Patrick Brown doesn’t want us in his party. We should oblige him.
By all appearances Patrick Brown yesterday foisted a hand-picked candidate on a local riding association. This is only the latest in a series of candidate disqualifications and questionable processes that have marked the PC nominations calendar in the past year. To be fair, it is not uncommon for political leaders to declare undying support for democracy and the supremacy of the membership while at the same time handing nominations to friends, supporters and high-profile candidates. Justin Trudeau has demonstrated his own partiality to Castro-esque political patronage.
The reason, of course, is that democracy is nice in theory but sometimes it gives us results we don’t like. The political calculation is that an abused riding association will fall in line by the time an election rolls around, and the hand-picked candidate will perform better in a general election than the candidate selected by the membership would have. So much for the membership and the volunteers who staff 107 riding associations across the province.
Riding association directors aren’t the only party members feeling Patrick Brown’s heavy hand, though.
If you haven’t fallen in line regarding g̶l̶o̶b̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶o̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶g̶l̶o̶b̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶a̶r̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ climate change then you aren’t feeling the love from Patrick Brown either. Brown has declared that “Climate change is a fact. It is a threat. It is man-made”. Not only that, Brown wants a carbon tax. Don’t worry though, he has discovered the pink unicorn: the revenue-neutral tax. One can be forgiven for thinking Brown’s position on revenue-neutrality will quickly evolve once in government, much like his positions on same-sex marriage and Liberal sex-ed curriculum.
The point is this: if you don’t subscribe to the latest globalist attempt to restrict your freedoms and run your life, based on questionable science, then your position is not welcome in the Patrick Brown Tories.
No one however has taken more abuse from Patrick Brown than social conservatives.
Brown cultivated a reputation as a socon over three terms as an MP under Stephen Harper. He burnished this reputation during the PC leadership race by promising to repeal the Liberal sex-ed curriculum changes. This pledge even earned him the support of fellow candidate Monte McNaughton and an endorsement from Campaign Life Coalition. It didn’t take long for the real Patrick Brown to emerge though. He quickly became the first PC Leader to march in the Toronto Pride Parade, and with breathtaking cynicism reversed his position on the sex-ed curriculum. Since then Brown has whipped his caucus into acquiescence on multiple cultural issues including Bill 28 and an anti-“Islamophobia” motion brought forward by the Liberals. In fact one would be hard-pressed to find Patrick Brown oppose anything the Liberals have done of late, other than their spending tax dollars on radio ads about hydro rate reductions.
Fiscal conservatives may not be feeling as marginalized by Brown, but that is only because he hasn’t gotten to them yet. Once he is pressed to provide concrete alternatives to Liberal health, education and energy profligacy you can almost bet that none of his promises will involve actual decreases in spending. He will likely commit to ‘finding administrative efficiencies’ which everyone knows is code for “we don’t have the guts to make the necessary cuts, either”.
Brown has been leader for nearly two years and has been crystal clear that actual conservatives are not welcome in the Progressive Conservative party. Or at best they have to keep their mouths shut if they’re going to remain inside his Incredible Shrinking Tent. It is pathetic to see MPPs who have built their reputations around issues of family values, or democratic reform, or just plain commonsense not show up for important votes at Queen’s Park because they don’t have the fortitude to stand up to the leader. Even more disheartening is the prospect of millions of grassroots conservatives again being taken for granted by the PC elite on election day.
It is time we give Patrick Brown exactly what he wants and leave the party. It is time for a new party on the right.
Craig Dellandrea can be found standing in line at the consulates of Switzerland, Monaco and Lichtenstein applying for refugee status. He can also be reached at craigdellandrea@sympatico.ca
