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Common Sense Revolution

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The phrase Common Sense Revolution ( CSR ) has been used as a political slogan to describe conservative platforms with a main goal of reducing taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the size and role of government. It has been used in places such as Australia and Canada . This article deals with the "Common Sense Revolution" as it was under Ontario Premier Mike Harris and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 1995 to 2002.

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124-611: From 1943 to 1985, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) held uninterrupted power in Ontario, under Red Tory premiers such as Leslie Frost , John Robarts , and Bill Davis . In 1985, this era of Conservative Premiers (termed the Big Blue Machine by observers) came to an end when the minority government of Davis' successor, Frank Miller , was defeated in the legislature and in the subsequent provincial election when

248-806: A GTA-tier of local government and for inter-municipal service agencies (based on a similar model to that of Metro Toronto government). The net effect of the Golden Report was that it countered the Mike Harris pledge of "less government". The creation of a larger organizing body for the region ran counter to his party's advocacy of smaller government. Harris had felt that politicians, in particular lower level city councillors, were problematic to his party, and prevented free enterprise . The plan for reduced government might have emulated Margaret Thatcher 's approach that eliminated democratically elected upper-tier city and metropolitan region governments, replacing them with

372-406: A January 1991 poll. The government was unable to sustain its popularity, however, and by late 1992 had fallen to third place in public opinion polls. The party's popularity continued to ebb throughout 1993, followed by only a modest recovery in the next two years. This, among other factors, partially contributed to a significant decline in support for the federal NDP. There are many reasons for

496-452: A Red Tory by Chantal Hébert , Ezra Levant and others. The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia under Tim Houston , branding themselves as Red Tories, won a majority government in the 2021 Nova Scotia general election . Houston's Progressive Conservatives campaigned on using provincial resources to improve healthcare services. In 2009, Phillip Blond promoted communitarian traditionalist conservative ideas within

620-478: A Red Tory, which has put him at increasing odds with the government on several occasions. A 'grassroots' movement of dissenting Red Tories, who opposed the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada's merger with the Canadian Alliance, gathered signatures on Elections Canada forms from over 200 Progressive Conservative members and applied to re-register as the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. This name

744-403: A bone marrow transplant from his brother, he died of leukemia in 1989 at age 32. Rae learned of his family's Jewish origins in 1968. The revelation had a strong impact on him: he sought to explore his Jewish culture, dated Jewish girls exclusively and ultimately married a Jewish woman. Upon his marriage to Arlene Perly Rae , Rae agreed to raise three daughters in his wife's Jewish faith. Rae

868-424: A collection of more politically amenable appointed special-purpose bodies dominated by patronage. See Greater London Council . While many suburban municipalities grew rapidly during Harris' first term (1995–1999), some, such as Opposition member Bud Wildman , have argued that the net effect of many CSR policies was to transfer wealth from urban to suburban areas and to refocus services to commuters and suburbs. In

992-616: A degree of fiscal discipline and a respect of social and political order. It is contrasted with " Blue Tory " or " High Tory ". Some Red Tories view themselves as small-c conservatives . In Canada, Red Toryism is found in provincial and federal Conservative political parties. The history of Red Toryism marks differences in the development of the political cultures of Canada and the United States . Canadian conservatism and American conservatism have been different from each other in fundamental ways, including their stances on social issues and

1116-583: A falling-out with both the public sector unions, most notably Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and its leader Buzz Hargrove . Sid Ryan , Ontario President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees stated that Rae's passing of the "Social Contract" was unforgivable. Macleans reported that Rae had been delivered "a secret ultimatum" "by Canadian and international bond dealers". If he didn't get

1240-509: A family of Lithuanian immigrants to Scotland. Rae's elder brother John A. Rae (born 1945) was an executive vice-president and director of Power Corporation and a prominent member of the Liberal Party. He was also an adviser to Jean Chrétien when he was Indian Affairs Minister in 1968, and then again from 1993 until 2003 while Chrétien was prime minister. Rae's younger brother, David, was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1987. Despite

1364-414: A full coalition, but did not strongly argue this case with other members of his party. Peterson later indicated that he would not have accepted a coalition in any event. The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in a no-confidence motion on June 18, 1985, and Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird asked Peterson to form a new government. Rae himself moved the motion of non-confidence, as he had done in

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1488-499: A highly controversial move, the City of Toronto was merged with the five surrounding cities of Metropolitan Toronto to form a new single-tier "megacity" (a term coined by the local media). The Harris government saw the megacity as a cost-cutting measure. The fact that the merger took place in Toronto, a region with a lower proportion Conservative MPPs, further polarized the debate on the merit of

1612-708: A leadership convention in early 1982. When Rae won the NDP leadership, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party had governed Ontario since 1943 and was widely regarded as unbeatable. Rae was strongly critical of the Bill Davis government's approach to social issues, and used his acceptance speech to describe the PC Party's Ontario as "Toryland", "essentially a country club in which women and people of colour were not welcome". His comments were criticized by some in

1736-401: A majority. Rae entered into negotiations with both Premier Miller and Peterson, the latter begun by a phone call from Rae to Peterson shortly after election day. Rae and Peterson signed a "Liberal-NDP Accord" in which the NDP agreed to support a Liberal government in office for two years. The Liberals, in turn, agreed to implement some policies favoured by the NDP. Rae had personally supported

1860-478: A name of the moderate wing of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta , which was seen to be in ascendence under the leadership of Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford . Redford is closely associated with centrist Tories Joe Clark and Peter Lougheed , as opposed to Wildrose leader Danielle Smith 's association with right-wing Tories Ralph Klein and Tom Flanagan . Redford was called

