Bring Back the Federal Progressive Conservatives
Canada needs a centrist conservative option again. The current CPC no longer reflects traditional Tory values. It’s time to rebuild the PC Party.
What Happens When the Centre Disappears?
Canada has always been a country of balance, between language groups, between urban and rural interests, between east and west. Its parliamentary system has evolved to reflect these balances, with political parties historically offering distinct but moderate visions of governance. Yet, over the past two decades, one of the most important pillars of that balance, the Progressive Conservative tradition, has all but vanished from federal politics. In its place stands the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), which has veered sharply to the right, leaving a vacuum in the political centre and many Canadians politically homeless.
Canadians are not alone in craving a conservative option that supports fiscal responsibility without abandoning compassion; one that respects democratic norms and institutions without flirting with authoritarian populism; one that promotes individual liberty without demonizing social safety nets. We don’t need to revive the past for nostalgia’s sake. We need it because a democracy with fewer choices and more polarisation risks breaking down altogether.
The Disappearance of a Tradition
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, once a dominant force in national politics, was known for its centrist, Red Tory philosophy. The PCs helped build Canada’s public institutions, supported bilingualism, endorsed social safety nets, and believed in fiscal prudence grounded in compassion. Under leaders like Robert Stanfield, Joe Clark, and even Brian Mulroney, whose legacy remains controversial but undeniably nation-shaping, the PCs offered a conservative alternative that still felt recognisably Canadian.
Then came 1993. The PCs were reduced to just two seats in the House of Commons, blindsided by a combination of voter fatigue, economic anxiety, and a rising tide of Western alienation, personified in the new Reform Party. Instead of rebuilding, the Progressive Conservatives eventually folded. Peter MacKay, then leader of the PCs, agreed to merge with the Canadian Alliance (the rebranded Reform Party), under the pretext of "uniting the right."
Stephen Harper, a veteran of the Reform movement, took control of the new Conservative Party of Canada. His government masked its ideological rigidity behind a veneer of centrism until he secured a majority. At that point, the mask slipped. Harper governed with a secrecy and social conservatism that echoed the Republican right in the United States. The Reform roots dominated, and the PCs were never seen again.
What We Lost When We Lost the PCs
When the PCs disappeared, they took with them the possibility of a centre-right alternative grounded in Canadian values. They took with them the voices of voters who believed in balanced budgets but also supported public healthcare. They represented those who supported immigration and multiculturalism, but wanted accountability in how programs were funded. They believed in responsive government, but not in government as the enemy.
That kind of nuance has become rare. In today’s CPC, led by Pierre Poilievre, we see a party increasingly driven by culture wars, misinformation, and wedge politics. The rhetoric is divisive. The policies are short-sighted, and the tone? Often angry, often American in flavour.
Poilievre campaigned for years, stoking fears and stirring outrage, but still, he lost.
While he’s since received a riding in Alberta to return via a by-election, the national image of the CPC has solidified into one that appeals to a shrinking base of evangelical conservatives, anti-vaccine agitators, and libertarians. The traditional Tory, fiscally cautious but socially tolerant, has been left without a political home.
The Problem With Fewer Parties and Broken Promises
Canada’s First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system compounds this problem. When voters are forced to choose between two dominant parties, neither of which may reflect their views, they vote strategically. Mark Carney, a thoughtful economist and pragmatic public servant, resembles the Progressive Conservative archetype more than any modern Liberal or CPC figure. If the PC Party still existed, Carney would have been their standard-bearer.
This is not what democracy should feel like. Strategic voting is an act of defence, not empowerment. It is a survival mechanism in a broken system. Canadians voted for Trudeau and the Liberals in 2015 because he promised electoral reform. He broke that promise, and with it, he broke a lot of trust.
Had we moved to proportional representation or even mixed-member proportional representation, Canadians would not have to choose between fear and compromise. We could vote for parties that reflect our values and expect our votes to count. We could foster coalitions, policy-based debates, and mutual respect in Parliament again.
The Conservative Crisis of Identity
The CPC now faces a contradiction it refuses to resolve. It cannot simultaneously court the populist right and claim to represent the moderate centre. It cannot pretend to be fiscally responsible while promoting unsustainable tax cuts and pandering to conspiracy theories. It cannot promise national unity while aligning itself with foreign billionaires and American-style demagoguery.
We need a real conservative option. A party that speaks to our fiscal concerns without attacking the institutions that hold Canada together. A party that respects differences, values parliamentary democracy, and believes compromise is not weakness but wisdom.
We need to revive the Progressive Conservatives. Not to win back power at any cost, but to ensure the political right has a credible, ethical, and nationally electable option. This party would be about governance. It would stand for balancing budgets, investing in public services, protecting individual rights, and defending democratic norms.
This is a democratic necessity.
What Comes Next and How You Can Help Shape It
We must stop thinking of politics as a zero-sum game. A revived PC Party would not doom the right to eternal defeat. On the contrary, it would challenge the Liberals in the centre, peel off voters disillusioned by NDP infighting or Green disorganization, and offer Canadians a serious alternative to both extremism and complacency.
Coalitions should not scare us. Multiparty cooperation is the norm in many stable democracies. Countries like Germany and New Zealand thrive under systems that encourage compromise, not division. If we want our tax dollars to work, our infrastructure to modernize, and our climate policies to function, we need governments that reflect broad consensus, not narrow ideologies.
If you're tired of the current political binaries, if you miss when Canadian politics felt civil, nuanced, and grounded in policy, consider this your invitation. Talk about these ideas. Share this and start the conversation with friends, neighbours, or colleagues. Challenge political fatalism.
And if you’d like to see more analysis like this, consider subscribing or buying me a coffee. Your support helps keep these conversations going.
Together, we can rebuild something worth voting for.
Wholeheartedly agree with this, and have written to our re-elected CPC MP, a former Reform Party member (and who did not get my vote) to say as much. I ask - are there any moderately progressive Conservative MPs left? Has the CPC completely swung to the American Republican ideology? The recent election has brought us perilously close to a two-party Parliament, polarized and potentially impotent - as witnessed towards the end of the last Parliament. Under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre (another Reformer), any moderation in the right-leaning tone of the CPC seems unlikely. Perhaps it’s time for another split, and let progressive conservatives emerge to speak their own minds and conscience.
Wonderfully written article. You’ve summed up my observations perfectly. We need the entire population to read this.