Picture this: a Liberal federal government beating up on Alberta. Albertans looking to the Conservative Party to rescue them from their Liberal tormentors. A federal election leading to a Conservative victory, with every seat in Alberta choosing a Conservative MP..Doesn’t this sound like the hope of many Albertans today? Yet the situation being described is the early 1980s..Pierre Trudeau — that arch-enemy of Alberta — resigned in 1984, and later that year the Liberal government was replaced by Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives..It looked as though Alberta’s problems were over. The hated Liberals were out of power and could harm the province no longer. Brian Mulroney was the West’s saviour and would make things right..But wait. Something went wrong..Less than three years later, the Reform Association of Canada voted to create a new political party to represent the West. In 1993, that new political party — the Reform Party of Canada — blew the federal Conservatives out of the West. The West’s saviour of 1984 had betrayed his Western supporters..It couldn’t happen again, right? The Conservatives have learned their lesson. They won’t let the West down this time..Don’t be so sure. The same factors that turned Brian Mulroney from a saviour into a villain are still dominating Canadian politics..Consider the political scene in the mid-1980s as described by University of Calgary political scientist Roger Gibbins in his 1988 article, “Conservatism in Canada: The Ideological Impact of the 1984 Election.”.To Albertans, the 1984 federal election represented the height of success: all the provinces 21 MPs were Progressive Conservative and therefore part of the government caucus. Some of them even became cabinet ministers. Clearly, the federal government would be on Alberta’s side, right?. Poilievre Calgary April 12 2022Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre addressed a packed crowd at Calgary's Spruce Meadows in April 2022, but first also spoke to a hundred or so supporters at a fundraiser event at the Osteria Chef's Table in Calgary's Kensington area. .But this is how Gibbins describes the election: “One prime minister from Quebec — Pierre Trudeau — had been replaced by another prime minister from Quebec — Brian Mulroney — with the two individuals differing at the margins if at all in their orientations toward Quebec, bilingualism and the basic parameters of the Canadian federal state and political community.”.From this perspective, the 1984 election didn’t really usher in significant change at all..As Gibbins explains, the Liberal caucus of the early 1980s had 74 MPs from Quebec who ensured that the government would be very sensitive to Quebec’s concerns. And the first term of the Mulroney administration also had a sizable contingent of Quebec MPs – 58 – that had a major influence on government policy..So while the governing party changed in 1984, the dominating influence of Quebec did not..Gibbins writes: “In this case, then, the orientation of the national government to Quebec and Quebec-related issues was not changed by the 1984 election. The fundamental transformation has occurred instead within the Progressive Conservative party, which for the first time since 1958 has a sizable contingent of Quebec MPs and which for the first time ever has a Quebec leader.”.The PC party became the dominant federal party of the West beginning in 1958, due to the leadership of Saskatchewan populist, John Diefenbaker. From that point forward, the West constituted the heartland of the PC party..But as Gibbins notes, the election of large numbers of Tory MPs from central Canada in 1984 meant that the West would take a back seat in the party’s priorities..“In the four federal elections held between 1972 and 1980, western Canadian MPs constituted 44% of the federal Tory caucus, while following the 1984 election this proportion dropped to only 27%.”.Even though the West had finally achieved a milestone in electing MPs into government, it simultaneously “lost the Conservatives as a regional champion.”.With this in mind it’s easy to understand the Mulroney government’s 1986 decision to award the CF-18 fighter maintenance contract to a Montreal company even though a Winnipeg company had won the contract by the government’s own criteria..This event was very significant because it prompted the creation of the Reform Party..The point is though, that a federal government can only be elected when a party wins a large proportion of the seats in central Canada..Since the majority of voters and seats are in Ontario and Quebec, the federal government will always favour those two provinces. It can’t be any other way..Pierre Poilievre — like every other leader — must satisfy the voters of central Canada if he wants to be prime minister. If he were to win, a substantial portion of his caucus will be from central Canada and he will owe his position to them..This is how the system works..Even someone as favourable to the West as Prime Minister Stephen Harper was severely constrained in what he could accomplish due to the basic logic of the system..Undoubtedly, Poilievre would be a much better prime minister than Justin Trudeau. His policies would be likely beneficial for Alberta. But at best he would be a reprieve until the next Liberal government is elected and Alberta once again comes under attack from the federal government..A 'Prime Minister Poilievre' could not fix Canada’s political system in a way that would improve Alberta’s situation..Central Canada would not allow it and that’s where power lies..Indeed, Poilievre is MP for an Ontario riding and he will prioritize Ontario ahead of Alberta. It’s only right that an MP puts the interests of his own constituents first..Only by becoming independent would Alberta be able to elect leaders who would put Albertans’ interests first. That’s the bottom line.