1984-520: A number of initiatives that were unpopular with many traditional NDP supporters, such as the Social Contract . Rae's subsequent disagreement with the leftward direction of the NDP led him to resign his membership. In 2006, he joined the Liberals; he had previously been a Liberal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 2006, Rae was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberals, finishing in third place on

2108-766: A partner in February 2014. Rae sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission . Rae was appointed Canada's special envoy to Myanmar in October 2017 and advised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the Rohingya crisis. He is also a Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights . On July 6, 2020, his appointment as Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau . Rae

2232-406: A promise to introduce public auto insurance in the 1987 and 1990 campaigns. After assuming office, Rae appointed Peter Kormos , one of the most vocal proponents of public insurance, as the minister responsible for bringing forward the policy. With the onset of the recession, however, both business and labour groups expressed concern about layoffs and lost revenues. The government backtracked from

2356-571: A result, Rae became Leader of the Opposition once the legislature resumed. In September 1989, Rae took part in a highly publicized protest in support of native land claims in the middle of the Temagami Forest in Northern Ontario . Following discussions with Chief Gary Potts , Rae agreed to participate in a road sit-in to protect a strand of old pine, a key aspect of the native claim. After

2480-580: A sharp drift toward libertarian or liberal economic policies, comparable to such contemporaries as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher . Following Mulroney, the Canadian conservative movement suffered a profound schism in the 1993 election , splitting into the distinct Progressive Conservative and Reform parties. The Red Tory tradition remained loyal to the Progressive Conservatives, while many "blue" Tories aligned with social conservatives in

2604-600: A small surplus earlier in the year, but a worsening North American economy led to a $ 700 million deficit before Rae took office. In October, the NDP projected a $ 2.5 billion deficit for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 1991. Some economists projected soaring deficits for the upcoming years, even if the Rae government implemented austerity measures. Rae himself was critical of the Bank of Canada's high interest rate policy, arguing that it would lead to increased unemployment throughout

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2728-505: A strong majority government with 74 seats. The popular vote was very close, with the NDP outpolling the Liberals 37% to 34%. Several ridings were won by narrow margins. However, the NDP managed to take many seats from the Liberals in the Greater Toronto Area , and also did better than ever before (or in some cases, since) in many other cities and rural areas. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which ignores

2852-616: Is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party from 1982 to 1996, and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. Between 1978 and 2013, he was elected 11 times to federal (Broadview, Broadview-Greenwood, Toronto Centre) and provincial (York South) parliaments . Rae

2976-608: Is a member of Holy Blossom Temple , a Reform Jewish congregation in Toronto. His uncle, the late Jackie Rae , was an entertainer and former host of The Jackie Rae Show on CBC and also performed on British television. Rae attended Crichton Street Public School in Ottawa, Horace Mann Public School and Gordon Junior High School in Washington, D.C. (1956–1961), and the International School of Geneva , Switzerland. His first job

3100-648: Is agreed as the beginning of the Ontario government's concessions to international corporations. Indeed, no less than a year later at Davos, Rae arrived as a pro-business head of government. He approached the World Economic Forum as a unabashed champion of the international corporation working against the expansion of workers' wages and government services. He proposed giving a large majority of Ontario's investment planning to international banking and securities firms, meeting with Deutsche Bank , Goldman Sachs and Nomura Securities , all of whom sold Ontario bonds on

3224-586: Is at the root of Red Toryism. In distinction to the American experience where class divisions were seen as undemocratic (although still existing), Canadian Tories adopted a more paternalistic view of government. Monarchy, public order and good government – understood as dedication to the common good – preceded, moderated and balanced a belief in individual rights and liberty. Anthony Hall has argued that Red Toryism in Canada developed specifically in opposition to

3348-479: Is broken." When Bob Rae called the 1995 general election in Ontario, most political commentators were sure that Liberal leader Lyn McLeod would end up taking the premier's job. However, this prediction proved rather premature. Sticking to the contents of the CSR, Harris fought a campaign focused on simple, easily communicated messages. Specifically, he consistently delivered the party's promises to lower taxes and reduce

3472-499: Is valued and solutions emerge from local communities. Blond's ideas also parallel the socioeconomic tradition of distributism , as is evidenced by Blond's appearance at a distributist conference at Oxford University in 2009 sponsored by the G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture. Blond's Red Toryism has been embraced by traditionalist conservatives in the United States, such as economist John Medaille. The editors of

3596-507: The Social Contract , austerity legislation which reopened collective bargaining agreements with the province's public sector unions. This legislation imposed a wage freeze and introduced what became known as " Rae days ", requiring civil servants to take up to twelve days off without pay per year. These measures generated nearly 2 billion dollars in savings for Ontario, without laying off any public sector workers. These cutbacks led to

3720-521: The 2006 election , with 14,151 votes in 25 ridings (about 0.1% of the nationwide total). The party was deregistered by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on November 30, 2019, for failing to comply with Canada Elections Act requirements set out in subsection 415(1). In the wake of the rise of the conservative Wildrose Party in Alberta in the 2010s, the term "Red Tory" has been revived as

3844-591: The 2011 general election and was named interim leader of the Liberal Party weeks later, replacing Michael Ignatieff ; he served in that position until Justin Trudeau 's election as party leader in early 2013. On June 19, 2013, Rae announced that he would resign from parliament in order to become chief negotiator for James Bay area First Nations in their negotiations with the provincial government. His resignation from parliament became effective July 31, 2013. Rae joined Olthuis Kleer Townshend (OKT Law) LLP (a law firm specializing in representing Aboriginal clients) as

