- A Tory is A Tory Is A Tory – NS PC Leader Tim Houston Has Distanced Himself from Conservative Party of Canada
By Andrew Macdonald
NS PC leader Tim Houston wants you to believe the NSPC Party and the Conservative Party of Canada are different.
But are they different???
“There is no federal equivalent to the Nova Scotia PC Party,” Houston told reporters recently.
“I’m the leader of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives. There is a Conservative Party of Canada. It’s a completely different party with its own leader.”
BUT, Clause 3.1.2 of the Constitution of the NS PC Party says…..
3.1.2 to cooperate with the Conservative Party of Canada in providing effective and efficient operation and promotion in matters of mutual interest;
AND, Clause 6.1.10 describing the composition of the NSPC Party executive committee states that the CPC NS council member is a member of the NSPC Executive….
6.1.10 the National Council Member of the Conservative Party of Canada representing Nova Scotia;
The CBC reported weeks ago that “Singh and May are welcome in N.S. campaign, but Trudeau and Poilievre not so much”.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has campaigned in the Nov 26th vote with appearances with NS NDP leader Claudia Chender.
“Voters hoping to meet the leader of a national political party during the Nova Scotia election are going to be disappointed, unless they support the NDP or the Greens,” reported the CBC.
“The Liberals have no interest in campaigning alongside Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, nor the PCs with the leader of the Official Opposition, Conservative Pierre Poilievre”.
“Nova Scotia PC Leader Tim Houston and Liberal Leader Zach Churchill were categorical when asked Monday if they planned to summon help from Ottawa to join them on the hustings.”
“I have no intention of inviting the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada to campaign with me,” said Houston.
“No, we don’t plan on doing that,” said Churchill.
In the federal 2019 election, there was talk among some grumbling Tory foot soldiers in Nova Scotia reaching The Notebook is that NS PC Leader Tim Houston, was not doing high profile campaigning for Andrew Scheer candidates in Nova Scotia.
I asked the NS PC Caucus spokesperson Catherine Klimek if Houston in 2019 would be aggressively on the federal campaign trail in Nova Scotia.
The response from Houston’s caucus office: “This fall will be a very busy time politically with the fall session of the Legislature, the federal election and the expected by-election in Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River“, said Klimek to The Notebook that year.
NS PC leader Tim Houston with Peter MacKay and Senator Tom McInnis. Photo by The Macdonald Notebook.
That statement given to The Notebook does not suggest a ringing endorsement for the Scheer candidates in Nova Scotia in 2019.
But, Klimek added: “When time allows, Tim will campaign with federal candidates. In fact, he has already done a fundraiser for Bruce Holland and attended events for George Canyon”.
There was no mention from Houston’s office on campaigning for the other Conservative candidates, including the most prominent Tory offering in the October 2019 vote: Scott Armstrong.
But, that year Global TV reported then Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil would campaign for federal Grit challengers.
“I believe our relationship with the prime minister has been positive. We have signed a number of positive deals with them,” McNeil said at the time.
“I continue to provide that working relationship and I will continue to do what I can.”
Global TV also reported: “At least one party in Nova Scotia appears to be making a conscious decision to distance itself from the leader of its federal counterpart amid the ongoing election. Tim Houston won’t commit to campaigning with federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer”, said the media outlet.
“Nova Scotia NDP Leader Gary Burrill told Global News he will use “every spare nanosecond” to campaign with prospective NDP MPs”.
“Despite the success of the Conservative Party of Canada this federal term — in which New Brunswick, P.E.I., Ontario, Quebec and B.C. opted out of giving their Liberal governments another term — Nova Scotia PC Leader Tim Houston would not commit to going to bat for Andrew Scheer”, reported Global TV.
A statement from the provincial party said Houston is “totally focused” on the provincial legislature, his riding of Pictou East, and winning an upcoming provincial byelection, leaving him limited availability to campaign on the federal stage, added the media network.
Houston did not campaign for federal Tory leader Erin O’Toole
In the 2021 federal election, I asked NS PC leader Tim Houston, if he would campaign for the national Conservatives – and campaign for the 11 NS candidates running on the Erin O’Toole ticket that year.
Here is what Houston said on that score when we spoke to him in 2021:
MacPolitics: We Asked PC Leader Tim Houston If He’ll Campaign For Erin O’Toole Conservatives
In the 2019 federal election, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative leader Tim Houston did not campaign for then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.
Tim Houston at the Chester Home Hardware store during a campaign whistlestop on the Southshore in 2021. (The Notebook photo).
He put distance between his PC party and the federal Conservatives, and that meant not campaigning of Scheer candidates in Nova Scotia.
So The Notebook was curious as to whether Houston will knock on doors in the 2021 federal campaign, and support then Conservative leader Erin O’Toole.
Delegates at the Conservative’s virtual annual general meeting in 2021 voted down a call for the party to recognize that climate change “is real.”
On top of that, anti-abortion groups publicly took credit for putting seven of its followers on the national Conservative executive at the recent party convention, clearly demonstrating the party has a robust right-wing following.
