May 2003, changed Stephen Harper. It reveals special moments, such as the fateful one when MacKay came across Harper in the Commons corridor and uttered the words, “You and I have to talk:” It shows how Belinda Stronach, credited in the media as a significant player in the merger, was in fact of little significance. How Brian Mulroney was pulling the strings telling everyone how Jean Chrétien had been going to bed every night saying, “Merci beaucoup, Preston Manning:” How Harper emissaries shocked the Tories in initial secret merger meetings in a hotel room booked under the name “John Macdonald” by being prepared to give away the store on almost every demand the Tories put forward.
The merger produced little initial excitement—and not much of a jump in the opinion polls for the new Conservative party. But Canadians politics was dramatically altered by this event. The right was unified and it was unified in such a way—with MacKay letting Harper have a free run at the leadership of the new party—that it gave the West the prominence it had long sought. The old Progressive Conservatives had sometimes been almost indistinguishable from the old Liberals. Not the new party.
Difficulties lay ahead after the merger. Harper’s leadership was in question after he let a chance to win the 2004 election slip away. But he recovered and the new formation held and it got the big break in the form of a governing party scandal that opposition parties thrive on. In the 2005 election, it took advantage.
In just two years, the conservatives in Canada had moved from their ruinous divided status and some 40 percentage points behind in the polls to unity and to strength. Against all odds—with a leader who so many in the press and the public had written off as a dud— they had moved to governance.
All had changed. From the bottom of the pit they had climbed to the top. They now had hope, legitimate hope, that their history of grief was over. They now had hope, legitimate hope, of a long and wedded future, one which would change the country.
PREFACE
I want readers to understand my political background and why I decided to write this book.
My first two votes went Liberal. But Pierre Trudeau’s mismanagement of the economy, financial irresponsibility, and constitutional recklessness convinced me that I am a conservative.
In 1984, I walked into Dan Chilcott’s Ottawa Centre PC campaign office with nothing to offer but enthusiasm. As that campaign progressed, I found my niche in politics formulating policy and writing speeches. Following the 1984 election, I served on my local PC riding executive and later became its president. Professionally, I earned my designation as a chartered accountant and became an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. There I began to research and write about what I called “Debt, Deficits and Dangerous Complacency.” I was the Progressive Conservative candidate for Ottawa Centre in the 1988 election, was not elected, and returned to my passion for public policy. I voted for Kim Campbell as PC party leader, and in the 1993 election I was recruited to work in the Conservative war room, handling economic issues. Undeterred by the decimation of the PC party, I volunteered as an adviser to Jean Charest on tax policy and economic matters.
After the second consecutive Chrétien majority win, and with Joe Clark the leader of the PC party, I was unsure how to best contribute politically. In 2000, it looked like the Canadian Alliance had the upper hand. I recall one particularly uncomfortable scene when my local PC candidate, Beverly Mitchell, knocked on my door and asked to put up a lawn sign. I had been in her shoes less than a decade earlier, but I knew that I would be voting for Stockwell Day, and I declined her request. I was a conservative more than I was a member of any political party and would readily have voted for a merger of the PC and Alliance parties at that time had it been an option. By 2003, the prospect of new leadership within the PC party brought me to the inner circle of Peter MacKay’s campaign.
After watching the Liberals win their third consecutive majority government, and with the Paul Martin juggernaut on the horizon, conservatives seized the unexpected opportunity to unite. I didn’t expect this new Conservative party to sweep to power, but I was optimistic they would once again become a relevant political force in Canada. As I raised my hand to indicate my approval of the merger, I thought of the political upheaval Canadians had witnessed over the previous decade. I wanted to understand why the conservative movement fell apart and how it then came back together. I thought that there must be important lessons to be gleaned from this process. With Conservatives in opposition, I decided to write this book.
My timing was good. For the sake of history, the battle-weary veterans of the PC–Reform–Alliance civil war were ready to tell their stories. Even those deeply engaged in conservative politics will be stunned by what took place “behind the scenes.”
I wanted the book to be more than a chronological account of key events and milestones. The death and resurrection of Canadian conservative politics is an emotional story, and I chose to craft it around the failures and triumphs of the three key figures who had the most to do with the division and reunification: Preston Manning, Stephen Harper, and Peter MacKay.
I began my research with print sources on the Canadian conservative political movement over the past twenty years, including a detailed review of books, documents, newspaper accounts, speeches, speaking notes, correspondence, and internal party memoranda. But the substance of this book comes from almost fifty in-depth interviews, conducted in person and via telephone. Most interviews were recorded. Only a few times was I asked to go “off the record.” A few people asked that their contributions be used as background information rather than for attribution, and these people are not included in the list of those interviewed. I am grateful to everyone who shared with me their insights and experiences. For the record, and in alphabetical order, those interviewed include: David Angus, Madeleine Ashe, Yaroslav Baran, Roxanna Benoit, Rick Byers, Geoff Chutter, Jeff Clarke, Barry Cline, Stockwell Day, Doug Earle, Graham Fox, Frank Graves, Tom Jarmyn, Denis Jolette, Noël Kinsella, John Laschinger, Marjory LeBreton, Paul Lepsoe, John MacDonnell, Elmer MacKay, Peter MacKay, Preston Manning, Lawrence Martin, Shaun Masterson, Don Mazankowski, Doug McLarty, Lisa Merrithew, Rick Morgan, Geoff Norquay, Terrance Oakey, David Orchard, Bill Pristanski, Duncan Rayner, Marjaleena Repo, Gerry St. Germain, Werner Schmidt, John Weissenberger, Huw Williams, and Jim Williams.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the advice and encouragement of Lawrence Martin, this book might never have seen the light of day. He helped me navigate the publishing process, and he introduced me to Rick Broadhead, who became my literary agent. He graciously and directly rejected the first fifty or so titles that I proposed, but contributed Death and Resurrection to the subtitle. I am deeply indebted to him, not just for writing the foreword, but also for helping to steer this project at critical junctures.
An historical account of this period would be pretty dull without people who were willing to expose their personal involvement, good or bad. I am grateful to the nearly fifty people who shared their insights and experiences. Some even suggested lines of inquiry, made introductory calls, and set up interviews.
Some of the people I interviewed are epic figures whose service to conservative politics warrants their own books. Senator David Angus is among the most colourful, engaging, and encouraging men I have ever met in the party. The Right Honourable Don Mazankowski, John Diefenbaker’s last seatmate, is an icon whose contributions are matched with a wonderful capacity for story telling. Senator Marjory LeBreton has lived many lives in the party. She has been and is close to several leaders of this country, yet she remains grounded in mainstream Canada. Senator Gerry St. Germain is forthright and insightful. He bears the scars of taking a bold and early stand on the merger of the parties.
I am grateful to several friends and colleagues who read through various random notes and rough drafts and provided comments, especially Graham Fox, Jim Lambe, Bill Pristanski, Paul McAneney, Susan Snider, and Mark Sutcliffe. France Lépine is a meticulous researcher and aspiring writer who painstakingly read every word of the early manuscript. Arguing facts with France is useful only if you enjoy being proven wrong. I am indebted to France for the many hours she contributed to this project.
I am also fortunate to have two nearly lifelong friends whose talents I was able to exploit. John Usborne, who never waters