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BELIEFS Red Toryism derives largely from a British Tory tradition that maintained the unequal division of wealth and political privilege among social classes can be justified, if members of the privileged class contribute to the common good ( Noblesse Oblige ). Red Tories supported traditional institutions like religion and the monarchy, maintenance of the social order, and good government. Later, this would manifest itself as support for the Welfare State . ORIGINS In late Victorian times, these were the main strains of conservative thought in the British Empire , and have much in common with Benjamin Disraeli 's One Nation Conservatism . These policies were advanced by many in the tory faction of Sir John A. Macdonald's coalition in the Province Of Canada and after Confederation. The explicit notion of a "Red" Toryism was developed by Gad Horowitz in the 1960s, who argued that there was a significant Tory ideology in Canada. This vision contrasted Canada with the United States , which was seen as lacking this collectivist tradition, as it was expunged from the American political culture after the American Revolution and the exodus of the United Empire Loyalists . Horowitz argued that Canada's stronger Socialist movement grew from Toryism , and that this is an explanation of why socialism has never had much electoral success in the United States. This also meant that Canadian conceptions of Liberty were more collective and communitarian, as they could be seen as more directly derivative of the English Tradition , than that of American practices and theories. Horowitz identified of Red Toryism. The origin of the adjective "red" is unknown. The reference may be to progressive aspects of Red Tory principles, since parties of the left have traditionally used the colour red. PEAK OF PREDOMINANCE The Red Tories historically served as the most powerful faction within the Progressive Conservative Party Of Canada . Many of the party's leaders have been labeled Red Tories, including Sir John A. Macdonald , Sir Robert Borden , John Diefenbaker , Robert Stanfield , and Joe Clark . Many others have been influential as cabinet ministers and thinkers, such as E. Davie Fulton , Dalton Camp , and John Farthing . The main bastions of Red Toryism were Ontario, the Maritime provinces, and urban Manitoba, areas where the Red Tories dominated provincial politics. The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party who have held power in that province for most of the time since Confederation, were often labelled as Red Tories, espeically under the leadership of William Davis from 1971 to 1985. Under Davis, the Tories often ran to the left of the Ontario Liberal Party . Some political commentators have suggested that the new leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, John Tory , is in the mould of the Bill Davis Red Tory tradition. Throughout the Atlantic Provinces , traditional Red Tories are the dominant force in the provincial Progressive Conservative parties because of their support of the welfare state. This tends to explain why Canadian provinces are often ruled at the provincial level by a party that may be Conservative yet at the same time elect Liberal Members of Parliament to the Canadian House Of Commons . In Western Canada, the Red Tory strain was significant only in Manitoba , and is particularly stronger in Winnipeg than in rural areas. The career of Duff Roblin , Premier Of Manitoba from 1958 to 1967, is a prominant example. The Ministries of Premier Peter Lougheed in Alberta between 1971 and 1985 can be seen as somewhat of an anomaly - in a modern Alberta context - as his career has been viewed as another example of Red Toryism in practice. DECLINE The dominance of Red Toryism can be seen as a part of the international post-war consensus that saw the Welfare State embraced by the major parties of most of the western world. In the late 1970s and 80s the Progressive Conservative Party suffered a string of electoral defeats under Red Tory leaders Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark . Pressure began to grow within the party for a new approach. Joe Clark's leadership was successfully challenged, and in the 1983 PC Leadership Convention , members endorsed Brian Mulroney - who ran on a largely right-wing platform, but rejected free trade with the United States as proposed by another right-wing candidate, John Crosbie . Despite this early perception, the eagerness in which Mulroney's ministry embraced the Macdonald Commission 's advocacy of bi-lateral Free-Trade would come to indicate a sharp drift toward Neo-liberal economic policies, comparable to such contemporaries as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher . As result of this schism within the party, Red Toryism began to decline in relevance as a political force within the Conservative party, as it fell out-of-sync with a current political and economic orthodoxy that seemed to favour a more individualist orienation. Red Toryism never held much sway in Western Canada where smaller-government and support for Continentalist policies were greater. The growing population and power of Alberta and British Columbia has also played an important role in this transformation. Eventually the explicitly anti-Red Tory Reform Party developed in the west. At the provincial level, Albertan Red Tory supporters of Peter Lougheed were marginalized following Ralph Klein 's assumption of power. As right-wing support for the Federal Progressive Conservatives bled away to the Reform Party and then the Canadian Alliance, Red Tories increasingly gained control of the federal party. After the victory of the "Blue Tory" Peter MacKay at the 2003 PC Convetion , and in violation of a contract signed with traditional Red Tory David Orchard , MacKay merged the Tories with Stephen Harper 's Alliance. RED TORIES POST-MERGER OF FEDERAL PARTIES One of the most important issues facing the newly created Conservative Party is what Red Tories would do. The union has resulted in a number of Red Tories leaving the new party, either to retire or to defect to the Liberals. The latter group includes current and former Members Of Parliament (MPs) André Bachand , John Herron , and Rick Borotsik . Joe Clark served the balance of his parliamentary term as a Progressive Conservative, outside of the new Conservative party caucus, before retiring from politics. Other high-profile Red Tories such as Sinclair Stevens and Flora MacDonald applied to re-register the old Progressive Conservative Party name; however, this was refused by Elections Canada . On March 26 , 2004 , the Progressive Canadian Party was registered with Elections Canada . It aims to be perceived as a revival of the "PC Party", but has only acheieved very minor results. In the end, some Red Tories have decided to join the new Conservative Party. A group of them formed the Red Tory Council - a group constructed to give voice to the Red Tories, monitor the party and its positions, and to prevent too great a swing to the right. This group, however, was usurped in 2005 and replaced with a group called the Conservative Council, and it has been widely speculated by some Red Tories that such a move was undertaken to quell such dissent and inquiry in the new party's ranks. Many others have chosen to retain their principles, but refuse to align themselves formally with a political party, although the emergence of the Progressive Canadian Party, which claims to adhere to Red Tory values, is gaining some support. DEFINITION DRIFT With the conservative movement's drift to the economic and Political Right , the term Red Tory is often used today in the media not to refer to those in the traditional Red Tory tradition of George Grant , Dalton Camp or Robert Stanfield; but simply to moderates in the conservative movement, particularly those who reject or do not sufficiently embrace Social Conservatism , such as James Moore , Gerald Keddy , and Jim Prentice . Traditional Red Tories decry this as an oversimplification, as many Red Tories have either removed themselves from the Conservative Party, or have thrown their individual support to other parties. For example, in the 2004 Conservative Party Leadership Election , Tony Clement and Belinda Stronach were sometimes referred to as a Red Tories even though they advocated privitization, Tax Cuts , curtailment of social and economic development spending and Free Trade with the United States. Clement and Stronach's stances are policies that most traditional Red Tories would reject. REFERENCES
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