PrintTories are forced to right their future
The price of getting into power for the federal Conservatives has produced another blow on their historic right-of-centre social policy roots.
It is a shot that entrenches the Tories in a position that could potentially place the party at a point where longtime loyalists feel abandoned and ready to splinter off to a newer and more comfortable political home.
Last week the Harper government was forced to do some fancy dancing on the same-sex marriage issue when it was revealed the Canadian government was in a legislative position not to recognize marriages of foreign same-sex couples who were married in the country because they had no legal ability to do so in their home state. At the same time the prime minister said he had no plans to reopen the same-sex marriage debate, an issue that has been a thorn in his side since the 2005 debate and formal approval of Bill C-38, the Civil Marriage Act.
Harper was in opposition then, and taking the pragmatic line on same-sex marriages, abortion and capital punishment which were issues that required modest ownership of the political centre to navigate the road to power. It was no easy feat for the prime minister as his party then was stacked with hardline former Reform Party members who did not sit well with social policies better suited to the Liberals or even the NDP.
But the carrot used to entice disenchanted Liberals and the undecided was in the end decidedly unpalatable. The Tories proved that while they wouldn’t meddle with sacred Liberal issues there was no embracing of them either.
The case of Ronald Smith, the former Red Deer man convicted of double homicide in Montana and then sentenced to death, is proof of the Tories’ lack of conviction on carrying the social policy flag created by preceding Liberal governments.
Beginning in 1997, the federal Liberal government had requested clemency for Smith on humanitarian grounds but in 2007 the new Tory government announced it would not get involved with the Montana court case. But two years later the Federal Court of Canada ruled otherwise and forced the Tories to continue to support Smith.
It was the first big shot across the bow for the Tories who tried ever so hard during their lead up to power to convince the disenchanted middle and left that they too could be reasonable on progressive social policy.
But now the same-sex marriage debate has come back to haunt the Conservatives, who have come across as dithering at best, and perhaps worse as hypocrites. The fallout from the controversy left many gay and lesbian couples wondering what would happen to them next, as well as severely blunting Canada’s hard-earned reputation internationally as a world leader on civil rights and social policy.
Last Friday Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the Conservative government would change Bill C-38 to legally recognize the marriages of thousands of foreign gay couples. It would do so even if the laws of their own country remain the same.
Incredibly he blamed the past Liberal government for creating confusion by not filling a “legislative gap” that left thousands of same-sex couples fearing for their future. Never mind the fact the Tories have had years to correct any shortcomings in the law, something that is hardly on the wish-list of any bona fide Tory.
What is more important for the Conservatives to consider at this point in time is to right the course of their traditional social policy structure. For years they have tried to be all things to all people of all political stripes. And while the Tories have captured the throne of power with their long sought majority government they have left a potentially dangerous vacuum on the political right.
This too could haunt them once more when Harper is scheduled to drop the writ in 2015. True traditional Conservative voters will not soon forget. They just might flock elsewhere to prove the point.
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