Prime Minister Stephen Harper gives the thumbs up as he his delivers his keynote address to the Conservative convention in Ottawa, Friday June 10, 2011 in Ottawa.FRED CHARTRAND
Members of the governing Conservative Party rejected a fractious proposal to give bigger riding associations more clout in picking a leader -- a matter that threatened to split the Tories along old fault lines.
Delegates at a party convention in Ottawa chose to bury the matter rather than risk division just after the Conservatives won their first majority in more than 22 years.
It was a sign of how cautious and careful Conservative rank and file have grown, rejecting a change in direction that might imperil their newfound political success.
The rejection -- estimated to be 60 or 70 per cent against a change -- followed a heated debate that pitted senior Tories against each other on the convention floor.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who opposed departing from a system that gives all ridings equal weight in leadership races, regardless of size, warned against a change that could sow discontent.
"Let's keep the process that works, the process that wins. Let's stay together united," said Mr. MacKay.
The dispute is as old as the Conservative Party, created less than eight years ago in 2003 when the Red Tories in the Progressive Conservatives, led by Mr. MacKay, put aside their differences to merge with the right-wingers in the Canadian Alliance, helmed by Stephen Harper.
The battle was over how to pick a leader - not a burning question right now, but one that resurfaces regularly because of lingering dissatisfaction with rules established at the party's inception.
Some MPs and party members had proposed to move beyond the leadership selection process agreed to in the 2003 deal that brought the PCs and the Canadian Alliance together: an arrangement that gave all ridings equal clout regardless of membership numbers.
The 2003 agreement put populous Western Canadian riding associations - full of former Canadian Alliance supporters - on equal footing with those in Quebec or Atlantic Canada where membership numbers might be smaller.
Scott Reid, an Ontario MP who was one of Mr. Harper's envoy in the
2003 merger talks, had argued forcefully for change. He says the agreement-in-principle that brought about the Conservative Party created what the deal called a "one-time process for leadership selection" that "need not be used for later leadership elections."
Mr. Reid and nearly 30 other Conservative caucus members, including Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Senator Doug Finley, had backed what they call a "balanced leadership" proposal for change.
This pitch would have grant all ridings - even small ones - at least 100 points in the leadership selection process. Those with more than 100 members voting for leadership candidates would get more points, up to a maximum of 400.
It was clear Mr. Reid's caucus supporters had grown skittish by Saturday. No ministers or MPs spoke up in defence of the change.
Senator Finley, who took the floor in favour of change, said the existing system of picking leaders did not work and was open to abuse.
"This system is broken," the senator told delegates, noting he was the only person in the convention room who had run a leadership campaign under the existing rules.
Senator Finley said it can allow "abuse, improper conduct and ...
sheer downright cheating." He was referring to concerns a candidate could focus on winning small-membership ridings and ultimately win more points than their rival -- yet have a far smaller share of the popular vote.
He disputed the argument that it was wrong to mess with a leadership selection process that ultimately led the Tories to a majority government in 2011.
"The other system didn't produce a majority. It accidentally produced a leader who gave us a majority," Senator Finley said.
The decision saw Quebec MP Maxime Bernier, minister of state for small business, join Mr. MacKay in opposing change. Toronto-area Environment Minister Peter Kent also allied himself with the opposition to change.
Mr. Reid, whose family owns the Giant Tiger discount stores, said he funded his campaign to change the leadership rules out of his own pocket.
Speaking after the decision, the eastern Ontario MP declined to say how much money he spent on the campaign, which included things such as a hospitality suite with free food for Tory delegates.
Mr. Reid he doesn't think the matter is settled for good.
He noted that Conservative delegates voted down a proposal to ban future changes to leadership selection rules.
Mr. MacKay, speaking after the vote, rejected the idea the leadership race in 2004 "accidentally" elected Mr. Harper as Mr. Finley suggested.
The equality of ridings principle ensured that constituency associations in Eastern Canada -- where the Progressive Conservative Party was stronger than the Canadian Alliance, were put on the same footing as their heavily populated counterparts in Western Canada.
their smaller memberships in Eastern Canada and Atlantic Canada were put on the same He said both sides made compromises when the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party merged in 2003 and noted he hasn't tried to undo any of them. "I know the compromises that were made included the changing of the name; I haven't brought back those type of changes."
Mr. MacKay warned that if "if we break, if we crack" the system, it would "fundamentally change the Conservative Party -- and I don't want to see that happen."