Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1990. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

That leaders are important in Canadian party politics is almost axiomatic: they are the prime electoral resource, the ultimate policy authority and the focus of media attention. Yet little is known of what divides provincial parties when they choose a new master. The politics of provincial leadership conventions lie in uncharted waters. This thesis focuses on provincial parties, exploring support patterns at Maritime leadership conventions. The study draws primarily on data provided by unpublished surveys of delegates to Liberal and Progressive Conservative leadership conventions in the three Maritime provinces. These nine conventions took place between 1971 and 1986 and the delegate survey responses report the behaviour and attitudes of over 3100 party activists. The analysis develops provincial, partisan and secular comparisons. A framework for analysing delegate support patterns is derived from the literature on national conventions and Maritime politics. Application of this framework to the nine conventions reveals a recurring theme. Candidate support is best understood in a 'friends and neighbours' framework. Friends and neighbours refers first, to a non-factional geographic pattern of support. Simply put, delegates tend to support the local candidate, a neighbour. The second element of friends and neighbours support relates to ethno-religious ties. Candidates receive disproportionate support from delegates who are 'friends' in terms of shared religious or ethnic background. Friends and neighbours divisions were more important than attitude, age, gender or differences in social status: they were present throughout the period in each province and both parties. The importance of place and religion/ethnicity provide empirical evidence of Maritime traditionalism. The support patterns would be well understood by 19th century politicians and show no sign of dissipating. Attempts to link these patterns to age or level of education were unsuccessful. Virtually all delegates were influenced by the ties of 'friendship' or 'neighbourhood'. The major exceptions were ex officio delegates. These party professionals acting in a brokerage role were relatively immune from the friends and neighbours pull. By mitigating such divisions, ex officio delegates made substantial contributions to party unity. This thesis reveals a coherent and consistent pattern of intra party divisions in the region. It confirms the strength of traditionalism in the Maritimes and highlights an important manifestation of this traditionalism: ethno religious solidarity undercut by localism and mitigated by brokerage politics. Such findings are in sharp contrast to assertions that Maritime politics is changing. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

When it comes to the politics of victimhood, existing academic accounts contend that conservative politics and ideology have largely been defined by a backlash against discourses of victimization. In this respect, North American conservatism is seen as embodying an anti-victimist approach – one where progressive claims of victimhood are represented as the result of an impaired character rather than as the result of systemic cultural and legal discrimination. However, while this literature accurately captures many characteristics of conservative ideology, it risks overlooking the ways that conservative proactively engage with the politics of victimhood and victim arguments. This dissertation offers an examination of the discursive significance of the “victim” in contemporary conservative politics and ideology through an analysis of three realms of conservative politics in Canada: (1) the men’s rights movement, (2) the anti-abortion movement, and (3) the Conservative Party of Canada. Drawing on the results of a large-scale critical discourse analysis and the participant observation of over a dozen conservative events in Canada, this dissertation contends that the debate over the politics of victimhood is not a battle between anti-victim conservative and pro-victim progressives. Rather, contemporary Canadian conservatives are increasingly makers of victim politics – rather than its critics – challenging many academic assumptions made about both conservative ideology and discourse in Canada, as well as the larger politics of victimhood in North America.

Plusieurs indices permettent de croire que le premier ministre Harper a pour projet de faire du Parti conservateur le parti politique dominant au Canada. À cette fin, il doit transformer l’organisation sociale et politique du pays de façon à le rendre plus conservateur. L’objectif du présent mémoire est de préciser les fondements idéologiques du projet de réforme de l’État canadien du premier ministre en m’appuyant sur les écrits des membres de l’École de Calgary. Je fais l’hypothèse que les politiques publiques mises en place par Harper sont inspirées des convictions des membres de cette école de pensée, dont il est un proche. Dans le premier chapitre, je détermine la signification du concept d’idéologie et établis la pertinence de l’analyse des idéologies pour expliquer les décisions politiques. Je définis ensuite les principaux types de conservatisme, afin de déterminer lequel inspire les membres de l’École de Calgary et le Parti conservateur. Dans le second chapitre, je dresse un portrait de la pensée de l’École de Calgary relativement à quatre thèmes, soit ceux du développement économique et social, du pouvoir judiciaire, de la politique étrangère et de l’identité nationale. Enfin, dans le troisième chapitre, je recense les décisions prises par le gouvernement Harper en relation avec ces quatre mêmes thèmes et vérifie leur concordance avec les idées portées par l’École de Calgary. / Several signs suggest that Prime minister Stephen Harper is seeking to make the Conservative Party the new dominant political party in Canada. For this purpose, he has to transform the social and political organization of the country to make it more conservative and move the ideological preferences of the majority to the right. The objective of this thesis is to explain the ideological foundations of the reform strategy adopted by Harper in light of the writings of the members of the Calgary School. Because the Prime minister is close to the members of this school of thought, my hypothesis is that the public policies he implements are inspired by their convictions. Through a brief review of the literature, I clarify, in the first chapter, the meaning of the concept of ideology and establish the relevance of studying ideologies to explain political decisions. Then, I define the main types of conservatism to determine which one inspires the Calgary School and the Conservative Party. In the second chapter, I draw a portrait of the ideas promoted by the members of the Calgary School, on issues of social and economic development, on the role of the judiciary, on foreign relations and on national identity. Finally, in the third chapter, I identify the decisions taken by the Harper government in relation to these four themes since it came to power and I verify their consistency with the ideas promoted by the Calgary School.

