For social conservatives,
CA plus PC may not equal victory

The proposed merger between the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives has created a level of excitement in some conservative circles. As the story goes, if both parties ratify the merger on Dec. 12, the right will finally be united in Canada. More important, the new entity, the Conservative Party, will be a significant political force to take on the Liberals in the next federal election.

It's an exciting prospect, to be sure. As long as each ideological component has solid footing in the party and plays an active role, that is. For social conservatives, there is grave and understandable concern that this won't be the case.

Fiscal conservatives will surely play a major role in the Conservative Party. Issues such as lower taxes, smaller government, respecting property rights and encouraging domestic and foreign investment opportunities will be front and centre. Exciting private sector reforms to poorly managed social services such as health care and education are in the realm of possibility. And new solutions to CPP, EI and the welfare state would be most welcome.

As well, fiscal conservatives will support democratic political reforms such as free votes, a revitalized Senate and the devolution of the prime minister's power. Gun control will be a thing of the past. Citizens will become more involved in the political process. And judicial activism will be tackled and (hopefully) curtailed within time.

While Canada's Conservative Party will be a welcome home for fiscal conservatives and a certain segment of the populist conservative wing of the movement, the role of social conservatives is not as clear. Will the party take a stand on religion, abortion, euthanasia, gay rights, traditional family values or the sanctity of marriage? Or will these issues get pushed aside?

Since the new party doesn't yet exist, it's still premature to answer these questions. But a clue may exist if one examines the CA and PCs as separate entities.

The CA and its predecessor, the Reform party, have been relatively sympathetic to social conservatism. Not all supporters - or MPs - are pro-life and pro-family, or even religious for that matter. That said, fiscal conservatives and social conservatives formed a coalition by not only accepting their differences, but also by defending those differences. This party recognizes that their members have a right to speak about or actively support these values.

The PCs, however, are not very sympathetic to social conservatism, thanks in large part to Red Tories, the left-leaning conservatives that have historically had control over the party's political, economic and social agenda. Red Tories are social liberals. By and large, they hold negative feelings about religion, they are pro-choice, and they don't seem to have an issue with gay marriage or gay adoption.

Yes, there are social conservatives in the PCs. And yes, there are a few remaining right-leaning conservatives, or Blue Tories, who hold basically the same values as CA members, although their numbers have greatly diminished. But the fact is, the Red Tories dominate the party caucus, dominate the party membership, and will more than likely dominate the party's ratification vote.

That's a troubling scenario for Canadian conservatives to be faced with. If Red Tories make up a sizeable percentage of the new Conservative Party's membership - which is possible - social conservatism will likely not be a priority in the new party. This means social conservatives must keep buying party membership cards in the CA and PCs to establish a significant presence, as some are already doing, to reduce and ultimately eliminate any sort of Red Tory presence.

On a personal note, I would be disappointed if social conservatives felt uncomfortable or were shut out of the Conservative Party. Yes, I am a fiscal conservative; that's no big secret. But I also regard myself as a moderate social conservative. Although I'd probably fail the litmus test of a few social conservatives, I do share many of your beliefs about family, marriage and religious freedom. And although I'm not personally religious, I have repeatedly condemned the disgraceful persecution of Christians, Jews and moderate Muslims in Western society.

Without a proper balance of fiscal and social conservatism, the CA-PC merger could quickly fail. The two political halves make Canada's conservative movement whole, and the absence of one political half in the Conservative Party will only serve to minimize the party's ideological purity.

Fiscal conservatives and social conservatives have worked together in the past. If the CA-PC merger is going to work, both ideological components must keep working together well into the future.