Neoconservatism in Canada
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Neoconservatism in Canada is a newer strand of conservatism found in Canada, co-existing awkwardly alongside the country's more established and electorally familiar tradition of Burkean conservatism. The movement somewhat resembles the American neoconservative movement to the south though, with regional exceptions, it has not enjoyed the electoral success of American neoconservatism. Blue Tories found within the Conservative Party of Canada are often linked to the movement however no actual members have ever considered themselves neoconservatives. The West is often seen as the base root for neoconservative thought within Canada. This is especially shown in the province of Alberta, which elected Conservative Party of Canada candidates seats in every single riding in the 2006 federal election.
The new Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper's leadership was initially more conservative than the previous Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC). The old PC Party was a complex alliance of Western conservatives, Quebec nationalists and Red Tories, the latter considering themselves to be fiscal conservatives and social progressives. While the new breed of conservatism in Canada is different than the old Red Toryism that occupied the centre-right, it remains markedly different from American neo-conservatism.
Many consider the Calgary School to be the intellectual hub of the new conservatism in Canada including scholars such as Ted Morton (failed candidate for the leadership of the Alberta PC Party), Tom Flanagan, Rainer Knopff and Barry F. Cooper. Others accuse the "new" Conservatives of pandering to the wishes of social conservatives in the West. Stephen Harper has always been more of an economic conservative than a populist social conservative. This difference was the cause of his split with Preston Manning, founder and former leader of the western-based Reform Party.
The tag of "neoconservative" has been stuck to the Conservative government mostly by its critics, aiming to take advantage of popular anti-George W. Bush sentiment in Canada. The ideological accuracy of such an accusation is highly debatable (see differences below).
Close relations with the United States can hardly be the basis of accusations of neoconservative ideology as the U.S. is Canada's strategic ally and primary trading partner. Brian Mulroney, considered to hail from the old guard of the Canadian "tory" establishment, established very close links with both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
If there is some credibility to the neoconservative tag attached to the new Conservative government of Canada, it is in the domain of foreign policy, particularly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
