CKNW Editorial
for July 27, 2000

I’m always a bit amused to read about my presumed political persuasions. Senator Len Marchand has a book out that has me a power broker in the Conservative Party in Kamloops to the extent that nothing was done without my consent. In fact, I was a Liberal until the Quebec crisis of 1970, a year after I moved to Kamloops, and I supported the Tories in 1972 and 1974 with the magnificent contributions of $100 each time and no other effort whatever. The only time the Tories were actually in power was in 1979 when I was a provincial cabinet minister without any federal involvement. I must say in passing that I’m grateful that Len acknowledged the work I did to take part of the Kamloops Indian Band out of the City of Kamloops and that I was a good friend of natives – as their votes demonstrated.

I am an issue person, not a party man and if I had my way I would lessen the influence of parties, as has happened under the American system and thereby force the MPs to deal with issues on their merits. That way Ted McWhinney, who opposed bill C49 on principle, could have voted against it as well instead of knuckling under to the wishes of the Prime Minister. Having said that, under our system parties are of critical importance which is why I join those who, like Brian Pallister, wish to see the so-called right united. You may have noticed Mr Pallister’s ¾ page ad in yesterday’s papers. You will remember Mr Pallister as one of the leadership candidates for the Tories and a former Tory cabinet minister in Manitoba.

In saying this I couldn’t care less about either of the two right-wing parties per se. My support of the Tories 20 years ago was lukewarm at best and more reflected my dislike of the party closest to my philosophy, the Liberals. I want a strong united right for the same reason I think the country is better served when there is a strong left as well.

Mr Pallister correctly observes that both the Alliance and the Tories stall at the Manitoba border. And it stalls there not because of economic ideology but because of eastern and western estrangement from the corridors of power. I was amused to see one of those man on the street bits on the telly where the Nova Scotian from Kings-Hants, where Joe Clark seeks a seat, rejected Mr Clark because he is a westerner whereas even in his home province of Alberta he’s seen as a Central Canadian. Which, of course, he now is.

The obstacle to a union of Reform and the Tories to mirror the amalgamation 60 years ago of the Conservatives and the Progressives remains personal and regional.

It’s personal because Joe Clark is a damned fool who has been a consistent loser because of it. One could, I suppose, say that Stockwell Day is a damned fool for not joining the Tories but that doesn’t pass scrutiny. The Alliance is a stronger party by far than the Tories and I include Ontario and Quebec in that statement. And Mr Day has offered to make Conservatives welcome. If Mr Clark had truly wished to see the right elected he could have joined Progressive Conservatives Stockwell Day and Tom Long in seeking the leadership of the Canadian Alliance.

What the lack of unity on the right means is not only will the Liberals continue to divide and conquer they will do so on a strictly regional basis which divides Western Canada on one side, Quebec in the middle and Atlantic Canada on the east … from Ontario.

This isn’t healthy.

If we are to have unity in this country we must have truly national parties. It might surprise you to learn that I’m not really much of a decentralizer. I often appear to be because federalism, as practiced in this country, is such an abject failure. When Ottawa, for which substitute Ontario, grabs all the power, and constantly looks for more, most British Columbians seek relief by demanding more powers for provinces. And, the longer the Canadian system promotes regional voting, the more demand there will be for more local autonomy.

If Joe Clark weren’t such a forlorn fumbler with both feet firmly planted in the seventies we might see a two party system in Canada where both the Liberals (which to all intents and purposes has taken over the NDP) and the small "c" conservatives have strong representation from all regions of the country.

What Joe Clark, the self-proclaimed Captain Canada, is really doing is ensuring that sooner or later this country will split down the political lines forced upon it by the conservative part of the equation being unable to play its proper role in national affairs.