A reading of The New Canada makes it obvious that Preston Manning, so often lampooned and so easily caricatured, is a shrewd man. Although not a deep thinker, he possesses the synthetic abilities and the communication skills to articulate timely and appealing positions on the issues of the day.
Presented below are some quotations from the book that touch on key points in relation to Manning and Reform and that complement lecture material.
There is such a thing as a "reform tradition" in Canada. . . . My personal political convictions are rooted in the populist political traditions of western Canada. . . . Although the Social Credit Party called for a complete reform of the capitalist system and the CCF originally called for its abolition and replacement by socialism, the one thing the two movements had in common was their populist roots.In the case of Depression-era politics in Alberta, the dark side of populism which my father had to contend with was its potential to be misdirected into racism. . . . If a revival of grassroots democratic populism is to be a characteristic of the revitalization of Canadian federal politics in the 1990s, especially in Quebec and the West, it is of primary importance that its leaders be well versed in ways and means of preventing populism from devloping racist or other extremist overtones.
Like many younger people in the 1960s I was not at all comfortable with the left-right dichotomy of traditional politics. . . . Many of us were searching for a synthesis of these two perspectives--one that would provide a political home for people with "hard heads and soft hearts" . . . the reconciliation of small-c conervative economics with those social concerns and priorities that were very much a part of prairie populism on both the left and the right.
Reformers support "equality of opportunity," not "equality of results." We believe that an open, free-market economy, combined with a genuinely democratic political system, offers the best possible chances for individuals to pursue their goals in life. . . . A market economy, open society, and democratic polity are great engines for the destruction of privilege. . . . Of course, government plays a key role in all of this. It is to ensure that the economy and society are truly open and competitive, and that the means of self-improvement are available to all. . . . The constitution of New Canada should create a federal government that does a few things well, rather than a government that attempts everything and succeeds at nothing. . . . I believe that reducing federal spending to the point at which it results in a lower tax burden on Canadians and reduces both the cost of living and the cost of doing business in this country, is the single most important step toward getting Canada's economic house in order.
Whenever populism has become a force to be reckoned with in western Canadian politics, it has been energized by "western alientation." . . . We felt that the West's constitutional concerns were never given the same priority by the national government as those of Quebec. . . . The working definition of Canada which the federal government intended to use to guide future constitutional development was the old Upper Canada/Lower Canada definition. . . Virtually every constitutional initiative taken by the federal government to make Quebec feel more at home in confederation has increased western alienation and made an ever-increasing number of other Canadians feel less at home in confederation. . . . In western Canada, there is virtually no acceptance of the concept of Canada as some sort of marriage between the French and the English. . . . This revival of the concept of Canada as an equal partnership between founding races was doomed from the start. . . . Like Lord Durham long ago, we take as our starting point the perception that Canada is composed of two nations warring in the bosom of a single state. The "two nations" we see, however, are not French Canada and English Canada, but an Old Canada that is dying, and New Canada that is struggling to be born. . . . Reformers are federalists, not separatists, but we are unhappy federalists, and we believe that this gives us some common ground with those in Quebec who wish to see fundamental constitutional change. . . .
Do not ghettoize society by putting people into legal categories of gender, race, ethnicity, language, or other such characteristics. The Reform Party believes that cultural development and preservation ought to be the responsibility of individuals, groups, and, if necessary in certain cases (for example, in the case of Quebec and Canadian aboriginals), of provincial and local governments. The role of the federal government should be neutral toward culture just as it is toward religion. . . . To members of ethnic minorities [I say] that the Reform Party of Canada is the only federal party that stands for abandoning the definition of Canada as an "equal partnership between the French and the English"--a definition that relegates you to the status of second-class citizens.
I attach substance and meaning to the concept of Canada as home by reminding myself that it must be a home for all the people. . . . As Reformers spread across the country--yes, across Quebec as well as all the other provinces and territories--we will broaden and deepen our conception of Canada as home until its dimensions are as vast as those of Canada itself.
There is a whole school of Canadian academics, media personalities, and politicians whose definition of a Canadian is a North American who fears or dislikes the United States. This is largely a hangup left over from our political adolescence, and unless we grow out of it, we'll never make it to New Canada.