Conservatism in Canada

Conservative governments in Canada, such as those of John A. Macdonald, Robert Borden, R. B. Bennett, and John Diefenbaker, were known for supporting an active role for the government in the economy and the creation of government-operated businesses (early Crown Corporations such as the Canadian National Railway) to develop and protect Canadian industries, protectionist programs such as the National Policy.

One example of a Blue Tory administration in Canada was the 'Common Sense Revolution' provincial Progressive Conservative government of Ontario Premier Mike Harris.

Some notable Blue Tories include many prominent federal and provincial Progressive Conservatives such as former PC Party Leader and Attorney General Peter MacKay, Conservative Party leadership contender and former Treasury Board President Tony Clement, former Premier of Ontario Mike Harris, and former CPC leader Andrew Scheer.

This belief in a common good, as expanded on in Colin Campbell and William Christian's Political Parties and Ideologies in Canada, is at the root of Red Toryism.

In the early days of electoral politics in Canada, the term conservatives or Tories applied to those people who supported the authority of colonial governors and their advisers over the elected assemblies.

The death of Macdonald left a large power vacuum in the Conservative Party, leading to the short tenure of John Abbott, who was the Protestant compromise choice.

Abbott's government collapsed when his cabinet walked out on him, forcing him to resign and allowing for the selection of the first Catholic prime minister of Canada, John Sparrow Thompson.

But in the 1935 election the Conservatives were handed a major defeat by the Liberals, with a new right-wing party, Social Credit, placing a close third, again on the strength of Western alienation.

After Pierre Trudeau's retirement in 1984, his successor, John Turner, called a federal election, which was won in a landslide by the PCs under Brian Mulroney.

The government's willingness to affirm Quebec's demands for recognition as a distinct society was seen as a betrayal by many westerners as well as angering Canadian Nationalists mostly from Ontario.

Brian Mulroney's failed attempts to reform the Canadian Constitution with the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords, and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax lost him most of his support.

In 2003, when former Prime Minister Joe Clark retired after being brought back to improve the PC party's standings, Peter MacKay was chosen in a leadership contest to replace him.

Under Stephen Harper, the platform of the Conservative Party emphasized the Blue Tory policies of fiscal restraint, increases in military spending, tax cuts and Senate Reform.

[17] Yoram Hazony, a scholar on the history and ideology of conservatism, identified Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson as the most significant conservative thinker to appear in the English-speaking world in a generation.

[26] These changes cleared an immigration backlog that had persisted for many years under the previous Liberal government, reducing the processing time from over 1000 days to less than two months.

[28][29][30] On 13 September 2008, this refusal to set up a special program was reiterated by a Conservative Party spokeswoman after the first such conscientious objector (Robin Long) had been deported and sentenced to 15 months in jail.

The actual extent or limit of these powers would not be publicly known and settlements would be private, in effect a "confidential lawsuit",[32] for instance a future BC or Canadian government reversing a federal approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline.

However, party leader Stephen Harper advised the Governor General to appoint the unelected Michael Fortier to both the Senate and to the Cabinet on 6 February 2006, the day his minority government took office.

[37] On 22 December 2008, Prime Minister Harper asked the Governor General to fill all eighteen Senate seats that had been vacant at the time.

However, Ned Franks, a Canadian parliamentary expert, maintains that the Prime Minister still has the right to advise the Governor-General to dissolve the parliament early and drop the writs for an election.

[41] Major media commentators often use Page's reports as a starting point for general criticisms of Harper's budgetary and transparency practices,[42] including comedic rants.

[43] While other accountability officers have been similarly ignored or critical, the influence and neutrality of the persons who were appointed, and the general public trust of their opinions, seems to be an indication of success on long-term transparency.

[50] However, the Conservative Party of Canada's Policy Declaration states, "We support legislation defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman".

In March 2011, just ahead of the expected Canadian election, the Conservatives added one line about gay rights to the "Discover Canada" booklet for new immigrants which they had published in 2009: "Canada's diversity includes gay and lesbian Canadians, who enjoy the full protection of an equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage".

One of the biggest accomplishments of the Conservative Party was the passage of Bill C-19 in 2012, which abolished the long gun registry that was introduced by Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien in 1993.

This resulted in the mandatory destruction of records of people owning non-restricted firearms (shotguns and bolt-action rifles), except for the province of Quebec, where the bill is still being challenged and contested.

In September 2014, Stephen Harper showed opposition to an RCMP ban of the Swiss Arms Classic Green Carbine, assuring to protect owners of the rifle from prosecution.

This would also lift the ban on the Swiss Arms Classic Green Carbine, and allow the prime minister to override decisions made by the RCMP.

This party, led by former Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper, won a minority government in the 2006 federal election, with 36% of the vote and 124 seats in the House of Commons out of 308.

In Alberta, the Progressive Conservative dominated the government from 1971 to 2015, following slightly right-wing policies under premiers Peter Lougheed, Don Getty, Ralph Klein, Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford.