They do have policies!
Posted to Jim Elve's Group Election Blog.
I guess I jumped the gun a little in my entry in the Election Blog where I complained that Stephen Harper's lack of enthusiasm for a policy convention could result “that the new leader would be able to pick and choose from the policies of the former Alliance and PC platforms”.
Well, Stephen probably knew that the Conservative Party would release a paper today entitled “Areas of Agreement - Conservative Party of Canada Patial Policy Statement”
This paper states:
"Conservative parties were in substantial agreement – as determined by common statements in documents passed by the grassroots members of both parties. As such, this document represents the common heritage of the founding parties of the Conservative Party of Canada.
For more than a decade, grassroots conservatives in Canada have been working toward speaking with a single voice on the federal stage. This statement achieves that goal by reflecting their views and beliefs.
At the Conservative Party’s founding convention, this statement will be a catalyst for further discussion and policy development. We anticipate enthusiastic involvement and contributions from our committed, national supporters as well as our parliamentary caucus in that process."
Given this paper - the need for a policy convention isn't as high a priority as I had stated previously. However, this paper doesn't deal with some very important issues that the parties and leadership candidates disagree on including the methods of tax reduction, same-sex marriage, and health care reform.
Having a policy convention would diffuse the potential problems of having certain regions feeling slighted if a leader is selected and those policies become the party policies for the election.
For example - the same-sex issues seems the most clear cut one - should Harper become the leader, and during the election campaign makes his thoughts on traditional marriage known - would Quebec and Ontario conservatives feel that the party has been forced into this platform because Harper won the leadership?
A delegated policy convention, more or less, ensures broad input and a national platform that would be free from regional interests and criticisms.
I guess I jumped the gun a little in my entry in the Election Blog where I complained that Stephen Harper's lack of enthusiasm for a policy convention could result “that the new leader would be able to pick and choose from the policies of the former Alliance and PC platforms”.
Well, Stephen probably knew that the Conservative Party would release a paper today entitled “Areas of Agreement - Conservative Party of Canada Patial Policy Statement”
This paper states:
"Conservative parties were in substantial agreement – as determined by common statements in documents passed by the grassroots members of both parties. As such, this document represents the common heritage of the founding parties of the Conservative Party of Canada.
For more than a decade, grassroots conservatives in Canada have been working toward speaking with a single voice on the federal stage. This statement achieves that goal by reflecting their views and beliefs.
At the Conservative Party’s founding convention, this statement will be a catalyst for further discussion and policy development. We anticipate enthusiastic involvement and contributions from our committed, national supporters as well as our parliamentary caucus in that process."
Given this paper - the need for a policy convention isn't as high a priority as I had stated previously. However, this paper doesn't deal with some very important issues that the parties and leadership candidates disagree on including the methods of tax reduction, same-sex marriage, and health care reform.
Having a policy convention would diffuse the potential problems of having certain regions feeling slighted if a leader is selected and those policies become the party policies for the election.
For example - the same-sex issues seems the most clear cut one - should Harper become the leader, and during the election campaign makes his thoughts on traditional marriage known - would Quebec and Ontario conservatives feel that the party has been forced into this platform because Harper won the leadership?
A delegated policy convention, more or less, ensures broad input and a national platform that would be free from regional interests and criticisms.
