Calgary Sun Columnist - Ezra Levant: Party = poopers

Mon,=20 March 21, 2005

Party poopers

Stronach and MacKay need to be = taken down a=20 peg

By Ezra=20 Levant -- Calgary Sun

MONTREAL - I joined the Reform party back in 1990, when = it was=20 the Atkins diet political party -- all red meat and no = sweetness.=20

The Conservative convention over the weekend was less = beefy than=20 the good old days of Reform, but it wasn't the = all-vegetarian affair=20 that I had feared it would be.=20

Social issues were one of the two flash points at the = convention=20 -- namely abortion and same-sex marriage.=20

In votes on Saturday, delegates did what Harper = encouraged them=20 to do in his Friday speech: Endorse marriage as the union = between=20 one man and one woman, but don't weigh in on abortion either = way.=20 The debate was vigorous, especially on abortion, and the = delegates=20 were fairly split. In the end, the party voted not to take a = position on the subject.=20

The Liberals and their chorus in the press call that the = sign of=20 a divided party, but it is a reflection of the country's = divide on=20 the matter.=20

The Liberal party is split on the subject as well, but it = does=20 not permit its MPs freedom of conscience on such matters, = even=20 allegedly faithful Catholic MPs such as Joe Volpe, who have = put=20 allegiance to party spin doctors ahead of allegiance to = their own=20 moral beliefs.=20

How odd that it is the Conservatives who the media tag = with the=20 conspiratorial accusation of harbouring a "hidden agenda." = It is=20 possible to know where Conservatives stand on moral issues = -- just=20 ask them.=20

Liberals who swear allegiance to the weathervane of = opinion polls=20 or a dithering prime minister are the ones to be wary of. We = can=20 respect someone with whom we disagree. It is harder to = respect a=20 Liberal cabinet that voted against same-sex marriage in = 1999, but=20 that now calls such a position immoral and a gross violation = of=20 human rights and the Charter.=20

Conservatives should be conservative. And they are, = mainly, and=20 Harper's speech and the delegates' votes should allay some = fears=20 amongst Reform old-timers.=20

But the second flashpoint of the convention warrants = heightened=20 scrutiny from those who are worried that the merger means a=20 sell-out.=20

The greatest embarrassment to the convention did not come = in the=20 person of a crude critic of gay marriage or a wild-eyed = opponent of=20 abortion. Rather, it was the preening Peter MacKay and his = trophy=20 girlfriend, Belinda Stronach.=20

The two of them cannot contain their impatience with = their status=20 in the party's second and third-tier, respectively. They = both -- or=20 each, or successively, one isn't sure -- want to lead the = party.=20

Stronach dropped close to $100,000 on a leadership-style=20 hospitality suite. She will learn that while pollsters and=20 organizers can be bought, the Reform grassroots of the party = cannot.=20 It values policies and gravitas, not a clothes horse with an = inherited name and money.=20

MacKay's noisy and destructive threats to abandon the = party in a=20 huff if it didn't give tiny Eastern ridings the same say as = huge=20 Western ridings showed not only an anti-Western, = anti-democratic=20 bias, but a streak of treachery -- that he would scupper the = party=20 if he didn't get his way. He did get his way -- at the price = of=20 poisoning the party's media coverage for a day.=20

This will not surprise those who remember that MacKay won = the=20 Tory leadership only by selling out that party's free trade = heritage=20 to David Orchard.=20

Diagnosis: Harper is OK, and the party is OK, and the = policies=20 are OK. But the prom king and queen, the toast of the Globe = and Mail=20 readers, need to be taken down a peg by good ol' Sun = readers.=20

Next Column: The=20 great debate

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