The United Conservative Party of Alberta took a lot of heat last week when it barred Todd Beasley from competing to be nominated as the party’s candidate in the riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat because of his bigoted social media comments about Islam. Some of Beasley’s supporters accused the UCP of betraying its commitment to listen to the party’s grassroots supporters, and others said the party violated Beasley’s free speech rights.
The Beasley controversy shows one of the oldest challenges not just in Canadian politics, but in politics in general, namely how parties can keep the support of their bases while also getting the support of voters who don’t already back them. Focusing too much on one part or the other can cost a political party an election. Former federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair is widely seen as having lost the 2015 federal election because he moved too close to the centre, alienating the NDP’s core base. On the other hand, the Reform Alliance under Preston Manning and Stockwell Day was seen as being unable to appeal to Canadians east of Manitoba beyond its original Western base.
One of the reasons the federal Liberals have governed Canada for so long is their skill at this balancing act. Whether stealing ideas for social programs from the NDP or getting ahead of the Reform Alliance on the need to balance Canada’s budget, the Liberals have managed to tack left or right as the situation demands, while also enjoying a solid base of support. This was one of the secrets of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives’ longevity, too. While Ralph Klein aggressively cut spending and implemented a flat tax, he also refused the calls to defend traditional marriage and oppose gay rights being read into Alberta’s human rights code.
In the UCP’s case, party leader Jason Kenney no doubt realizes that while inflammatory comments about gays or Muslims might rally some of his party’s base, they’ll do far more harm than good by turning off voters who might otherwise support him. I personally recall friends and family who bled conservative blue and wanted the PCs gone in the 2012 provincial election, but told me they felt they had no choice but to support the PCs because they couldn’t stomach the idea of supporting the Wildrose Alliance after the infamous “lake of fire” comments made by candidate Alan Hunsperger.
Kenney also has previous experience with this situation. Kenney was one of Stephen Harper’s main lieutenants when Harper refused to broach any discussion of socially conservative issues like abortion even as he acted on other issues dear to his base such as cutting taxes or abolishing the long gun registry and the Canadian Wheat Board. While Harper kept this balancing act, Kenney actively reached out to various ethnic minorities and recruited new groups of voters. At one point, the Conservatives actually had the most ethnically diverse caucus in Parliament.
If Kenney becomes premier of Alberta, it’ll be because he understood the need for this balancing act, something Beasley clearly didn’t.
Jared Milne is a St. Albert resident with a passion for Canadian history and politics.