Picture this: a Liberal federal government beating up on Alberta. Albertans looking to the Conservative Party to rescue them from their Liberal tormentors. A federal election leading to a Conservative victory, with every seat in Alberta choosing a Conservative MP..Doesn’t this sound like the hope of many Albertans today? Yet the situation being described is the early 1980s..Pierre Trudeau — that arch-enemy of Alberta — resigned in 1984, and later that year the Liberal government was replaced by Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives..It looked as though Alberta’s problems were over. The hated Liberals were out of power and could harm the province no longer. Brian Mulroney was the West’s saviour and would make things right..But wait. Something went wrong..Less than three years later, the Reform Association of Canada voted to create a new political party to represent the West. In 1993, that new political party — the Reform Party of Canada — blew the federal Conservatives out of the West. The West’s saviour of 1984 had betrayed his Western supporters..It couldn’t happen again, right? The Conservatives have learned their lesson. They won’t let the West down this time..Don’t be so sure. The same factors that turned Brian Mulroney from a saviour into a villain are still dominating Canadian politics..Consider the political scene in the mid-1980s as described by University of Calgary political scientist Roger Gibbins in his 1988 article, “Conservatism in Canada: The Ideological Impact of the 1984 Election.”.To Albertans, the 1984 federal election represented the height of success: all the provinces 21 MPs were Progressive Conservative and therefore part of the government caucus. Some of them even became cabinet ministers. Clearly, the federal government would be on Alberta’s side, right?. Poilievre Calgary April 12 2022Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre addressed a packed crowd at Calgary's Spruce Meadows in April 2022, but first also spoke to a hundred or so supporters at a fundraiser event at the Osteria Chef's Table in Calgary's Kensington area. .But this is how Gibbins describes the election: “One prime minister from Quebec — Pierre Trudeau — had been replaced by another prime minister from Quebec — Brian Mulroney — with the two individuals differing at the margins if at all in their orientations toward Quebec, bilingualism and the basic parameters of the Canadian federal state and political community.”.From this perspective, the 1984 election didn’t really usher in significant change at all..As Gibbins explains, the Liberal caucus of the early 1980s had 74 MPs from Quebec who ensured that the government would be very sensitive to Quebec’s concerns. And the first term of the Mulroney administration also had a sizable contingent of Quebec MPs – 58 – that had a major influence on government policy..So while the governing party changed in 1984, the dominating influence of Quebec did not..Gibbins writes: “In this case, then, the orientation of the national government to Quebec and Quebec-related issues was not changed by the 1984 election. The fundamental transformation has occurred instead within the Progressive Conservative party, which for the first time since 1958 has a sizable contingent of Quebec MPs and which for the first time ever has a Quebec leader.”.The PC party became the dominant federal party of the West beginning in 1958, due to the leadership of Saskatchewan populist, John Diefenbaker. From that point forward, the West constituted the heartland of the PC party..But as Gibbins notes, the election of large numbers of Tory MPs from central Canada in 1984 meant that the West would take a back seat in the party’s priorities..“In the four federal elections held between 1972 and 1980, western Canadian MPs constituted 44% of the federal Tory caucus, while following the 1984 election this proportion dropped to only 27%.”.Even though the West had finally achieved a milestone in electing MPs into government, it simultaneously “lost the Conservatives as a regional champion.”.With this in mind it’s easy to understand the Mulroney government’s 1986 decision to award the CF-18 fighter maintenance contract to a Montreal company even though a Winnipeg company had won the contract by the government’s own criteria..This event was very significant because it prompted the creation of the Reform Party..The point is though, that a federal government can only be elected when a party wins a large proportion of the seats in central Canada..Since the majority of voters and seats are in Ontario and Quebec, the federal government will always favour those two provinces. It can’t be any other way..Pierre Poilievre — like every other leader — must satisfy the voters of central Canada if he wants to be prime minister. If he were to win, a substantial portion of his caucus will be from central Canada and he will owe his position to them..This is how the system works..Even someone as favourable to the West as Prime Minister Stephen Harper was severely constrained in what he could accomplish due to the basic logic of the system..Undoubtedly, Poilievre would be a much better prime minister than Justin Trudeau. His policies would be likely beneficial for Alberta. But at best he would be a reprieve until the next Liberal government is elected and Alberta once again comes under attack from the federal government..A 'Prime Minister Poilievre' could not fix Canada’s political system in a way that would improve Alberta’s situation..Central Canada would not allow it and that’s where power lies..Indeed, Poilievre is MP for an Ontario riding and he will prioritize Ontario ahead of Alberta. It’s only right that an MP puts the interests of his own constituents first..Only by becoming independent would Alberta be able to elect leaders who would put Albertans’ interests first. That’s the bottom line.
