加拿大是否需要保守党？

在特鲁多和他的自由党赢得联邦大选后，让许多人惊讶的事情之一是前保守党的内阁部长们与哈珀和他的执政风格保持距离。

One of the more surprising aftermaths of the election of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals was seeing the speed with which former Conservative cabinet ministers distanced themselves from Stephen Harper and his style of government.

 

在自由党推翻保守党，并以绝对的席位成立多数党政府的那天晚上，前国部长克莱门特说:“显然，我们不得不翻开新篇章。我们必须把保守派的价值观和原则与加拿大人对未来的期望和向往重新挂起勾来。”

“Clearly we’ve got to turn a page, and we’ve got to reattach Conservative values and principles to the hopes and aspirations of Canadians,” Tony Clement, the former president of the Treasury Board, said the night the Tories handed their solid majority in Parliament to the Liberals.

 

前国防部长康尼说: "我们需要这样的保守主义: 即我们在宣传它的时候，应该使人感到保守主义是温暖和积极向上的。”

“We need a conservatism that is sunnier and more optimistic than what we have sometimes conveyed,” said Jason Kenney, the former minister of national defence.

 

有没搞错! 克莱门特和肯尼两位先生在哈珀先生主政，尤其是在联邦大选期间都躲到哪里去了？他们谈过自己的领袖哈珀那种专横的阴暗面，悲观的保守主义妈？也就是为赢得大选，不惜在加拿大百姓之间调拨离间，散布恐怖阴影， 听不得不同声音，压制党内不同政见者？没人否认这两位前部长的能力，为什么到了2015年大选惨败后让他们才承认?加拿大选民是要让那些头脑僵化，好斗和不把国会放在眼里的政党为这样的行为付出代价的。

No kidding. So where were Messrs. Clement and Kenney during the years Mr. Harper ran the party, and especially during the election campaign? Were they speaking out about their leader’s oppressively dark and pessimistic conservatism, one that pitted Canadians against each other, sowed fear and put the party in a win-at-all-costs headlock that brooked no dissent? These are two capable people – why did it take the disaster of the 2015 election for them to acknowledge that negativism, truculence and disdain for Parliament are political liabilities in Canada?

 

同样的问题对联邦保守党临时党领，反对党领袖的罗娜•安布罗斯也适用。作为内阁部长，当哈珀认为原住民妇女失踪和被谋杀只是警方的事，在是否需进行司法聆讯的问题上态度暧昧时，她却一声不吭。当自由党当选并重申他们的竞选的承诺，要对此问题进行聆讯时，安布罗斯女士立刻表态，保守党将支持聆讯，称此问题与"党派无关”，也“不应该政治化。”

Similar questions can be asked of Rona Ambrose, the interim party leader and Leader of the Opposition. As a Harper cabinet minister, she tacitly supported her leader’s dubiouDrs position that the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women was a police matter only, and that a public inquiry was unnecessary. The minute the Liberals were elected and reaffirmed their campaign promise to hold an inquiry, Ms. Ambrose announced the Conservatives would support it and that this was a “non-partisan issue” that “should never be political.”

 

一个政党在大选中有竞争力对加拿大民主系统的健康至关重要。一个没有信念的政党是无法恢复元气的。联邦保守党的声誉无疑被孤僻和好斗哈珀先生毁了不少。保守党的历史上没有这样的先例。那些由哈珀一手提拔的男女部长们似乎从来就没有反对哈珀的这一执政方式。

lack of conviction doesn’t bode well for the renewal of a national party whose ability to compete in elections is critical to the health of Canadian democracy. The CPC brand was no doubt damaged mostly by the insular and combative Mr. Harper, the only leader the party has ever had, but many of the leading men and women who remain in its ranks were groomed by Mr. Harper and seem content to work in his image.

 

正如肯尼先生所说的那样，现在的问题是，保守主义是否会成为“阳光及比较乐观，”还是它注定继承了改革党的衣钵，永远与哈珀一样视政府、公务员、最高法院、媒体、工会、社会自由派和其他所谓的“精英”为眼中钉，并嘲笑他们的动机。

The question is, as Mr. Kenney put it, can Canadian conservatism become “sunnier and more optimistic,” or is it doomed by its Reform Party roots to forever view government, the civil service, the Supreme Court, the media, unions, social liberals and other so-called “elites” with Mr. Harper’s unpleasant, sneering suspicion?

 

显然，联邦保守党现在自己都不知道如何回答这个问题。值得庆幸的是，保守党还有18个月才选举下一个党魁，这给它的那些没有落选的国会议员和党魁候选人足够的时间去反思，或者可能吸取教训。

It’s evident that the Conservatives themselves don’t know the answer to that yet. Thankfully, the party’s leadership campaign is at least 18 months away, giving its MPs and leadership hopefuls time to reflect and, possibly, to learn.

 

作为反对党，联邦保守党要做的第一件事是拿出尊重国会的行动，他们在台上时显然没有做到。他们或许可以考虑借鉴自由党的做法。自由党曾承诺在议会答辩期间会文明答辩，提高国会各委员会的作用，不要再提综合预算法案，结束哈珀时代那种视审计长和议会预算官员的政府监管部门为敌人的做法。如果自由党信守承诺，这将给安布罗斯女士和肯尼先生上堂有益的进修课程，当然不能忘了泊利维尔，这个在国会扮演重要角色的人。

The first thing Tories need to do in Opposition is to demonstrate respect for Parliament, something they conspicuously failed to do while in power. They can perhaps take notes from the Liberals, who have promised to make Question Period more civil, strengthen the role of committees, eschew omnibus budget bills and end the Harper government’s animosity toward critical watchdogs like the Auditor-General and the Parliamentary Budget Officer. If the Liberals keep their promises, it will be a useful refresher course for the likes of Ms. Ambrose and Mr. Kenney, not to mention Pierre Poilievre, on the primacy of Parliament.

 

第二件事情，保守党必须做的是要告诉加拿大人为什么我们还需要它。防止政府臃肿和膨胀是件没完没了的工作。但是，保守党必须认识到，许多选民所希望的不仅仅是减税，且有时减税需要充足的理由。保守党应将重点集中在花钱慎重（这不仅仅是平衡预算）和造就一个好政府（这并不等于说政府机构越小越好），他们必须摆脱让他们输掉大选的那种分裂百姓和在许多社会问题上纠缠不休的做法。哈珀治下保守党不再是有思想的政党。这点必须改变。

The second thing the Conservative Party must do is remind Canadians why the country needs it. The job of preventing unnecessary expansions of government is never done. But Conservatives must recognize that many voters want something more than just tax cuts, sometimes with good reason. This is an opportunity for the Tories to refocus on fiscal prudence (which is more than just balancing a budget) and good government (which is not always less government), and get away from the divisive and embittering social issues that helped them lose the election. The Harper Conservatives stopped being a party of ideas. That has to change.

 

编注：以上是加拿大全国发行的最大日报——《环球邮报》2015年12月29日发表的社论。大中报贾宁扬编译。

Note: The Editorial was published by The Globe and Mail on December 29, 2016. Translated by Jack Jia, Chinese News.