In 2006, several months after becoming prime minister, Stephen Harper traveled to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. At a private dinner hosted by Canadas newly-appointed ambassador, Michael Wilson, the subject of diversity and immigration came up.
There, in the presence of Bushs campaign guru Karl Rove and several U.S. cabinet ministers (Bush didnt attend himself), Harper explained how the Liberal party had traditionally been the party of immigrants in Canada and that he was determined to change that. He told his American guests that Canadas immigrant communities had the right-of-centre family values that should make them feel perfectly at home in the Conservative party.
Harper then warned his guests that the Republican Party should be aware of the demographic changes that were sweeping America and made it clear that if they failed to attract the votes of Hispanic Americans, they eventually would pay a heavy electoral price.
We all know what happened since. Rove and Bush, who had been governor of Texas and understood the need for the Republicans to broaden their base, tried to do just that and failed. Immigration reform died under an onslaught from the Tea Party and the surge of the crackpot alt-right, phenomena that eventually brought Donald Trump to the White House, with plans for a fabulous wall and a Muslim ban.
In Canada, Harper remained in power for almost a decade, helped by the split in the centre-left and the ferocious control he exercised over the motley coalition of Christian evangelicals, government-destroying libertarians and old-school Tories that constituted the Conservative Party of Canada. Through much of that time, Harper kept the lid on the nasty xenophobic elements in his party and actually made significant inroads in certain communities of new Canadians with the help of Jason Kenney, who continues to argue in favour of open borders and against Trumps Muslim ban.
Stephen Harper may have had plenty of shortcomings, but he was no bigot.
It all came apart in the final desperate days of the 2015 election, of course, when a desperate Conservative party cavorted openly with anti-immigrant voters and launched the ill-fated barbaric cultural practices snitch line. Since their defeat, the Conservatives have been flailing around looking for direction. Devoid of attractive alternatives who can actually unify the party and make it a viable centre-right option, the leadership race has devolved into a mosh pit of candidates who will literally say anything to get attention.
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The truth is that theres pressure on Conservative leadership candidates to keep the back door open to the Islamaphobe vote. How else can you explain Leitchs posting of a photo of a (blue-eyed) young woman wearing spaghetti straps, her lips sealed with a tape marked M-103, the number of Khalids motion? In the background is a faint image of police officers on Parliament Hill a not-so-subtle reference to the 2014 attack on the Commons.
Then theres candidate Pierre Lemieux (whoever he is), who said that Islamophobia isnt at the forefront of discussion and isnt a problem in Canada. He clearly hasnt been watching the news for the past month. Maxime Bernier says hes worried the motion would restrict freedom to criticize Islam and then somehow managed to link its passage to support for Sharia law.
Backbench Conservatives have been no better. MP Marilyn Gladu said she worries that she could be accused of Islamophobia if she voiced the concern that ISIS terrorists would want to rape and behead her. By even suggesting that equivalence, our enlightened MP demonstrates that she clearly has issues of her own.
Of the candidates for leadership, only the thoughtful and eminently reasonable Michael Chong has said he would support the motion. Others are openly hostile, or are trying to slither out of supporting it. Not an edifying sight.
Mélanie Joly, the Heritage minister, is actually right when she says that these Conservatives are scared of denouncing Islamophobia and by not denouncing Islamophobia, they are actually contributing to the problem.
There are Conservatives who think they can make short-term gains on this score, maybe even win the partys leadership. Perhaps Im overly optimistic, but I dont think this is a winning electoral strategy for them except with the die-hard 30 per cent (or less) of voters who dont like all these foreigners and would like a return to a white, Christian, unilingual Canada.
And getting on the Trump train after the chaos of the past month might not be such a smart idea, especially if its heading for a major derailment.
I thought Id heard enough from Stephen Harper to last me another lifetime. On this matter, Id like to know what he has to say.