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3968-509: The Atlantic provinces , traditional Red Tories are the dominant force in the provincial Progressive Conservative parties because of their support of the welfare state . As premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967, Red Tory Robert Stanfield introduced reforms for education, health care and civil liberties. The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta included a broad spectrum from Red Tories to social conservatives, but Peter Lougheed who led

4092-472: The Canadian media not to refer to those in the tradition of George Grant, Dalton Camp or Robert Stanfield, but simply to moderates in the conservative movement, particularly those who reject or do not sufficiently embrace social conservatism . For example, in the 2004 Conservative Party leadership election , Tony Clement was sometimes referred to as a Red Tory even though he advocated privatization, tax cuts and

4216-745: The Conservative Party with a book titled Red Tory: How Left and Right Have Broken Britain and How We Can Fix It and by creating the think-tank ResPublica . Leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron spoke at ResPublica's launch and Red Tory ideas were said to be a major influence on him. In Scotland , the term "Red Tory" has been used to describe the Scottish Labour Party , who some see as assisting with, or failing to oppose, certain Conservative policies. The term

4340-626: The English tradition , than that of American practices and theories. Horowitz identified George Grant and Eugene Forsey as exemplars of this strain of thought, which saw a central role for Christianity in public affairs and was profoundly critical of capitalism and the dominant business élites . Forsey became a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) member, while Grant remained a Conservative – although he became disdainful of an overall shift in policy toward liberal economics and continentalism , something Forsey saw happening decades earlier. When

4464-593: The Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio, giving himself a direct voice in future constitutional negotiations. Bob Rae was in power for 1650 days, the longest term unique to an Ontario premier since the Second World War . He became one of the few Ontario premiers who could speak French. He was very popular for his first six months as Premier, with a poll from March 1991 showing the NDP at 52% support. The federal NDP also received 56% support in Ontario in

4588-490: The Liberal-Progressive coalition. The dominance of Red Toryism can be seen as a part of the international post-war consensus that saw the welfare state embraced by the major parties of most of the western world. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, the federal Progressive Conservative Party suffered a string of electoral defeats under Red Tory leaders Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark. Pressure began to grow within

4712-547: The National Policy . The adjective "red" refers to the economically left-leaning nature of Red Toryism in comparison with Blue Toryism, since socialist and other leftist parties have traditionally used the colour red . In Canada today, however, red is commonly associated with the Liberal Party . The term reflects the broad ideological range traditionally found within conservatism in Canada. Provincial Provincial Historically, Canadian conservatism has been derived from

4836-537: The Ontario Liberal Party formed a minority government and the Liberal leader, David Peterson , was sworn in as premier. The PC party was again defeated in the 1987 election that gave Peterson a majority government . In 1990, a junior cabinet minister from Miller's former government, Mike Harris, won the leadership of the party which was widely interpreted as a move to the political right , as Harris defeated

4960-722: The Reform Party . Various Unite the Right efforts achieved only modest success in the 1990s and early 2000s – most notably, while the creation of the Canadian Alliance in 2000 attracted a small number of Progressive Conservatives, it failed to attract those in the Red Tory tradition or to replace the Progressive Conservatives. Following the victory of Peter MacKay at the 2003 PC convention , and in violation of an informal contract signed with rival candidate David Orchard , MacKay merged

5084-578: The TTC Eglinton West subway line in Toronto (even though the official transit plan only recommended a busway for current needs), support for public housing, and the Jobs Ontario job creation program . Rae's decision to approve casino gambling for the province was also opposed by many in the party but it provided a steady source of revenue. Ontario's economic forecast was bleak when Rae took office in October 1990. The Liberal government had forecast

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5208-486: The Tory tradition, with a distinctive concern for a balance between individual rights and collectivism, as mediated through a traditional pre-industrial standard of morality – which has never been as evident in American conservatism. Red Toryism derives largely from a classical conservative tradition that maintained that the unequal division of wealth and political privilege among social classes can be justified if members of

5332-528: The Walkerton Tragedy during the CSR, and Eves' handling of the Northeast Blackout , the Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 2003 provincial election by Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberal Party . Municipal amalgamation led to a reduction in the number of municipalities in Ontario from 850 to 443 and the number of elected municipal officials by 23%, but resulted in an increase in

5456-581: The York South constituency. Rae defeated Liberal candidate John Nunziata , a York councillor in a by-election on November 4, 1982. Counting the leadership contest, this was his fifth election in just over four years. The opposition Liberals were led by the inexperienced David Peterson . Many senior NDP strategists believed their party could surpass the Liberals for second place, and Rae and Peterson became frequent rivals for media attention and public support between 1982 and 1985. The NDP took two seats from

5580-624: The American Revolution and its ideology. This type of Canadian conservatism is derived largely from the Tory tradition developed by English conservative thinkers and statesmen such as Richard Hooker ; the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury ; and Benjamin Disraeli , later the first Earl of Beaconsfield. The primary influences on Canadian Toryism in the Victorian age were Disraeli's One Nation Conservatism and

5704-656: The Atlantic provinces and urban Manitoba, areas where the Red Tories dominated provincial politics, and in some federal elections Quebec, where the federal PC party operated largely separately from provincial politics. During 42 years, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario was led by Red Tories such as George A. Drew , Leslie Frost , John Robarts and Bill Davis , all of which supported increased funding for infrastructure, health care and education. Throughout

5828-802: The Bissell Commission on University Government. As a result of his strong student record, Rae was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford , where he studied at Balliol College, Oxford under Isaiah Berlin . His Bachelor of Philosophy thesis criticized the cultural imperialism of early Fabian socialists in the United Kingdom, such as Sidney and Beatrice Webb . During his period in Britain he became involved with social work, helping squatters find rental accommodation in London. He attributes