This thesis follows the development of Howard Charles Green’s (1895-1989) views on war and disarmament as both a private citizen and as a Member of Parliament. It draws its conclusions from a large archival base. Beginning with Green’s experiences in the First World War, this thesis charts Green’s views on war through to the United Nations Irish Resolution on disarmament of December 20, 1960. Contrary to current historiography examining the Diefenbaker period, it proves that Green’s beliefs about war only changed after his appointment as Secretary of State for External Affairs in June 1959, and even then it took time for his new ideals to “harden.” Prior to his “conversion” he believed that war remained a viable aspect of foreign policy and often encouraged its fuller prosecution.

This thesis follows the development of Howard Charles Green’s (1895-1989) views on war and disarmament as both a private citizen and as a Member of Parliament. It draws its conclusions from a large archival base. Beginning with Green’s experiences in the First World War, this thesis charts Green’s views on war through to the United Nations Irish Resolution on disarmament of December 20, 1960. Contrary to current historiography examining the Diefenbaker period, it proves that Green’s beliefs about war only changed after his appointment as Secretary of State for External Affairs in June 1959, and even then it took time for his new ideals to “harden.” Prior to his “conversion” he believed that war remained a viable aspect of foreign policy and often encouraged its fuller prosecution.

Plusieurs indices permettent de croire que le premier ministre Harper a pour projet de faire du Parti conservateur le parti politique dominant au Canada. À cette fin, il doit transformer l’organisation sociale et politique du pays de façon à le rendre plus conservateur. L’objectif du présent mémoire est de préciser les fondements idéologiques du projet de réforme de l’État canadien du premier ministre en m’appuyant sur les écrits des membres de l’École de Calgary. Je fais l’hypothèse que les politiques publiques mises en place par Harper sont inspirées des convictions des membres de cette école de pensée, dont il est un proche. Dans le premier chapitre, je détermine la signification du concept d’idéologie et établis la pertinence de l’analyse des idéologies pour expliquer les décisions politiques. Je définis ensuite les principaux types de conservatisme, afin de déterminer lequel inspire les membres de l’École de Calgary et le Parti conservateur. Dans le second chapitre, je dresse un portrait de la pensée de l’École de Calgary relativement à quatre thèmes, soit ceux du développement économique et social, du pouvoir judiciaire, de la politique étrangère et de l’identité nationale. Enfin, dans le troisième chapitre, je recense les décisions prises par le gouvernement Harper en relation avec ces quatre mêmes thèmes et vérifie leur concordance avec les idées portées par l’École de Calgary. / Several signs suggest that Prime minister Stephen Harper is seeking to make the Conservative Party the new dominant political party in Canada. For this purpose, he has to transform the social and political organization of the country to make it more conservative and move the ideological preferences of the majority to the right. The objective of this thesis is to explain the ideological foundations of the reform strategy adopted by Harper in light of the writings of the members of the Calgary School. Because the Prime minister is close to the members of this school of thought, my hypothesis is that the public policies he implements are inspired by their convictions. Through a brief review of the literature, I clarify, in the first chapter, the meaning of the concept of ideology and establish the relevance of studying ideologies to explain political decisions. Then, I define the main types of conservatism to determine which one inspires the Calgary School and the Conservative Party. In the second chapter, I draw a portrait of the ideas promoted by the members of the Calgary School, on issues of social and economic development, on the role of the judiciary, on foreign relations and on national identity. Finally, in the third chapter, I identify the decisions taken by the Harper government in relation to these four themes since it came to power and I verify their consistency with the ideas promoted by the Calgary School.