Is conservatism really on the rise in Canada?
(wrong headline btw, should really be asking is extreme rightwing politics on the rise in Canada?)
Make no mistake, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs lost big on Monday night. The province’s voters delivered a forceful rebuke of Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives similar to the 1995 election, when the party won only six seats against Frank McKenna’s Liberals.
(but that is just one province, yeah but, read on...........)
Historically, the Liberals have had inefficient support that’s been concentrated in safe francophone ridings. This time, they made inroads with anglophones beyond Moncton.
Higgs, among Canada’s most socially conservative premiers, lost his own safe seat of Quispamsis, which was the province’s most Conservative riding in the 2020 election.
Since gaining power in 2018, Higgs embraced a neoconservative social agenda.
Most notably, he triggered a national conversation on trans children’s recognition in schools. Using the language of “parental rights,” Higgs introduced parent consent restrictions for name and pronoun changes for children under 16.
Over time, Higgs supported anti-trans and anti-sex education protesters, even as many advocates, parents and educators raised concerns about the safety and mental well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.
It didn’t end there. Higgs erroneously suggested an Indigenous nation sought to claim most of the province from property owners. In 2021, his government discouraged land acknowledgements by provincial employees. Higgs also argued that Indigenous people had already ceded their land.
Higgs was successful in uniting the right. As a former leadership contender of the linguistic segregationist Confederation of Regions party, Higgs welcomed far-right People’s Alliance representatives to his party.
(now, this is where the rubber meets the road. unlike those south of the border, this kind of conservatism met with backlash - from conservatives)
On the province’s Policy 713, also called the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity policy, six PCs voted with an opposition motion against the proposed changes. Four were cabinet ministers.
Several ministers resigned from cabinet with letters blasting Higgs’ leadership.
Almost half of PC riding associations sought a leadership review. They fell just short of the minimum needed to trigger a review.
(conclusions?)
But his loss is more than a personal rejection. It also seems a rejection of a grievance politics that favours anger over substance.
After repeatedly focusing on social issues over matters like housing, the grievances lost their allure. Even for the most steadfast Conservative voters, Higgs’ targeting of minorities came across as bullying.
While Higgs may be the worst offender, he is not the only practitioner of grievance conservatism. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith play the same tune. Will their political fates be any different?
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