OTTAWA—Eight years and three policy conventions after reuniting, Conservatives emerged from their latest political gabfest boasting of new-found maturity.Gone were many of the divisive debates of the past, replaced by policy commitments that delegates said would ensure the party repeats its electoral success of May 2.
“This is the new mainstream of Canadian politics: a confident, broad party of the centre-right. This is a different party than any Conservative party that’s ever preceded it,” said senior cabinet minister Jason Kenney, largely credited with broadening the Tories’ ethnic diversity.
Free of debt, flush with cash and with a majority to govern as they see fit, the Conservatives turned the two-day convention into a love-in.
Tensions were quickly quashed. At the urging of party heavyweights such as former PC leader Peter MacKay, grassroots members overwhelmingly voted down the most contentious change of the weekend — how the party leader is picked.
They opted for the original merger’s compromise crafted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and MacKay, and chose to leave ridings that have small memberships with the same clout as big ones.
They steered clear of big controversies, but gave the majority Conservative government a handful of marching orders.
They called for more action on busting interprovincial trade barriers; more benefits for veterans; more protections for strikebreakers; a tougher “two-strikes-you’re-out” dangerous offender designation for serious crime; and they called for a simpler tax system even as Stephen Harper’s government continues to dole out so-called “boutique” tax credits.
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Source: Toronto Star
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