Conservatives must unify or face defeat

As the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race vote fast approaches one thing is clear, the party must unite or risk losing it all.

Conservatives must focus on the values that unite us instead of the wedge issues and culture war topics that divide us. A variety of perspectives is not only healthy in a party but needed. It is when individuals decide they are going to die on a hill over these perspectives that we fail.

Politics isn’t about pursuing one specific issue with single-minded focus, with no regard to the cost. It’s about working with the many voices under your tent to find common ground and achieving a common goal. For conservatives, that goal is unseating the liberals who have hung on to power since 2015.

This leadership race has become one of the nastiest in a long time. We’ve seen candidates and their affiliates make shameful comments, stoke the flames of divisive issues for attention and support, and make personal attacks as oppose to focusing solely on policy and issues.

In July, a Conservative committee reviewing Patrick Brown’s disqualification from the leadership race concluded the party had the evidence it needed to disqualify him from the race. Despite this, his ejection even further divided an already fractured party.

Many of Brown’s supporters in the race would likely self-describe as centrists. These are individuals that are mostly socially liberal, but fiscally conservative. Of course, there are exceptions. Nonetheless, these supporters found themselves without a home after Brown’s swift ejection from the race.

Former Quebec premier and fellow leadership contender Jean Charest, has gone on to pick up a great deal of that support. Many Brown supporters are attracted to Charest’s moderate, inclusive political views and well-balanced platform.

Pierre Poilievre has also done a great job appealing to young and first-time conservatives who are attracted to his no-holds-barred approach to issues and promises of personal economic wellness.

Despite having strong contenders in the race, there still remains so much vitriol. Not just among campaigns, but party members as well, who you can find arguing and insulting one another on Twitter on any given day.

We need to focus on the key conservative principles that unite us as opposed to the issues that don’t. Healthy dialogue should always be championed, and people should be free to share their views and support candidates of their choice.

Once the leader is selected, those same voices should be welcomed in the fold and the new leader should have everyone’s full support.

The new leader must work hard to create a big tent party that values all voices. He or she must work with cabinet and caucus much in the same manner and must welcome campaign workers and volunteers from unsuccessful leadership campaigns onto the team.

That said, the second a new leader is chosen he or she must also benefit from full on support that has no strings attached and every resource to make him or her successful should be made available.

Canada cannot afford leadership that doesn’t value monetary policy, that refuses to give Canadians tax relief at the pump and in grocery stores, or governs from elitism. If these things are to change then our new leader is going to need our help.

He or she will certainly have mine. Let’s be bold, let’s be courageous, let’s work to change our country for the better. This means respecting one another, debating ideas and not people, and giving Canadians a strong united conservative party that is ready to lead.