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Desperately seeking credibility: Too proud to co-operate with the Alliance, the Tories hope a new leader will give them life.

Article Excerpt
BY RIC DOLPHIN

At last August's federal Progressive Conservative convention in Edmonton, David Scrimgeour,

the PC's sleek little national director, was doing a lot of talking about "re-branding" the grand old party of Confederation. Mr. Scrimgeour, whose day job in Toronto was to effect corporate turnarounds, believed that a little "youthification" here, a bit more inclusivity there, along with some sizzle to sell the steak, could raise the Tories from the disasters of recent years. With Joe Clark retiring and a new leader in the offing, new life would be breathed into the "respected name." Such revival, Mr. Scrimgeour admitted, would be a "great challenge," but similar turnarounds had occurred--he was sure

they had.

The problem with the Tory brand is that it has been virtually abandoned by the political consumers in the big-ticket provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and completely abandoned in its traditional, smaller-ticket western constituency. The Brian Mulroney coalition, that had once magically bonded those three regions, had delaminated horribly in 1993, when the Kim Campbell-led party won just two seats--a political humiliation unparalleled in the history of Canadian politics. Four years later, Jean Charest's leadership raised them to 20 seats, but in the 2000 election, with Mr. Clark back at the helm, the Tories were reduced to 13 seats and fifth-party status.

Notwithstanding these setbacks, the PC party is heading towards a leadership convention in Toronto May 29-June 1 with the jaunty air of the optimist who does not view the glass as 95% empty but as 5% full. The general attitude of the party establishment and its favoured candidates remains proud and unyielding. The Tories may have fewer than one-quarter of the...

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