The right-wing Canadian Alliance, an outgrowth of Preston Manning’s Reform Party, merged in 2003 with the Progressive Conservative party to form the current Conservative party.
So, we asked PC leader Tim Houston this question in 2021:
Question: Will you be campaigning for the Erin O’Toole Conservatives in the next federal election?
“I am focused on Nova Scotia, I am focused on my MLAs, and I am focused on winning an election here. So Nova Scotia is my 100 per cent focus and that is where it will remain.”
Clearly, Houston is putting distance from his party and the federal party, something that CBC has also reported.
In a Q&A with Rob Batherson, a Haligonian who in 2021 was then president of the national Conservatives and a former NS PC president, CBC’s Main Street program, asked: “The provincial conservative leader here, Tim Houston, is distancing himself somewhat from the federal version of the party after the “change is real” issue came up recently. What are the differences between the provincial and federal versions, and does that concern you at all?”
Batherson replied: “No. Look, I support Tim Houston at the provincial level. I’m a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, and as a Progressive Conservative provincially, I am very comfortable in the federal Conservative Party.
“Tim Houston has a job to do. He’s the leader of a provincial party, and I’m sure he’s going to articulate on issues that are important to Nova Scotians, regardless of what is happening at the federal level, and that’s what he should do. Anybody who wants to see the differences between both parties, they can go online, they can check out the vision and the mission of the PC Party of Nova Scotia. They can check out the principles of the Conservative Party of Canada and our policy statement and compare and contrast. The reality is though, the vast majority of Progressive Conservative Party members are also active in the federal party.”
In another CBC item by reporter Jean LaRoche, Houston said the federal party’s denial of climate change was not helpful.
“Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative leader Tim Houston is distancing himself from his Conservative colleagues after delegates at a federal party meeting rejected a resolution that would have stated the party believes ‘climate change is real,” said the CBC report in 2021.
“The leader of Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative Party wants voters to know he believes climate change is real — and Tim Houston is just as keen for those same voters to know he’s not leading the Conservative Party of Canada,” the media item reported.
“Delegates at a federal party meeting rejected a resolution that would have stated the party believes climate change is real and is willing to act. Delegates rejected the policy shift by a margin of 54 per cent to 46″, the news report said.
“That’s a separate party,” said Houston. “I’m the leader of the Nova Scotia PC Party, it’s a separate party, different leaders, different members and, in some cases, obviously different values,” he told reporters at the Nova Scotia Legislature.
“But I think I think people that honestly look at the distinction between the parties would see a very, very strong track record of the Nova Scotia PC Party on the environment file.
Editor’s Note: Tim Houston backed O’Toole’s leadership foe Peter MacKay in the 2020 leadership campaign.
Speaking days after O’Toole won the August race, Houston explained to The Notebook in an August 2020 chat on why he did not campaign for Andrew Scheer and explains he is not simply a follower of a party for the sake of aligning with his federal cousins.
Here is an encore presentation of that Aug. 30 2020 chat with Houston on the federal Conservatives:
NS PC leader Tim Houston had publicly endorsed Peter MacKay in the national Conservative leadership race, the race Erin O’Toole won on the third ballot of a ranked voting system.
The Notebook chatted with Houston while he was making a pre-campaign stop in Hants East to talk about O’Toole’s victory.
“I supported Peter. I am a big fan of Peter’s and a friend of Peter. You know, Erin won. Erin is a quality person, and I know Erin and his Nova Scotia roots are very impressive and very important, as well,” Houston tells me. “I am excited for Erin’s opportunity, and the opportunity for the federal party’s opportunity.”
Houston did not actively campaign for Andrew Scheer’s Tory candidates in the last federal vote in 2019.
“I think some of the things Andrew Scheer stood for, the values were a little different than mine, or what the Nova Scotia values are,” he admits.
“I like Erin as a person. I’ll be talking to Erin, I will be watching where they go on policies. My main focus is Nova Scotia, so anyone who I think can help Nova Scotians and can support Nova Scotia that is who I support” says Houston.
“I certainly have no issues with Erin, and his team has reached out to our team a couple of times, and I think there is an effort to have a good relationship.”
In 2020, I asked Houston if he would campaign for O’Toole in the next election (2021), and he said it has not yet been determined.
“It will all come down to what is in the best interests of Nova Scotia,” he adds.
“I don’t blindly follow, so I think it is always important to see what is substantive. I am excited for Erin. I know Erin has Nova Scotia roots – but I don’t see any flashing signs or anything like that, that burns me,” he explains.
“We’re going to talk and work together and I’ll be totally focussed on Nova Scotia.”
Question: Can you say today whether you will campaign for O’Toole and his candidates in the next vote?
“I can’t say I can, and I can’t say I won’t.”
“I am not really in the business of saying ‘I am just going to do this’. I am not going to commit to something without knowing what I am committing to.
“I don’t have any concerns. I don’t want you to go away and think I am concerned. I don’t have any concerns,” with O’Toole’s victory.
