Tyler Brooks: Is Red Toryism a subversion, or an expression?
However imperfect, Red Toryism attempts to name an honourable Canadian conservative tradition.
Canadian conservatives do not have the luxury of a clear doctrine to steer our ship. Instead, we are left today with the fragments of a past we have forgotten. We must piece it together ourselves.
One of these fragments that continually resurfaces is Red Toryism.
Many Canadian conservatives become enamoured with this niche and hard-to-define tradition, while others, such as Geoff Russ, writing in Without Diminishment, believe it “must be swatted down whenever it rears its deceitful head.”
I appreciated the piece and the way the author raised important concerns about the legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald and the conservative tradition in Canada. His unpacking of key figures from Leacock to Grant shows how far Canada has come in terms of intellectual rigour and political thought. Truly, as the saying goes, we stand on the shoulders of giants.
However, I would like to continue the discussion of Red Toryism and offer a different outlook. With a historical understanding, I propose that Red Toryism does not “misrepresent” Canadian conservatism, but is one expression within a broader and older Tory inheritance.
The foundation of High Toryism
If you have not yet read Ron Dart’s The North American High Tory Tradition, do yourself a favour and read it. This text brilliantly discusses a Tory tradition that has been passed down through the centuries, yet remains impossible to contain within a single ideology.
Toryism can be traced to the classical Greek view of politics in Plato and Aristotle, to Judeo-Christian ethics derived from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and to a tempered view of the state articulated by the sixteenth-century political theologian Richard Hooker.
The Tory way is rooted in the common good (or commonweal) and emphasises social cohesion rather than competition amongst individuals. At the same time, Toryism stresses personal responsibility and is highly critical of a bloated state that tramples on rights. The Tory way of thought reveres the wisdom of tradition, advocates for environmental responsibility, and calls for strong ethics in economics.
If you are wondering where to place Toryism on the political spectrum, you will soon become frustrated by the attempt. Toryism predates our modern notions of right and left in politics and is not so much an ideology as a way of thinking. A Tory mind is well-tempered and positive, and seeks the good in all ideas, regardless of where they emerge.
It is neither on the right nor the left of the political spectrum; it is the political spectrum.