Alliance / Tories agree to unite the right.

OTTAWA -- The leaders of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives have reached an agreement in principle to form a single party, mending the rift that has divided Canada's right-of-centre political circles for 15 years.

While the minutiae of the deal still need to be finalized, Alliance leader Stephen Harper and Tory counterpart Peter MacKay have apparently overcome the principal stumbling block in the union of the two parties during an hour-long phone conversation Tuesday afternoon.

The announcement that a deal is at hand after three months of sometimes torturous negotiations has already prompted speculation as to who might lead the two parties. In addition to Harper and MacKay, the list includes former Ontario premier Mike Harris, and probably New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord, who's name inevitably surfaces in speculation concerning a united right-of-centre party.

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=B6CC36FC-801B-4CCB-B83E-5C334252AF02


For some reason I have Flight of the Valkeries in my head right now. Good to see one sinking ship bash into another.

Watch the blood on the floor with the tories, joe clark and others are going to fight this "marriage" tooth and nail.

Too many Alliance supporters will see at as the conservative party's rebirth and that cobined with Martin's popularity will lose many a seat for them. Oh well...good news for us I guess.

is now in "serious talks" to join the Liberals. (The Alliance, of course, never stood a chance in Quebec.) Not an auspicious start for the "united right."

Stockwell Day's name is mentioned as a possible leadership contender.

This will be fun to watch. :evilgrin:

They're not gonna dust off Stockwell and stick him up there are they!?

I think (ALthough he backed down last time) Bernard Lord may stand a good chance.

he represents a significant wing of the old Reform/Alliance folks. Lord would be a strong contender. I bet it'll come down to Lord and Harper fighting for the soul, or lack thereof, of the new party.

Something else to consider is what David Orchard's people will do. Orchard's called it a "betrayal," I believe.

I understand the PCs need 2/3rds of their membership to approve a merger. Can Orchard's people, and disgruntled others, muster the numbers to defeat it? Personally, I doubt it, but they're a stubborn bunch, and I can't imagine many of them will want to meld with the Alliance. Will they form a rump party of their own, or migrate to the Libs or NDP?

I bet they stay under the banner of the PC's and the merger takes on a new name :shrug: I don't know how the rights work.

akin to the NDP.

I know. I'm a life-long NDPer, but I temporarily joined the PCs five or so years ago just to vote for Orchard's first leadership bid.

leaving us the Conservative party and the Progressive Conservative party and the conservative Liberal party.

Isn't Canadian politics fun!

lead! I would LOVE to see him run for the leadership, the more fools the better!

daaa da da da da da da da

that some people want the new Conservative party to be more progressive socially, and that Martin is accused of taking the Liberal party to the right. We would then be back to the status quo in Canadian politics.

The conservative Liberal Party
The liberal Conservative Party

:shrug:

Now they can go from 15% to 25% in Parliament!Oooh, they are strategical geniuses!!