- Is There A Tory In The House!

Submitted: 8/26/2010 12:44:37 PM The Globe and Mail
Is there an old-style Tory in the House?, Lawrence Martin, Globe and Mail, Aug. 26, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/is-there-an-old-style-tory-in-the-house/article1685364/

One of the big problems is of perception.

People continually confuse the current Conservative Party of Canada with the Progressive Conservative Party, even to the point of calling them 'Tory'. This has been especially propagated in the media.

The fact of the matter is that The Conservative Party of Canada is not the Progressive Conservative Party.

The Con's and not the Tories. It is not a question of 'old-style' v. 'new-style'. They are very different beasts. Although the Con's I am sure are quite pleased and make very little effort to dispel the confusion.

Substantively, one of the big differences is that Stephen Harper and the Con's, are dedicated to tearing this great nation we are proud to call Canada apart. Harper has dedicated a greater % of his public career to this end than Ignatieff has spent outside Canada.

Harper's support consists of a core die-hard, right-wing extremists with epi-centred in Alberta. They are the ones keeping him in power and they are the ones that Harper caters to. As long as the Harper policies do not consolidate the opposition then Harper can take the position 'Canadians be d[redacted]'.

The Tories, on the other hand, have a long and proud history of contributing to build this great nation of ours. They may be right of centre but underlying there policies has always been the good of the country as a whole.

The Conservative Party of Canada does not have a long and proud history and what history they do have, as pointed out in the article, is not anything I would expect someone would be proud - vis.:

Peter MacKay won the leadership of the PC Party as a result of a back-room deal with David Orchard. According to Wikipedia "it was eventually revealed that the infamous 'Orchard deal' promised . . . no merger or joint candidates with the Canadian Alliance, and a promise to redouble efforts to rebuild the national status of the Progressive Conservative Party' (31 May '03)

On 15 Oct.'03 MacKay and the PC announce they will form a new party with the Alliance.

"In December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties voted to disband and merge into the Conservative Party of Canada." (Wikipedia)
That is not a name change or any kind of attempt to continue the long and proud tradition of the PC party.

However, it is us, all Canadians, that must take responsibility. It is our country, not Harper's and not a small group of right-wing extremists.

We must consider the impact of all the Harper Policies on our Nation and the Legacy we leave to our children and our children's children to prevent Harper from tearing asunder what has been built thru the blood sweat and tears of our forefathers, maintain what we have achieved in the past, and perhaps improve on it, if possible, and leave our children with the appreciation of us having lived here and not a bitter resentment that we were ever given a turn at the helm.

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html