The Written Word
for September 19, 1999

I supported the Reform Party editorially in 1993 and 1997 which, as I gauge my influence, had little or no impact. I now do not support them and my mail indicates that this discomfits many members of that party.

I have spoken elsewhere (Province September 17, 1999) of some of the reasons I can no longer support this party but I would like to be more specific.

Supporting political parties is largely a matter of feel. Very few people could quote a single line of the constitution of the party they support. Often, one supports a party because one always has … and because their parents supported that party. As I look amongst the old line Liberals I have known all my life and I see many whose fathers and grandfathers supported them. It’s a legacy which if not eagerly picked up, is accepted nevertheless.

I supported the Liberals early on because I cut my political teeth during wartime and it was considered almost unpatriotic not to support Mackenzie King who was, after all, occasionally seen in the company of Franklin Roosevelt (who called him Mackenzie instead of Billy, which everyone else called him) and Winston Churchill. Whatever I matured into, I was far too left for the Tories and not left enough for the NDP so I gravitated into the Liberal Party though, with limited enthusiasm.

I campaigned in the elections of 1962 and 3 for a Liberal lawyer, cum judge named Bill Trainor – now, lamentably, no longer with us. I campaigned, at best half heartedly, for Mac Bryson who was the Kamloops Liberals’ hope in the 1969 Provincial election to beat Phil Gaglardi. He didn’t.

In 1970, during the Quebec crisis when Pierre Trudeau subjected the entire country to martial law, I left that party for good and mildly supported the Tories. Through it all I maintained my limp-wristed concern for the less advantaged of our society.

When Reform came along by dislike for the Federal Tories and Liberals made it easy for me to give them my support. This was, you’ll recall, the time of Meech Lake and Charlottetown and I fought both those deals with every ounce of energy I had. Reform offered "equality" of provinces instead of favouritism and saw Charlottetown for what it was – a Central Canada initiative to preserve their hegemony forever. It was not hard for me to hear Reform’s siren call.

From the beginning I was concerned by the "lunacy" fringe of the Reform Party. I was heartened by Preston Manning "de-nominating" Doug Collins yet there always seemed to be this sharp edge about the party. I read Ted Byfield’s B.C. Report, especially Ted’s own writing (he was the father oif Reform) and felt very uncomfortable. There was this Fundamentalist edge to the party and I felt that not only was the system of governance about to be reformed but so was I.

The attitude of the party towards homosexuals, justice issues and welfare troubled me deeply. There was, as witness the "flag affair", a clear bias against French Canadians. I began to have bad feelings in my tummy about Preston Manning, especially after he launched the United Alternative. Naively, I had seen Reform as a BC and Alberta Party and that to make deals with the Tories was to trade with the enemy. Naïve as hell, but that’s how I felt.

My queasiness became nausea when I saw the Reform Party jump all over the Chinese migrants issue calling them criminals and using every ounce of their strength to play the racist card.

The effect has been cumulative. The Liberals in Ottawa have moved very close to the constitutional position I hold. While they have a hateful record in B.C. their social philosophy is close to my own. All that combined with the things which give me heart burn about the Reform Party have not made me a Liberal supporter again, after all these years, but has meant that I can’t be a Reform Party supporter either.

Where is Screaming Lord Sutch as his Raving Monster Loonie Party when you need them most?