5952-524: The Borough of East York. Other controversial municipal amalgamations took place during Harris' second term, including in Ottawa , Hamilton , Greater Sudbury and Kawartha Lakes . Unlike the Toronto amalgamation, however, these all involved large rural areas in addition to the primary urban core. Controversy over the amalgamations remains a significant political issue in some of these cities. Attempting to build on

6076-559: The British North American colonies since the Loyalist exodus from the American colonies between 1776 and 1796. It is this aspect that is one of the primary points of difference between the conservative political cultures of Canada and the United States. The explicit notion of a "Red" Toryism was developed by Gad Horowitz in the 1960s, who argued that there was a significant Tory ideology in Canada. This vision contrasted Canada with

6200-522: The Conservative government of John Diefenbaker fell in 1963, largely due to the BOMARC controversy , Grant wrote Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism , a book about the nature of traditional Canadian nationhood and independence that would become a lodestar of Red Toryism. Grant defined an essential difference between the founding of the Canadian and American nations when he wrote "Canada

6324-473: The Home Care and Community Services Act, 1994 to facilitate this. The Harris government subsequently rejected this model for a brokerage model in which Community Care Access Centres would hire a home care provider to service a region rather than provide the service directly and lifted the 10% limit on the use of for-profit service delivery that the Rae government had imposed. The New Democratic Party campaigned on

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6448-408: The Liberal Party leadership, was his roommate for a time. He first became involved in politics by volunteering on Trudeau's 1968 Liberal leadership campaign , and later worked on Liberal Charles Caccia 's campaign in the 1968 federal election . Rae and Caccia have remained personal friends through their political careers. During his final year as an undergraduate, Rae was a student representative on

6572-470: The Liberal candidate, he received a higher percentage of votes than any other NDP candidate in the province. Notwithstanding its setbacks, the Rae government achieved some positive accomplishments during its time in office. It saved many jobs in northern Ontario through its bailout of Algoma Steel , and negotiated a similar contract for paper mill workers in Kapuskasing . Other popular initiatives included

6696-497: The Liberals in late 1984 by-elections, and polling by Decima Research from this period put them slightly ahead of the Liberals, although still well behind the PCs. The NDP did not make the anticipated gains in the 1985 provincial election held on May 2, 1985. They won 25 seats out of 125, only a modest improvement from their 1981 showing. The Progressive Conservatives lost support after Davis retired and right-wing candidate Frank Miller

6820-541: The Liberals in the 2004 election, calling Paul Martin "the devil we know". Rick Borotsik joined the new party but openly criticized it from within, did not run for re-election in 2004, and also publicly endorsed the Liberals over the Conservatives during the campaign. Additionally, three of the twenty-six Progressive Conservative Senators , Lowell Murray , Norman Atkins and William Doody , decided to continue serving as Progressive Conservatives, rejecting membership in

6944-438: The Liberals still held a significant lead in opinion polls and all signs indicated that they would win another majority government. Rae later acknowledged that he did not expect to win the election, and planned to leave electoral politics at some point in the next sitting of the legislature. A number of prominent MPPs, including Richard Johnston , Marion Bryden and David Reville , chose not to seek re-election. Floyd Laughren

7068-526: The NDP amendments pass, although the Tories later voted to strike the Cafon amendment. The round-the-clock fight at Queen's Park lasted 10 days before the legislation was finally passed on April 21. On January 1, 1998, the new single-tier City of Toronto came into existence, superseding the former two-tier structure of Metropolitan Toronto, and the constituent cities of Toronto, York, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough and

7192-523: The NDP nomination over former MP John Paul Harney and activist Kay Macpherson. He won a full term in the 1979 federal election from the renamed riding of Broadview—Greenwood , and gained national prominence as the NDP's finance critic. In December 1979 he proposed a subamendment to the budget motion, stating that the House of Commons did not approve of Clark's budget . It was this motion's passage that toppled Clark's government after only eight months. Rae

7316-457: The Ontario NDP. On October 5, 1989, however, Rae announced that he would not return to federal politics and would remain as provincial leader. Several of Rae's associates, including Arlene Perly Rae, declared their support for Howard McCurdy , and later moved to Audrey McLaughlin after McCurdy was dropped from the ballot at the leadership convention. Rae declined to endorse a candidate. Rae

7440-647: The PCs were in office (from $ 17.6B in 1994/95 to $ 27.6B in 2003/04). Welfare reforms (including reductions in welfare payments to 'able-bodied citizens' through the division of the former Welfare program into the Ontario Disability Support Program and the Workfare program, which required able-bodied citizens to work for support) contributed to a reduction of welfare consumption in Ontario. With economic growth in North America generally strong, Ontario over

7564-471: The Rae government's loss of popularity between 1991 and 1993. The NDP had never governed Ontario before, and Ontario was experiencing its worst recession since the Great Depression . The government backtracked on several campaign promises, most notably the introduction of public auto insurance , which caused disagreements among the party and supporters, especially from members of the progressive wing of

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7688-523: The Senate by Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, and chose to designate themselves as Progressive Conservatives. Doody has since died, and Ruth joined the Conservative Party caucus in 2006. Despite the union, some former Progressive Conservative members still identify themselves as Red Tory, including high-profile political strategist turned Senator Hugh Segal , who in 2013 continued to describe himself as

7812-454: The Tories with Stephen Harper 's Alliance to create the modern federal Conservative Party in 2003. When first created, one of the most important issues facing the Conservative Party was what Red Tories would do. The union resulted in a number of Red Tories leaving the new party, either to retire or to cross the floor to the Liberal Party . Members of Parliament (MPs) André Bachand , John Herron , Joe Clark and Scott Brison declined to join

