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Ron
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A Personal Commentary As Preston Manning embarks on at least a temporary hiatus from active politics those who wish to heap praise upon him seem to have forgotten at least some of their history. Manning wasn’t the first to raise a third-party to prominence in Parliament. In fact, the Progressive Party united Ontario and prairie farmers under one banner in 1920 and the following year became the second-largest party in Parliament. Unfortunately for them, as is the case today with the former Reform Party, they failed to stay unified and many went to either the CCF or the renamed Progressive Conservatives. Sound familiar? We witnessed Manning’s belief in his "implicit trust in people" through his well-engineered though blatantly autocratic United Alternative initiative. We saw him willing to take risks when he thought he held all the cards, though he failed to realize that his own leadership was viewed as a liability, thus weakening his hand. While any serious thought of western separation has been quieted, I wonder how long that will be the case should the remnants of the current opposition party fold back into the Conservative tent that it had once abandoned. From my viewpoint, Mr. Manning created a political vehicle that gave voice to western Canadian concerns, yet one that gave way on its principles in order to satisfy Manning’s personal theories and dreams. I would liken it to looking after your Grandmother, but where the welfare of the lady is secondary to your desire to inherit her house and the lot next to it. In the end, the dreams of the party membership succumbed to the ill-conceived hopes of its founder and that, unfortunately, will be Manning’s lasting political legacy. Ron Thornton |