The Reform Party’s Re-imagining of the Canadian Nation

Patten, Scott B.

doi:10.3138/jcs.34.1.27

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This party explicitly advocated that Canada cut back sharply on the number of immigrants being admitted and focus more on immigrants who could contribute economically, thus challenging the existing "balanced" approach that also included relatively sizeable admissions for sponsored family members and refugees. With such a stance and, as well, in also opposing official multi-culturalism, the party stood quite apart from the established parties (Laycock 2002;Nord 1997;Patten 1999). Without a doubt, the party gave voice to and legitimized a discourse of restrictionism in Canada that appears to have been unprecedented in the more contemporary period (Kirkham 1998).…”

Section: The Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 93%

Electoral Politics and Immigration in Canada: How Does Immigration Matter?

Black

Hicks

2008

Int. Migration & Integration

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The conventional wisdom about the relationship between immigration and national electoral politics in Canada, albeit based on limited research, is that immigration is non-partisan and does not feature prominently during election campaigns. This paper examines the last two federal elections, in 2004 and 2006, employing a multi-pronged approach to party platform, media and survey analysis, in order to determine if immigration is discussed and, if so, how. It finds a political debate does take place but is not easily discernible using traditional research methods. This discourse is framed in terms of alternatives of inclusion, and not exclusion, something facilitated by the complexity of the Canadian immigration programme and the geographical and political landscape, and appears to be especially evident during more competitive elections.Résumé Les vues reçues traditionnelles sur le rapport entre l'immigration et la politique électorale nationale au Canada, reposant sur des recherches limitées, veulent que l'immigration soit un sujet non-partisan qui ne figure pas de manière évidente pendant les campagnes électorales. Cet article traite des deux dernières élections fédérales (2004 et 2006) et adopte une approche concertée sur les programmes électoraux, les médias et l'analyse de sondages, pour déterminer dans quelle mesure et de quelle façon l'immigration y est évoquée. Les résultats indiquent qu'un débat politique a effectivement lieu, mais qu'il n'est pas facile à repérer par les méthodes de recherche traditionnelles. Ce discours repose sur des options portant sur l'inclusion et non l'exclusion, une orientation qui facilitent la complexité du programme canadien en matière d'immigration ainsi que le paysage géographique et politique. Il semble particulièrement évident pendant les élections où la concurrence est plus acharnée.

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Section: The Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 93%

Electoral Politics and Immigration in Canada: How Does Immigration Matter?

Black

Hicks

2008

Int. Migration & Integration

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“…The Reform Party's brand of populism drew on a wide enough assortment of victim arguments to attract disparate segments of support, attracting Western regionalists, free marketers, direct democracy enthusiasts, opponents of a strong federal government, and social conservatives (Laycock and Weldon, 2017). Despite being the son of Alberta's longest-serving premier, Manning developed a folksy, Western-based brand of “anti-politics,” claiming a unique capacity to listen to the “common sense of the common people” (Patten, 1999).…”

Section: A Brief History Of Conservative Victim Arguments In Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilizing Victimhood: Situating the Victim in Canadian Conservatism

Gordon

2021

Can J Pol Sci

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This article offers an examination of the discursive significance of the “victim” in the Conservative Party of Canada through a critical discourse analysis of two key pieces of legislation (Bill C-10 and Bill C-36) tabled by the Harper Conservative government. The central argument contends that while all populist arguments may be a form of victim argument, not all conservative victim arguments are populist—particularly ones directed at issues related to women and gender equality. The article finds that, perhaps due to the reactive nature of conservative ideology, conservative politicians in Canada adopt an “ambidextrous” approach to victims—mobilizing two distinct and, at times, contrasting sets of arguments. The article concludes by proposing two possible explanations for this ambidexterity, one stemming from the literature on organizational management and the other from theorizations of the reactive nature of conservative ideology.

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“…Exceptionally, a small number of articles (10) did associate identity politics with Canadian nationalism itself. Patten describes how the “identity politics associated with defining a nation will establish the status of various political identities and the legitimacy of different interests” (1999: 30) and Devereux references “English-Canadian identity politics” (2001: 16). These articles are connected by their recognition of Canadian nationalism as falling within the scope of identity politics.…”

Section: Subjects Of Identity Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging with Identity Politics in Canadian Political Science

Bernhardt

2018

Can J Pol Sci

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This paper critiques the deployment of the term “identity politics” in Canadian political science. Through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of research articles in leading English language academic journals in the Canadian social sciences, we examine whose politics are labelled identity politics and what intellectual work transpires through this label. Identity politics tends to be applied to scholarship that foregrounds analyses of ethnicity, race and gender, but with a lack of analytical rigour, indicating a degree of conceptual looseness. Moreover, the designation identity politics is not neutral; it is often mobilized as a rhetorical device to distance authors from scholarship that foregrounds analyses of ethnicity, race and gender, and to inscribe a materialist/culturalist divide in claims-making. We argue that the effect of this demarcation of identity from politics is to control the boundaries of political discourse, limiting who and what gains entry into the political. This serves to reassert an exclusionary conception of Canadian identity.

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The Reform Party’s Re-imagining of the Canadian Nation

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Electoral Politics and Immigration in Canada: How Does Immigration Matter?

Electoral Politics and Immigration in Canada: How Does Immigration Matter?

Mobilizing Victimhood: Situating the Victim in Canadian Conservatism

Engaging with Identity Politics in Canadian Political Science

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