Conservatives of Canada unite; you have nothing to lose but the chains of socialism!
Ok, paraphrasing Karl Marx is probably not the best way to rally conservatives.
But please bear with me here, because I'm trying to get across an important point regarding the future of Canada's conservative movement.
And that point is this: if conservatism is to survive as a vibrant philosophy, if it's to hold off the incoming waves of progressive leftism, if it's to survive as a force in the 21st century, then conservatives of different shades, and types and tribes, need to start respecting each other.
And when I say "conservatives", I mean that in the loosest sense of the term, i.e. I'm talking about libertarians, social conservatives, business conservatives, populists, and Red Tories.
In other words, just about the whole gamut of mainstream "right wingism."
Traditionally, of course, all these clans that make up the conservative family don't really get along all that well, mainly because each group has its own perspective, its own agenda, and its own priorities.
Libertarians promote individual freedom, social conservatives defend moral and cultural values, populists resent the Establishment's callousness, and Red Tories are the "Peace Order and Good Government," guys.
In fact, these conservative groups are often so discordant that the only really effective way to coalesce them into something approaching a unified force is to frighten them into closing ranks.
That's to say you need to find a common enemy or common threat, someone or something, all conservatives hate or fear.
Throughout the Cold War, conservatives had such a common enemy: The Soviet Union.
It was this Soviet threat which allowed former US president Ronald Reagan to unite conservatives of all stripes under his banner, since he branded himself as the supreme champion of anti-communism.
But when the Soviet Union fell apart, so did the anti-communist conservative coalition.
And ever since then it's been difficult to put the pieces back together again.
Indeed, if anything conservative tribes are drifting further and further apart, to the point where we seem to be tottering on the brink of an intra-conservative civil war.
OK, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but every time I venture into the realm of social media, I see libertarians mocking social conservatives, social conservatives deriding Red Tories, Red Tories insulting populists and populists denouncing libertarians.
And the tone keeps getting nastier, derided opponents quickly become stereotypes, stereotypes become caricatures.
It's a problem.
Yes, snarkily attacking someone on Twitter you think is wrong-headed can be emotionally satisfying, but such attacks also serve to weaken the overall conservative movement, undermining its voice.
And soon a strong and united conservative voice will be needed in this country.
Why?
Well, if nothing else, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has moved the political centre of gravity in Canada to the left.
Even worse, he is popularizing socialism.
Deficits, taxes, big costly national programs are all now celebrated.
But even that's not the real problem.
What's truly troubling is that while Trudeau is whetting the public's appetite for bigger and costlier government, in the end he won't be able to meet the expectations he's building up.
I say that because Trudeau practices what I call "Boutique Socialism," a brand of socialism designed to please trendy progressives but not to frighten Canada's ruling elites.
Simply put, the prime minister is a thoroughly establishment politician and that constrains his socialist impulses.
And sooner or later, the NDP is going to figure this out; they will realize that the best way to defeat the Trudeau Liberals is to outflank them on the left.
That means they will emulate America's Bernie Sanders or the UK's Jeremy Corbyn and offer Canadians a full-blown brand of socialism, a socialism Trudeau is prepping Canadians to accept.
And when this happens, Canada's conservatives will have to ready to fight for the values we hold in common.
Part of that readiness means a willingness to ally with other conservative tribes.
Now that doesn't mean conservatives will have to like each other or to agree on every single issue, but it does mean we should at least respect each other's points of view.
After all, if my dire prediction about the rise of a radical left in this country is correct, we're going to need each other.
So let me conclude with a non-Marxist quote, from ancient Roman Publilius Syrus, who said "Where there is unity there is always victory".
So let's work on that unity.
