After Harper, Tracking Tories' Stance Swaps

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After Harper, Tracking Tories' Stance Swaps

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We could all use some help tracking interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose's new tone.

January 25, 2016

Now settled in across the aisle from Justin Trudeau's Liberals, the Conservative party has already seen a whole new angle on some major policies and practices of the previous government. Pundits of all stripes point to interim leader Rona Ambrose's new tone following several party stance reversals.

The latest tone shift came Saturday as former defence minister Jason Kenney advised the new government to avoid appointments to government offices that could be partisan in nature.

"This is a disturbing &, I believe, unprecedented violation of the independence of the permanent public service," tweeted Kenney before bringing up the Liberal choice of Matthew Mendelsohn, former head of the Mowat Centre and Liberal party advisor, for a post in the Privy Council office.

Under prime minister Stephen Harper, Conservatives came under fire for appointing political allies to public positions and pushing out people who came in under the former government, including nearly 50 patronage appointments on their way out the door last year.

Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page expressed concern over the way the Tories handled appointments.

Like a twist on an old Liberal dictum, the swaps suggest Conservatives campaigned from the right, and now oppose from the centre.

For those keeping score, here are a few more examples of the Tories making moves toward the Liberal side of the aisle.

Saudi arms deal:

Missing, murdered women:

Regulation of pot dispensaries:

Long-form census:

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Jeremy J. Nuttall is The Tyee's Parliament Hill reporter in Ottawa. Find his previous stories here.