Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Amazon Prime Day Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNP CommentKelly McParland: What does 'conservative' even mean anymore in Canada?If Canada’s top Tories were in one room, they’d need interpreters — they share so little in commonLast updated 17 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Newly elected B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay meets with media at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., June 2, 2026. Photo by Nick Procaylo/PostmediaSomeone needs to gather Canada’s Conservative leaders into a room together and press them on what it is they think they’re doing.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorFirst question: Other than the name, which in any case varies from place to place, just what is it you think you have in common? Is there anything about the word “conservative” you agree on?I’m not being facetious. Maybe a little. Or maybe not. The whole notion of “conservatism” seems to be so open to interpretation it’s fair to wonder if even its proponents have a shared grasp of the concept.The reason I ask stems from the new British Columbia Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s declaration that, as far as she’s concerned, the party she was narrowly chosen to head is all about “faith, family and freedom.”This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againI doubt many Canadians are opposed to any of those three interests, but I also suspect many of them would also argue the role of a government is to manage the country, not dictate personal values or spiritual inclinations. Freedom? Yeah, we want it, but is Conservative freedom different from other freedom? Is there a Conservative definition we can hold up for comparison to other partisan, non-partisan or general-onlooker definitions?I’m thinking health care here. And education. And interprovincial trade. And inflation. And the employment outlook for young people in the face of flailing government policies and technological change. Not sure how the three Fs play into that, maybe the new premier could explain.Next door in Alberta, the United Conservatives of Alberta are notably un-united and engaged in a risible debate over whether or not to remain in Canada. No, that’s wrong — the debate is about holding a vote on whether to have a referendum on whether to start a process on…. oh, never mind. Mainly they’re engaged in deciding whether a loud and cranky minority can manoeuvre an opportunistic premier into helping them turn historical resentments into a national crisis. Health care? Education? Jobs? Sorry kids, you’ll have to wait, we’re having a meltdown here. Saskatchewan doesn’t have a functional Conservative party. It used to have one, but the name was switched to help divert attention from the level of unpopularity it achieved. Now it has a Saskatchewan Party, which is essentially conservative in that it tries to run a government that pays the bills, collects the taxes and runs the programs it was elected to run. That makes it an outlier from the provinces to its west, and the one to its east, where the Manitoba Conservatives are working to erase memories of the mess left behind by a Progressive Conservative government whose leader spent much of his time in Costa Rica. It now has a new leader, a new party president, a new logo and a pledge that “A New Era Has Begun.” So much new stuff; shouldn’t a party this established already know what it’s about? Anyway, the all-new old party faces an uphill battle against a government headed by the most popular premier in Canada, so expunging the past could take a while.The least popular premier is across the border in Ontario, where Doug Ford has seen a sharp reversal in fortunes even as he celebrates eight years in office. To mark the occasion he called a 21-week summer break for the legislature, which won’t be back in business until almost November. If anyone needs an extended chance to regroup it’s Ford’s band of worn and weary Progressive Conservatives, who have devoted months on months to getting themselves into trouble. Ontario’s government spent the winter seizing schools, appropriating an airport, buying up a private jet and hurriedly returning it, and responding to the resulting anger by “modernizing” access-to-information laws to reduce public access. Behind the snafus is a government that embodies the confusion of current conservatism. Elected on pledges to control spending, cut deficits, reduce waste and get out of people’s faces, Ford runs the biggest-spending government in Ontario history, battles regularly with local authorities over provincially-ordered dictates and has repeatedly found himself forced to retreat from pronouncements that seem to stem as much from the premier’s personal enthusiasms as a firm sense of public priorities.As recently as March the Tories maintained a healthy popularity gap over the uninspiring provincial Liberals, but now find themselves nursing a lead as thin as three percentage points over a party that suddenly sees hope for itself as it prepares to pick its next leader in November. Ford, meanwhile, can’t seem to help himself: despite being blasted by Washington over an anti-tariff ad campaign in October that upended federal negotiating efforts, the premier set off last week on a jaunt to the U.S. capital — even as federal negotiators were cautiously re-opening crucial trade talks — only to have a key business gathering cancelled at the reported behest of a still-testy White House.As it stands, if Canada’s top Tories were to occupy a room together they’d need interpreters to keep the conversation going, so little do they share with one another. And while the provincial crew is anything but cohesive, federal leader Pierre Poilievre is still struggling to recover from Prime Minister Mark Carney stealing his best policies and several of his MPs.Poilievre found a promising route back to relevance when he appeared in Calgary to pointedly reject the separatist cause. “Sure, we can and should complain about our government. But Canada is more than a government,” he declared.“I was blessed to grow up in the province and the country that (its first settlers) built,” Poilievre said with the kind of emotional tug that has been largely missing from a desultory contest so far. “Among my earliest memories are attending the medal ceremonies at the 1988 Olympics, here in my hometown of Calgary. I remember standing downtown looking at the ceremonies — I was a nine-year-old boy watching Canadian athletes step onto the podium to accept their awards under the Canadian flag.”The Alberta debate is a chance for Poilievre to show himself as better material for higher office than was evident in the election he lost last year. His provincial colleagues on the other hand seem caught in quagmires of their own making and uncertain of how to escape. Independence referendums aren’t a conservative value. Nor are private jets for the premier’s benefit. “Faith, family and freedom” may be conservative values, but that’s because they’re also universal. Canada’s Conservatives need to get back to the business of good management and sensible spending. The three Fs may offer solace and a refuge from the struggle to find jobs, homes and convenient health care, but people still need to pay the mortgage and are looking for parties that can help make that possible.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.