7936-532: The United States, which was seen as lacking this collectivist tradition because it was expunged from the American political culture after the American Revolution and the exodus of the United Empire Loyalists . Horowitz argued that Canada's stronger socialist movement grew from Toryism , and that this explains why socialism has never had much electoral success in the United States. This also meant that Canadian conceptions of liberty were more collective and communitarian, and could be seen as more directly derivative of

8060-423: The central governments to local communities, small businesses, and volunteerism. Blond also favours empowering social enterprises , charities and other elements of civil society to solve problems such as poverty. He has been mentioned as a major influence on the thinking of David Cameron and other Tories in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. He advocates a civic state as the ideal, where the common good of society

8184-404: The country. He also criticized the 1991 federal budget, arguing the Finance Minister Michael Wilson was shifting the federal debt to the provinces. The Rae government's first budget, introduced in 1991, increased social spending to mitigate the economic slowdown and projected a record deficit of $ 9.1 billion. Finance Minister Floyd Laughren argued that Ontario made a decision to target

8308-446: The creation of a unified Toronto. Leach would go on to blame local mayors and community groups for the opposition, going on to be quoted in the same article as saying: "In the end, it became a cause célèbre for all of the issues that the government was bringing forward on its agenda". One of the loudest opponents to the new city was former Toronto mayor John Sewell who led the action group Citizens for Local Democracy . In April 1997,

8432-582: The curtailment of social and economic development spending. Traditional Red Tories would reject most if not all of these stances. More recently, Phillip Blond , director of British think tank ResPublica, has gained traction with his so-called Red Tory thesis which criticizes what he refers to as the welfare state and the market state. Phillip Blond promotes a radical communitarian traditionalist conservatism . It inveighs against welfare states as well as market monopolies and instead respects traditional values and institutions, localism , devolution of powers from

8556-573: The defeat of Joe Clark's government six years earlier. With support from Rae, Peterson's minority government implemented socially progressive legislation on matters such as pay equity, brought an end to extra-billing by doctors, and established campaign spending limits. Rae often criticized Peterson's approach to specific issues, but never moved to bring down the government. Rae advocated pension reform in early 1986, following revelations that some corporate leaders in Ontario had been given permission to withdraw money from their employees' pension funds. He

8680-426: The deficit under $ 10 billion, they would demand junk-bond interest rates in order to finance Ontario's debt. Richard Walkom suggested it was a sudden panic of an NDP party aware of the stereotype it could not manage a budget, using the crisis as an opportunity to demonstrate it would use extreme measures in the appropriate circumstances. Regardless of whether Davos visit provided an epiphany, pressure or panic, this event

8804-418: The effects of the recession rather than the deficit, and said that the budget would create or protect 70,000 jobs. It targeted more money to social assistance, social housing and child benefits, and raised taxes for high-income earners while lowering rates for 700,000 low-income Ontarians. In April 1991, the government introduced a one-year program to protect the pay of workers whose firms had shut down due to

8928-496: The experience with helping him develop a deepened commitment to social justice and, on his return to Canada in 1974 Rae joined the social democratic NDP. He worked in labour law during the mid-1970s. Rae was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 1978 by-election, defeating Progressive Conservative Tom Clifford by 420 votes in the Toronto riding of Broadview . Rae won

9052-426: The global market. Instead of selling more bonds, he was now asking them to "sell Ontario through their global networks", looking to "plug into" them instead of spending government money to control publicly-controlled avenues to investment. This breach between the NDP and the labour movement struck at the party's foundations. The NDP was founded as an alliance between the old Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and

9176-474: The government introduced Bill 103 ( City of Toronto Act ). The Ontario New Democratic Party filibustered the legislation by proposing a series of amendments, each of which required the government to consult the residents of a specific street in the city before implementing the amalgamation. One street, Cafon Court in Etobicoke , had its amendment successfully passed when government members inadvertently let one of

9300-476: The kind long-proposed by the more conservative and business leaders of Ontario. Indeed, [Rae's] speech to the U. of T. students was so emphatic on the importance of making government more efficient and cutting spending that reports, remembering the antagonism between Mr. Rae and business leader Conrad Black , joked that the Premier had gone from being 'Comrade Bob to Conrad Bob' As a result, his government brought in

9424-404: The labour movement, and Rae's policy decisions alienated many traditional NDP voters. Thousands of members resigned from the party, and several unions turned against the NDP and vowed to defeat the government in the next election. The Rae government later attempted to regain labour support by passing Bill 40, a measure which (among other things) introduced anti-scab provisions to the province. This

9548-594: The media, though Rae himself would later write that his words seemed "particularly apt" in retrospect and "certainly aroused an angry response which often means a target has been hit". After Rae won the party leadership, there was a delay of several months before he was able to contest a by-election to enter the Ontario legislature . Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) Jim Renwick , Marion Bryden and Tony Grande all declined to relinquish their seats, before former party leader Donald C. MacDonald agreed to stand down in

9672-416: The merger. Some municipalities, particularly Toronto, also complained that the government was "downloading" the costs of services that the province had formerly paid for onto local city and municipal governments. Long before the merger, in October 1996, a focus group conducted by Angus Reid for the government warned Municipal Affairs Minister Al Leach that there would be "considerable public resistance" to

9796-541: The message became a balance between stability and emphasizing that there was still "much left to do". Though not as popular as the CSR, the Blueprint was part of a successful re-election campaign, allowing Harris to win another majority government. Harris resigned as premier in 2002, and was succeeded by Ernie Eves . Through a variety of factors, including dissatisfaction with the effects of the government's platform policies, deterioration of municipal services after downloading,

