The PCs may not be a fully Tea Partyesque group, but there are some similarities

John Ivison from the National Post
recently wrote a column calling out Liberal interim leader Bob Rae on
his comparison of the Harper Progressive Conservatives to American Tea
Partiers.

Bob
Rae initially said that there can be no doubt that Stephen Harper and
Jim Flaherty are tea party type ideologues mirroring what their south of
the border cousins are doing and saying, but with a Canadian touch. Rae
quoted former Ontario Premier Ernie Eves, himself a conservative, in
saying that former MPP Norm Sterling was short-handed by PCs in a
nomination challenge in his Carleton-Mississippi Mills riding.

Now
I’m not sure what the whole Norm Sterling situation has to do with the
PCs being a bit extremist, but in my opinion here are five similarities
and three differences between the Tea Party movement in the U.S. and our
Progressive Conservatives:

First
similarity is that both the Tea Party and the Progressive Conservatives
have a clear ideological direction in minimizing the role of
Government, in particular it’s spending. Thus, both groups are firmly
committed to fixing the financial mess we’re in, which they usually
attribute to government overspending. This is largely why their message
resonates so strongly during harsh economic times, although, as a
liberal I disagree with the claim that the size of government is to be
blamed for this latest possible double-dip recession.


Second,
one of the Tea Party’s and PC’s main focuses has always been to reshape
the electoral landscape in their respective countries by uniting people
through nationalist fervor. Saying things like our country is the best
country in the world has always been a matter of perspective,
unfortunately, the Tea Partiers and PCs actually believe these kinds of
statements. Therefore, their strategy usually involves things such as:
Strengthening the country’s borders, insulating it in a sense, increased
military focus if not spending, new civic responsibility measures,
tough on crime agendas, almost always lower taxation and other schemes
designed to motivate the public to vote them into power.


The
third similarity is a simple one to state. It is a well known fact that
the older one gets in age the more conservative their views about
public and civic life get. This is because there is less and less time
left for the individual to affect any meaningful change, so maintaining
the status quo in exchange for tranquility and a small measure of
certainty in wait for the end is about the only political course left
for the person. There are exceptions to this rule however. Thus, as far
as I’m aware, both the Tea Party in the U.S. and the PC’s of Canada have
an older and more seasoned voter base than their rivals.  


Fourth
similarity refers to the fact that conservatism, whether of the Tea
Party flavor or the more watered down PC flavor, has always been the
favorite political way of expression for the religious. Now I’m not
saying that there aren’t any religious voters voting for the Liberals or
the NDP, I’m sure there are plenty; however, ideologically,
conservatism trumps both liberalism and socialism in appeal to the
faithful.

Finally,
the fifth similarity is the most striking as both the Tea Party and the
Progressive Conservatives of Canada have traditionally preferred
policies conducive to lower immigration rates, protectionism,
privatization and a lesser role for government in deciding public
policy. In other words, both loathe, the Tea Party more so, the idea of a
welfare state.


And
that’s about it when it comes to the similarities between our
Progressive Conservatives and the Tea Party. Mr. Bob Rae may have not
been entirely mistaken in likening the two. I for one think that despite
Ivison’s brilliant rebuke of Mr. Rae’s statement, the specter of a Tea
Partyesque PC government is not entirely unrealistic.   


However, there are some major differences between the two as well. These are:

First,
the PCs don’t necessarily push for an ultra-conservative “no spending”
agenda, whereas the Tea Party advocates the most minimally possible
spending on government and public services. Canada’s Conservatives for
example don’t want to spend less, as new figures have shown that under
Harper the size of government has increased, but rather shift focus from
spending money on welfare, health-care and other public services funded
by the taxpayer to spending on law enforcement, the military and
national image (e.g. changing the moniker for the army from Canadian
Forces to Royal Canadian Forces). This can be a bit confusing since on
one hand the PCs claim they want to shrink government spending, but at
the same time their actions seem to propagate an increase in the size of
government.


Second,
the PCs haven’t really decided on a limiting immigration policy,
although they have been known to get tough on human smuggling and on
those individuals claiming refugee status. But since their victory in
the May elections they have not hinted at imposing any prohibitive
immigration laws, unlike some of their conservative counterparts in the
Tea Party whom seem to publicly dislike immigrants, in particular
Muslims.


The
third difference involves the Progressive Conservative belief, here all
parties in Canada agree, that an elected government cannot just enforce
laws, not regulate industry and taxation and cannot sit idly by while
its citizens suffer. In other words, the PCs want there to be a limited
welfare state. This is something in which their Tea Party counterparts
could not possibly believe as it runs contrary to their wish for lower
taxation, less government spending and less government involvement in
setting public policy.


Of
course there are other differences but I can’t think of the rest off
the top of my head. This is a subject best approached through an essay.


So
there you have it, despite Ivison’s article asserting correctly that
people should not panic and vote Liberal instead of Conservative in the
upcoming provincial elections over the comparison Bob Rae made, engage
in fear voting, it is not inconceivable, with a Tory majority in
Ontario, to expect to see certain elements within the PC to become more
Tea Party like and eventually push for an unprecedented conservative
agenda in the country.