing governments around the world
- They would become a party truly back in the political centre, and would easily steal Liberals back to them.
None of this means they need to abandon their economic ideology, although they may find they need to tweak it.
HOWEVER - this would require:
- Get rid of Poilievre and the others like him (Javani, etc.). They are toxic to good faith politics. They consider their opponents enemies, part of the out-group, and they will never be trusted enough to pull this off honestly. Also, this requires vision and an ability to unify people behind that vision - in other words, it requires leadership - and Poilievre is not a leader. He does not do vision or unity.
- The Conservatives would need to accept and embrace the idea of coalition governments and minority governments, since they are fundamentally the most democratic type of government and would therefore be just as legitimate as majority governments.
- They would need to actually care about democracy, and human rights, since they are fundamentally linked. This means a shift in policy towards indigenous and minority groups (thus why they need to ditch the crazies).
This isn't to say they wouldn't get a majority government ever (or indeed that no party ever would). In fact, I believe that the proper Conservative leader could do this in a way that would probably give them a good shot at a landslide victory in the next election. Carney has a very tough road ahead of him, but for sure the one thing that will help him get re-elected is the Conservatives digging in their heels and doing the same thing, but harder. They need to fundamentally change, and a change like this would give them the best fighting chance at looking like a trusted party to take Canada to a better place.