Mr. Ibbitson makes the case that conservatives are poised to win most of the provincial elections that will be taking place this fall. Fine, but he then concludes that this means that “the federal Conservatives have no reason to fear a united front of premiers opposing their agenda.” As if a conservative in a provincial capital would automatically be best of friends with his/her “federal cousin.”
Canadian history is ripe with examples of interparty warfare across federal-provincial boundaries. The classic example would be the constant conflict between Ontario Liberal Premier Mitchell Hepburn and Mackenzie-King, but that is merely one of the most dramatic cases. Generally provincial interests have trumped political or ideological connectivity.
At the same time there are examples of first ministers from supposedly opposing parties working together. Bill Davis was famously cooperative with Pierre Trudeau on constitutional issues. More than in any country in the world, party loyalty does not travel well across levels of government in Canada.
I suppose I can forgive Mr. Ibbitson for not knowing his history (even though he was alive in 1982 and I was not), but I don’t understand how he could have forgotten the most recent dramatic example. Throughout Conservative Stephen Harper’s first mandate he was in a constant pissing contest with Progressive Conservative Danny Williams over equalization.
How do I know this? Because I read Mr. Ibbitson’s column!
Nov 26th 2010
If Mr. Williams were to run federally, it would likely be under the banner of Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, the party he campaigned so vociferously against in 2008 when he was at war with Ottawa over equalization.
No, it won’t matter much for federal-provincial harmony that “conservatives” will be in power in many or most of Canada’s provincial governments. In the long term a more harmonious federalism can be achieved by the federal government stepping out of federal concerns and stop pitching province against province with transfer payments.