9920-438: The more centrist Dianne Cunningham . Harris immediately set about crafting a new image for himself and the party. In his first election in 1990 , he branded himself "the tax fighter". He strongly opposed an unpopular photo-radar program introduced by the Liberal government and attacked it as a revenue grab. Despite his party's third place showing in the election (which was won by NDP leader Bob Rae), Harris had managed to improve

10044-418: The new party – Brison immediately crossed the floor to the Liberals, Bachand and Clark sat out the remainder of the 37th Canadian Parliament as Progressive Conservatives and then retired from office in the 2004 election , and Herron sat as a Progressive Conservative for the remainder of the term but then ran for re-election in 2004 as a Liberal. Clark, a former Prime Minister, gave a tepid endorsement to

10168-429: The new party. Atkins, who died in 2010, remained allied with the still-existent Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , and Murray, from Atlantic Canada, opposed the merger of the federal PC party. Most, like prominent Senator Marjory LeBreton , came to endorse the new party and have been vocal and visible supporters of the party both between and during elections. Elaine McCoy and Nancy Ruth were later appointed to

10292-443: The next five years outperformed every Canadian province except Alberta. This growth allowed Harris to eliminate briefly the $ 11 billion annual deficit he had inherited from previous Premiers David Peterson and Bob Rae. Although the provincial budget was indeed balanced for the last several years of Harris's own time in office, his successor and former deputy Ernie Eves left office with a $ 5 billion deficit. Harris' interest in reforming

10416-718: The number of municipal employees by 39% from 1996 to 2011. Per thousand residents, there were 15.8 municipal employees in 1990 and 20.9 in 2010. Part of this resulted from an increase in services by the larger municipalities, or replacement of volunteer staff with full-time staff such as for firefighting services. Other contributing factors were the downloading of services from provincial jurisdiction to municipalities, such as social assistance , public housing and public health . The remaining increase resulted from wage increases associated with amalgamation and an increase in administrative employment, such as hiring more clerks and treasurers. Amalgamated municipalities increased employees at twice

10540-418: The number of people on Ontario's social assistance program. The turning point in the election is often considered to be Harris' performance in the televised leader's debate. Rather than get caught up in the debate between McLeod and Rae, Harris used his camera time to speak directly to the camera to convey CSR points, virtually ignoring all questions asked of him by his opponents. Another major contributing factor

10664-492: The party for a new approach. Clark's leadership was successfully challenged, and in the 1983 PC leadership convention , members endorsed Brian Mulroney who rejected free trade with the United States as proposed by another Blue Tory candidate, John Crosbie . Despite this early perception, the eagerness in which Mulroney's ministry embraced the Macdonald Commission 's advocacy of bilateral free trade would come to indicate

10788-456: The party from 1968 to 1985 and was Premier from 1971 to 1985 was a Red Tory and Lougheed's tenure was characterized by active economic measures and social reforms. In the 50's and 60's, Manitoba saw great prosperity in economic and social reforms thanks to the leadership of Premier Dufferin Roblin , a Red Tory, who governed to the left of the previous government led by Douglas Campbell , the leader of

10912-441: The party standing in the legislature and bring some attention to his plan. After the 1990 election, Harris and his advisors (including prominent Ontario Tories Tony Clement , then President of the party, Leslie Noble, Alister Campbell and Tom Long ) set to work creating a more comprehensive reform package to present to the province. The result was the CSR. The CSR reform package was markedly neoliberal in nature, closely mirroring

11036-410: The party such as cabinet ministers Howard Hampton and Shelley Martel . A number of scandals in cabinet and caucus due to the large number of rookie MPPs also cut into the government's popularity. In the 1993 federal election , the NDP fell to a historic low of 6% support in Ontario. All 10 New Democrat MPs from Ontario lost their seats to Liberal challengers as the Liberals won all but one seat in

11160-411: The party's 21 MPPs endorsed his candidacy , as did much of the labour movement. Rae's supporters in caucus were Marion Bryden , Brian Charlton , Dave Cooke , Odoardo Di Santo , Tony Grande , Donald C. MacDonald , Robert Mackenzie , Elie Martel , Ed Philip , George Samis and Mel Swart . He was the most centrist candidate in the contest, and easily defeated Richard Johnston and Jim Foulds at

11284-435: The platforms of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. The central tenets of the CSR were tax reduction, balancing the budget, reducing the size and role of government, and an emphasis on individual economic responsibility (often summarized by opposition to government hand-outs). Among other things, Harris promised to reduce personal income tax rates by 30% and balance

11408-400: The policy in 1991. Kormos, who had already been dropped from cabinet, became Rae's most vocal critic in the NDP caucus. Rae's government attempted to introduce a variety of socially progressive measures during its time in office, though its success in this field was mixed. In 1994, the government introduced legislation, Bill 167 , which would have provided for same-sex partnership benefits in

11532-460: The political left of the Labour Party to refer to MPs and Labour Party figures who withheld support for Jeremy Corbyn , the former Labour leader from 2015 to 2020. The term has also been used as a pejorative against current Labour leader Keir Starmer , who has been seen by some to have moved the party too far away from traditional left-wing positions. The term Red Tory is often used today in

11656-469: The political structure of cities dated back to his time in opposition when he led the "Mike Harris Task Force on Bringing Common Sense to Metro" (Toronto), on January 5, 1995. This in many ways was designed to counter Premier Bob Rae 's government task force on the Greater Toronto Area , chaired by Anne Golden . When the final report (called the "Golden Report") was released in 1996, it called for

11780-414: The popular vote and only awards power based on the number of ridings won, this decimated the Liberal caucus. The Liberals lost 59 seats, the worst defeat in their history and the second-worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario. The NDP even managed to unseat Peterson in his own riding. On October 1, 1990, Rae was sworn in as the first, and to date the only, NDP Premier of Ontario . He also took

