The Great Right North?

IF you had swallowed the general view of the Canadian news media, the national convention of the (relatively) new Canadian Conservative Party in Montreal was likely to be a sad and solemn wake. Unfortunately, nobody told the corpse, who got up and danced a decorous Canadian reel. About 2,900 Tories had gathered in Montreal-a pretty large gathering by Canadian standards and, as the Tories kept emphasizing, somewhat larger than the national convention of the ruling Liberals two weeks previously. Despite the urgings of the media that they should split back into the two hostile parties whose merger had created the CCP less than two years ago, they showed a firm determination to settle their disagreements within a unified party. And they gave off strong whiffs of enthusiasm, combativeness, and momentum.

Maybe, like Rick in Casablanca, they were misinformed, for Canada’s political terrain is pretty inhospitable to the Right in several ways. In the first place, the Tories are living in a preGoldwater country-namely, one in which an essentially conservative population lives under the hegemony of liberal institutions, a liberal political culture, and liberal elites. As in the U.S., the major cultural institutions, the media, and even business corporations are solidly liberal in their leanings. They shape a political climate of liberal orthodoxy that inevitably distorts both the opinions and the allegiance of the voters. Thus, some perfectly respectable policies, such as regulating abortion, become more or less unthinkable because they run counter to the strong convictions of the liberal elite.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

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IF you had swallowed the general view of the Canadian news media, the national convention of the (relatively) new Canadian Conservative Party in Montreal was likely to be a sad and solemn wake. Unfortunately, nobody told the corpse, who got up and danced a decorous Canadian reel. About 2,900 Tories had gathered in Montreal-a pretty large gathering by Canadian standards and, as the Tories kept emphasizing, somewhat larger than the national convention of the ruling Liberals two weeks previously. Despite the urgings of the media that they should split back into the two hostile parties whose merger had created the CCP less than two years ago, they showed a firm determination to settle their disagreements within a unified party. And they gave off strong whiffs of enthusiasm, combativeness, and momentum.

Maybe, like Rick in Casablanca, they were misinformed, for Canada’s political terrain is pretty inhospitable to the Right in several ways. In the first place, the Tories are living in a preGoldwater country-namely, one in which an essentially conservative population lives under the hegemony of liberal institutions, a liberal political culture, and liberal elites. As in the U.S., the major cultural institutions, the media, and even business corporations are solidly liberal in their leanings. They shape a political climate of liberal orthodoxy that inevitably distorts both the opinions and the allegiance of the voters. Thus, some perfectly respectable policies, such as regulating abortion, become more or less unthinkable because they run counter to the strong convictions of the liberal elite.