Mr. Orchard has been urged by many CPC members to attend the convention, to see for himself that the party is a changed party which welcomes all (including David Orchard and his substantial support base in the former PC Party) to join its ranks. The leadership of the party has now delivered a contrary message: that it won't tolerate David Orchard even as an observer of its proceedings, and is willing to take extraordinary measures to prevent him from attending.
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For more information, contact Rose-Marie Larsson, Media Coordinator for David Orchard, tel: 604-215-5580, rlarsson@telus.net
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 19, 2005]
Stumble It!
Orchard would do us and all Canadians a real favour by pointing out the BS that eminates from the Conservatives. He must be a glutton for punishment being that he was stabbed in the back already. What did he expect from a party that doesn't even adhere to written agreements?
Orchard, you are not too bright my friend.
Maybe a lot of the ex-PCs attending the convention with clothes-pegs on their noses will take note.
Orchard has to feign indignation, his whole political strategy is to simply take those who make "big tent" claims at their word, in order to either benefit or hand them their own hanging-rope.
The Conservatives, for their part, know he'll get press time at the convention and they don't want that. The power brokers in that party go by Karl Rove's playbook.
I do believe that Orchard, like many other classical conservatives, have found it difficult to give up on the party. Some still claim that they can "modify" the party. However, the hard right wingers are circling the wagons to ensure that no one but those with this new version of conservatism is allowed a voice.
As least the new Conservatives are demonstrably different from the Liberals in terms of policies and philosophy. They aren't simply "spare tires" to slap on whenever the Liberals screw up so bad that even Ontarians can't stand the stink.
In fact, I suspect that the reason the social conservative issues such as gay marriage have become so central is that it is only on these that they can clearly differentiate themselves. It was the Canadian Alliance version of Reform that pushed the issue into a legal one when they tried to have the definition of marriage enshrined in law.
I believe that there are enough "like-minded" Canadians who want to see a new direction for Canada who could be successful with a new party if the will was there. Look at what Reform accomplished. It destroyed classical conservatism in 16 years.
I wonder if Don Hill, Orchard and the resignation of CBC radio head are somehow related.
And as a result, it appears the "Eastern statists" aren't quite through yet.