11904-489: The privileged class practiced noblesse oblige and contributed to the common good. Red Tories supported traditional institutions such as religion and the monarchy, and maintenance of the social order. This position was later manifested in their support for some aspects of the welfare state . This belief in a common good, as expanded on in Colin Campbell and William Christian 's Political Parties and Ideologies in Canada ,

12028-781: The protest, Rae was escorted to a police wagon by members of the Ontario Provincial Police and driven to the nearby town of Elk Lake . He was not charged with an offense. There was considerable speculation that Rae would seek the federal NDP leadership in 1989, after the resignation of Ed Broadbent . High-profile party members such as former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, Allan Blakeney and Roy Romanow of Saskatchewan , Gary Doer of Manitoba and Alexa McDonough of Nova Scotia all encouraged him to run, as did several representatives of organized labour. Expecting Rae to resign, Bud Wildman , Ruth Grier and Richard Johnston began preparing campaigns to succeed him as leader of

12152-440: The province. Besides many NDP supporters nationwide voting Liberal to ensure that the Conservatives would be defeated (to avoid the vote-splitting of the 1988 election), the Rae government's unpopularity was a major factor in the federal NDP's losses. On the day after the election, defeated MP Steven Langdon called on Rae to resign. Langdon had openly campaigned against Rae's austerity measures. Although he lost by 13,000 votes to

12276-448: The provincial budget at the same time (which had reached a record $ 10 billion deficit under the NDP). The CSR was specifically tailored as a reform document. It was presented as a radical change to the status quo of provincial government business. The opening words of the document were: "The people of Ontario have a message for their politicians — government isn't working anymore. The system

12400-597: The radical Toryism advocated by Lord Randolph Churchill . Inherent in these Tory traditions was the ideal of noblesse oblige and a conservative communitarianism . In Victorian times, these ideas were the pre-eminent strains of conservative thought in the British Empire, and were advanced by many in the Tory faction of John A. Macdonald 's conservative coalition in the Canadas. None of this lineage denies that Tory traditions of communitarianism and collectivism had existed in

12524-431: The rate of those that were not restructured. Red Tory A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition. It is most predominant in Canada; however, it is also found in the United Kingdom, where it is more commonly known as one nation conservatism . This philosophy tends to favour communitarian social policies, while maintaining

12648-692: The recession. Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie estimated that the plan would help 56,000 workers. Rae claims he faced a true emergency in the spring of 1993 a crisis of government on which he had to act. Upon returning from Davos, Rae gave a speech on 9 February describing international business leaders' despair over government deficits and inefficiencies in Europe, where they stressed "the worldwide trend to redesign organizations, downsizing wherever possible and trying to make their organizations more responsive". Rae left Davos convinced that major changes in Ontario public services were needed, where these changes were of

12772-497: The role of government in society. Red Tory governments in Canada, such as those of John A. Macdonald , Robert Borden , and John Diefenbaker , were known for supporting an active role for the government in the economy. This included the creation of government- owned and operated Crown Corporations such as the Canadian National Railway , and the development and protection of Canadian industries with programs such as

12896-532: The same period Rae was in Ottawa, the Ontario New Democratic Party was suffering from internal disunity under the leadership of Michael Cassidy . Cassidy resigned as leader after a poor performance in the 1981 provincial election , and a movement began to draft Rae as his replacement. Rae initially declined a request from a provincial delegation led by Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Dave Cooke , but reconsidered after further entreaties from former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis and many others. Eleven of

13020-574: The same year, Rae argued that the Peterson government should reform the Ontario Human Rights Code to include provisions for group defamation and systematic discrimination. Some members of the NDP disapproved of the party's accord with the Liberals. Party activist Ian Orenstein challenged Rae for the provincial leadership in 1986 in a symbolic protest against the party's centrist tilt. Rae won without difficulty. Peterson's minority government

13144-500: The success of the CSR content and messaging strategy for the 1999 election, Harris and the Ontario Tories branded their new policy document the "Blueprint" (Blue being the official colour of the party). The Blueprint followed the same theoretical framework as its predecessor, yet was tempered for a much different political environment. In 1995 the message had been "reform" and "revolution", but after four years of conservative government,

13268-470: The third ballot. He returned to the House of Commons of Canada on March 31, 2008, as a Liberal MP after winning a March 17, 2008 by-election , holding the riding that had previously been held by Liberal Bill Graham . He was re-elected in the 2008 general election . Rae ran again as a candidate for the party leadership but withdrew on December 12, 2008. He was re-elected in the Toronto Centre riding in

13392-430: The troubled Meech Lake Accord for constitutional reform proved a particular liability. There were also signs of an economic downturn by this time and some believed that Peterson had called the snap election to avoid its full impact. The Progressive Conservatives were led by the inexperienced Mike Harris , who ran a narrow campaign focused on tax issues and was unable to capitalize on the Liberal slide. As such, Rae's NDP

13516-786: The web log Front Porch Republic , however, define Red Toryism as a " left or socialist conservatism " and further go on to say that it is "not a traditionalism that happened to oddly pick up a few egalitarian rhetorical tropes along the way." This is more in keeping with the typical dictionary definition of the term as: "(Canadian) a Conservative who holds liberal or mildly socialist views on certain fiscal and social issues." In this regard, Phillip Blond's views are probably closer to what has been referred to as High Tory . Farney, James; Rayside, David (2013). Conservatism in Canada . University of Toronto Press. ISBN   978-1-4426-1456-7 . Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae PC CC OOnt KC (born August 2, 1948)

