The Beginning of the End for the Conservatives?
January 25, 2005 · By H. Cameron
This is the first in what will be a long string of events which will lead to the eventual collapse of the Conservative party of Canada. Not that the party was that cohesive - former Alliance members and the old PC guard were never on the same page when it came to policy or party organization; however, the thin bond that held this party together over the months since the merger will slowly crumble and collapse under the strain of poor leadership and lack of direction.
Reynolds quitting as Conservative House leader
John Reynolds, the Conservative Party’s House Leader, is about to step down from that position.
He will stay on as an MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country until the next election, but will not run again after that.
1987 anyone?
Maybe it’s time for the Conservatives to call it quits! Harper has been nothing but a huge disappointment. I mean don’t get me wrong, Martin has also been nothing short of disasterous but at least Martin is visible. Where is Harper as his party crumbles?
I lament the loss of Reynolds as much as anyone, but I do not share the view about the outcome. The Party will survive, though the rifts are there, and they were already there before. There were rifts in the Alliance and in the Tories as well, let us not forget.
As to Harper’s ledership being poor because his face is not constantly on TV, that’s a funny argument. If we measure effectiveness by how much air time one gets, we’d have to conclude that there are lots of MPs that are not doing anything at all. This is silly. The Tories used to have a leader that could not resist a camera or a microphone, and though mandated to get rid of the party’s debt, he nearly increased it on all the years he was leader (making 250K/year for example). Oh, but he had plenty of time to become Grand Marshall of Pride Parades. What was his name?
Results count. Harper has taken the party to a place that no one on this side of the political spectrum has been since 1988. And this with a party that still has no official policy or established constitution. He also wiped out the other gays’ debt (with a little help from JC), has leashed the populist ghost of the Alliance, has streamlined the merging of the parties, and the list goes one. We need to cut him some slack!