It has the benefit of appealing to all aspects of the party, being a real alternative to what the Liberals and others are offering, and being an idea that is increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.
These are tough times for the Conservative Party.
While the Liberals put forward real ideas (albeit the terrible ideas of excessive regulations and massive government intervention), the Conservatives find themselves constantly on the defensive, fighting internally, divided, and unable to define themselves in any consistent way.
Previously, I had shared thoughts that a potential solution to this issue was an embrace of a more Canadian form of populism, based on being an inclusive party that was still willing to use the federal government to achieve big goals for the nation while pushing back against political correctness on certain issues like immigration, trade, and more.
However, this past year has shown that even ‘conservative’ leaders cannot be trusted with massive centralized government power.
We have watched as ‘conservative’ premiers imposed draconian lockdowns and restrictions, picked which businesses would live and which would die, benefitted big box stores and global corporations, wiped out countless small businesses, threatened – and used – the police to enforce what was essentially martial law, and proved no different from what ‘socialists’ were accused of.
This necessitates a real rethinking of things.
It is tempting to try and get that one big ‘win’ so you can control the government and impose your ideas, but at some point, you lose power, and then your opponents use that power to impose their agenda.
The real problem is all the power being so centralized in the first place, and it’s time for the Conservatives to offer something that is truly different.
Real Decentralization
Every party needs a core idea. Even when that idea is bad, it gives people something to support, and grounds a party in a way that lets them define themselves. The Liberals’ core idea has become ‘spend as much as is necessary.’ The NDP’s core idea is ‘spend as much as possible.’ And the Greens idea is to reshape our entire society to fight climate change.
Those ideas may not be reasonable, and they may not be effective in the long-run, but they are real ideas, and they give people something to either support or oppose.
By contrast, can you tell me what the core Conservative Party idea is?
Right now, their core message is that (after campaigning as ‘True Blue’), they are now a ‘moderate centrist party.’
Of course, that’s how the Liberals describe themselves.
If the Conservatives and Liberals are seen as trying to portray themselves as the same thing, the Liberals will win that battle, because far more Canadians see the Liberals as already being centrist.
So, the Conservatives need an actual big idea, and decentralization should be that idea.
First, it appeals to various aspects of the party.
Libertarians like it because it reduces federal power and moves power towards a more local, individual level.
Fiscal conservatives like it because it means the federal government won’t be going crazy spending trying to fix every ‘problem’ with a ‘national program.’
Social conservatives can like it because it lets more decisions be made locally, letting some communities be more conservative if they chose, while other communities can be more progressive, rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all ideology across the country. And social issues can be left to provinces.
And populists can like it because a key goal of populism is to move power closer to the people, rather than being in the hands of politicians, and decentralizing power does exactly that.
This will also appeal to people who currently don’t support the Conservatives in large numbers. For example, Indigenous People have suffered dramatically under the power of centralized government authority, and many new Canadians came here from countries where dictators centralized power and destroyed individual freedoms.
A more decentralized country would be one where Indigenous leaders in their communities would have more influence and could form stronger local connections, rather than the suppression of rights that currently exists through the Indian Act and federal dominance.
Decentralization is also an idea that ensures we can adapt to a rapidly changing world. It lets local jurisdictions try different things, some of which work, and some of which don’t. It gives people the ability to find like-minded communities, reducing political divisions by reducing the feeling that a distant unaccountable authority is imposing its will on you.
We can already seen that centralized institutions, whether in government, the media, finance, and more are weakening, while decentralized alternatives are rising – even as the elites do everything in their power to stop this trend.
What would decentralization look like?
In Canada, a decentralization agenda would be about removing as much power as possible from the federal government, and transferring it to the provinces and municipalities.
For example, the entire federal gas tax could be remitted to local municipalities.
All GST revenue could be remitted to the provinces.
Federal income taxes could be dramatically reduced.
And spending on federal programs could be converted into tax points at the provincial level, meaning the provinces would have more control over programs and more control over how much they want to tax and spend.
Right now, the provinces are in charge of healthcare and education, yet much of their money for those programs comes from the federal government. It’s a foolish middle-man game, and the feds should instead simply stop taxing for those programs and give provinces direct control. Let provinces raise the taxes for the programs they are already running.
On immigration, an issue that is often divisive, every province could be given what Quebec already has: Control over their immigration levels. Let each province decide how many people they want to bring in, which would create a true competition of ideas and policies, and reduce the politically divisive nature of it.
And on law and order, besides a few basic rules, let the provinces chose their laws. If one province wants super harsh punishments to deal with crime, let them try that. If another province wants to decriminalize everything, let them try that as well. The competition of ideas created in a decentralized system gives people the freedom to move where they feel policies fit them best, and that means each jurisdiction has an incentive to truly listen to people, and adapt when circumstances change.
Canada needs decentralization
The world is at an inflection point.
Centralized authority is losing credibility and influence, and is lashing out in one last big effort to try and crush dissent and dissuade alternatives. Money printing is out of control, and individual freedom is under attack like never before.
Political divisions are rising, not due to any one party, but due to the nature of centralized power itself, as humans almost instinctually resent being controlled by people who are far away.
We cannot continue down this path, and the Conservatives have an opportunity to embrace decentralization and embrace trust in individuals and local government, rather than embracing the danger of centralized authoritarianism.
Spencer Fernando