13640-466: Was a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament from 1978 to 1982. He then moved to provincial politics, serving as leader of the Ontario NDP from February 7, 1982, to June 22, 1996. After leading his party to victory in the 1990 provincial election he served as the 21st Premier of Ontario from October 1, 1990, to June 26, 1995, and was the first person to have led a provincial NDP government east of Manitoba . While in office, he brought forward

13764-630: Was a focussed advertising campaign which stuck to 3 key policy elements - "Work for Welfare, Scrap the Quota Law (Affirmative Action) and Tax Cuts for Jobs — Common Sense for a Change". Harris and the PCs won a majority government in the election, winning 82 of the province's 130 seats. Harris was committed to implementing the CSR platform almost in its entirety. Over several years, income taxes were cut as much as 30%. Spending cuts in "low priority areas" reduced government spending in all areas except for health care, where government spending rose each year

13888-579: Was a paper route delivering the Washington's Evening Star newspaper, which he later described as "one of the worst newspapers in the history of modern journalism". His customers included Richard Nixon and Estes Kefauver . Rae later joked that Kefauver gave him a $ 20 tip one Christmas, whereas Pat Nixon only gave him a quarter and made him more sympathetic to Democrats from that moment. Rae graduated with honours from University College , University of Toronto, where he also later received his law degree. Michael Ignatieff , who later became Rae's rival for

14012-441: Was also planning to retire, but had not finalized his plans when Peterson dropped the writ . Contrary to expectations, the Liberal Party's support base declined significantly in mid-campaign. The snap election was unpopular, and the Liberals suffered lingering effects from an earlier scandal involving Liberal fundraiser Patti Starr undermined public confidence in the government. Peterson's prominent role in drafting and supporting

14136-481: Was an international observer for Lithuania 's first multi-party elections in early 1990. A lifelong opponent of communism , he later wrote that he was impressed by the spirit of the opposition Sąjūdis party, which won the election. He was also very critical of the Kremlin 's harsh response to the opposition's victory. Peterson called a snap election for 1990 . The NDP entered the campaign with low expectations, as

14260-404: Was born in Ottawa , Ontario. His parents were Lois Esther (George) and Saul Rae , an eminent Canadian career diplomat who had postings in Washington, Geneva , New York, Mexico, and The Hague. Rae's paternal grandparents immigrated from Scotland , and his mother had English ancestry. Rae was raised as an Anglican. As an adult, he found out that his paternal grandfather was Jewish and was from

14384-455: Was chosen as their new leader. However, it was the Liberals rather than the NDP who were able to reposition themselves in the political centre and reap the benefits of this change. Rae nonetheless played a pivotal role in bringing the Progressive Conservative Party's 42-year dynasty to an end. The 1985 election resulted in a minority parliament, in which the Tories held four more seats than David Peterson's Liberals, but were eleven seats short of

14508-577: Was elected to parliament for a third time in the 1980 federal election , and married Arlene Perly days later. In caucus, he sided with party leader Ed Broadbent in supporting patriation of the Canadian Constitution with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms . He also articulated his party's policy on the Canadian Bank Act, and criticized the Bank of Canada 's high interest rate policy. During

14632-472: Was especially critical of Conrad Black , who then held a controlling interest in Dominion Stores Ltd., for withdrawing $ 62 million at a time when many laid off company workers were unable to receive severance pay. During a legislative debate, Rae described Black as "that most symbolic representative of bloated capitalism at its worst". The Liberal government declined to act on the matter. Later in

14756-567: Was first used in this context by Scottish independence supporters, following Labour's participation in the Better Together campaign in opposition to Scottish independence alongside the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum . Evolving from the Scottish usage of the term, the term, along with the terms Blairite , Brownite and " centrist ", have been used, particularly on social media by members on

14880-414: Was not enough to bridge the gap with organized labour, however, and the party was unable to regain significant union support. As Premier, Rae placed a cap on enrollment into medical schools. The Rae government also delisted home care from OHIP coverage but introduced a new comprehensive program to deliver the service mostly on a non-profit basis by publicly run, regional multi-service agencies and passed

15004-588: Was predicated on the rights of nations as well as on the rights of individuals." This definition recognized Canada's multi-faceted founding nature as an English-speaking, aboriginal and Francophone nation. Many of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 's leaders have been labelled 'Red Tories', including Sir Robert Borden , John Diefenbaker , Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark . Many others have been influential as cabinet ministers and thinkers, such as Davie Fulton , Dalton Camp , Roy McMurtry and John Farthing . The main bastions of Red Toryism were Ontario,

15128-532: Was refused by Elections Canada. Having anticipated such a rejection, the coordinators had had the 'SignaTories' also sign a second application to at least continue with the ballot name "PC Party". On March 26, 2004, the Progressive Canadian Party was registered with Elections Canada. It aimed to be perceived as a continuation of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, but achieved only very minor results. The party achieved its largest vote to date in

15252-408: Was the primary beneficiary. Rae himself was more confident than in the 1985 and 1987 campaigns, and took a more aggressive stance against the Peterson government. A poll taken late in the campaign showed the NDP holding a slight lead over the Liberals. The election results were nonetheless a surprise to political observers across the province, even to longtime NDP supporters. The NDP was elected to

15376-537: Was very popular during its two years in office, and the Liberal Party won a landslide majority government in the 1987 provincial election , called after the conclusion of the Liberal-NDP accord. The NDP was reduced to nineteen seats and Rae was nearly defeated in his own riding, defeating high-profile Liberal challenger Alan Tonks by only 333 votes. The Progressive Conservatives under Larry Grossman suffered an even more serious defeat, falling to only sixteen seats. As

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