At 10:30 Sunday morning of March 5th I called the crybaby Tommy Boy McMillan on his home phone (617 482-3384). As soon as the nasty bastard admitted to knowing who I was and laughed at me, I said Cya in Court and hung up
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/award-season-not-my-party-mysteries-of-the-cosmos-former-bbc-head-on-public-broadcasting-1.3997618/former-tory-cabinet-minister-tom-mcmillan-whosever-s-party-it-is-it-damn-well-isn-t-mine-1.3997624
Sunday
February 26, 2017
Former Tory cabinet minister Tom McMillan:
"Whosever's party it is, it damn well isn't mine."
Tom McMillan (John Caplice Photography)
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/popup/audio/listen.html?autoPlay=true&clipIds=&mediaIds=884316739585&contentarea=radio&subsection1=radio1&subsection2=currentaffairs&subsection3=the_sunday_edition&contenttype=audio&title=2017/02/26/1.3997618-award-season;-not-my-party;-mysteries-of-the-cosmos;-former-bbc-head-on-public-broadcasting&contentid=1.3997618
In 2003, Stephen Harper, then the leader of the Canadian Alliance, sat beside Peter MacKay, then the leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives, and announced the birth of the Conservative Party of Canada.
For Canadian conservatism as we know it today, it was a seminal moment.
But when former Mulroney cabinet minister Tom McMillan looks back at that day, he sees a hostile takeover that transformed the party he once revered into one he no longer recognizes.
He tells Michael the party has become "a vehicle for right-wing ideologues in the American tradition, not the Canadian progressive tradition - so whosever party it is, it damn well isn't mine."
McMillan's new book is called Not My Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper. It is part political memoir, part manifesto.
With the leadership convention coming up, the party faces a fork in the road. It can go in the direction that the Harperites took the party, or it can take a different path, one that's truer to the soul of the traditional Conservative Party. And which fork it takes, I think, will set a path of no return. - Tom McMillan
Tom McMillan was policy secretary to Robert Stanfield, the former leader of the federal Progressive Conservative party. He was elected as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Hillsborough, PEI in 1979, and served as an MP for nine years.
He was a cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney's government, serving first as a Minister of State for tourism, and then as Minister of the Environment. As environment minister, he worked on both the US-Canada acid rain accord and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Click the button above to hear Michael's interview with Tom McMillan.
To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted.
By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time.
10 Comments
David Raymond Amos
Its 10,30 Sunday morning On
March 5th after listening closely and reading other stuff published
about on CBC and elsewhere called McMillan in Boston. The instant my
fellow Maritimer admitted to knowing who I was and laughed at me I said
cya in court and hung up.
David Raymond Amos
Perhaps MacMillan and CBC should listen to this radio conversation sometime soon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgTsmzbasCA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgTsmzbasCA
Cathy Williams
I was shocked by what
MacMillan had to say about Kim Campbell, that the PCs lost the election
because she was incapable, etc. I am old enough to remember that time
and it certainly isn't the memory I have. Everyone was fed up with
Mulroney, so much so that he was FORCED to resign. Many of us felt that
the party elected her knowing full well that they were going to lose the
election, and she was their scapegoat. His loyalty to Mulroney is
nauseating.
Leslie Gratton
@Cathy Williams I agree that
Mulroney left town just ahead of the lynch mob. No matter who the
party parachuted into place, that election was a done deal.
Doug Barr
Boohoo. "It's [not] my party
and I'll cry if I want to" and then make up one of my own. And so the
division of humanity continues. Apparently Aesop of fable fame was the
first to note "divided we fall", 2600 years ago. Man we're stupid. Sadly
when we crash and self-destruct it will be too late to learn unity is
essential to survive. https://thelastwhy.ca/
@Doug Barr - But I thought strength was attained through diversity? Or is that only diversity of colour, not of thought?
Cecil Nagy
Progressives have all but left the Conservatives
The decline of the Progressive voice in the Conservatives started with Deif and continued under Mulroney, with a brief reprieve under Stanfield, but it was dealt a mortal blow by Pete
The decline of the Progressive voice in the Conservatives started with Deif and continued under Mulroney, with a brief reprieve under Stanfield, but it was dealt a mortal blow by Pete
Jason Burroughs
@Cecil Nagy - And what social
programs were gutted by 9 years of the previous government? Did
immigration grind to a halt? Did the army take over our streets? Check
the facts. Poverty fell more under Harper than under Trudeau Sr. or
Chretien. Facts matter, not opinions
Jason Burroughs
Listen to the top 4 or 5
stories on the 9:00 news this morning. They ALL have to do with radical
Islam. Do people really think John A. MacDonald or Brian Mulroney
would lead a party that turned a blind eye to imported hatred and
intolerance?
Jennifer McIsaac
As a former Progressive
Conservative, I would also say that the Conservative Party of today is
not my party any more. But then why should it be? Just because it uses a
similar name does not mean it has similar policies, culture or
ideology.
Nothing infuriates me more when people refer to the current Conservatives as the Party of John A MacDonald for some reason. Do they not understand that the current Conservatives are a new Party formed from the Canadian Alliance containing people more likely to believe in US Republican ideology than anything else?
For me the Party I want to support is one that is fiscally careful and socially progressive - but such a Party no longer exists. I am embarrassed by the social position of the current Conservatives and worry a lot about the current fiscal management of the country by the Liberals.
I currently support the Liberals as they are more progressive, but I am not confirmed in that support given their current policy decisions on electoral reform and assisted dying where they seem to have deliberately deprived those that need assisted dying the most from actually obtaining it.
So what to do?
Some days I look at the politics world-wide and just shake my head. It is a very disturbing sight for me.
Nothing infuriates me more when people refer to the current Conservatives as the Party of John A MacDonald for some reason. Do they not understand that the current Conservatives are a new Party formed from the Canadian Alliance containing people more likely to believe in US Republican ideology than anything else?
For me the Party I want to support is one that is fiscally careful and socially progressive - but such a Party no longer exists. I am embarrassed by the social position of the current Conservatives and worry a lot about the current fiscal management of the country by the Liberals.
I currently support the Liberals as they are more progressive, but I am not confirmed in that support given their current policy decisions on electoral reform and assisted dying where they seem to have deliberately deprived those that need assisted dying the most from actually obtaining it.
So what to do?
Some days I look at the politics world-wide and just shake my head. It is a very disturbing sight for me.
Wayne Leng
@Jennifer McIsaac One of the
things that always troubled me about the party of Stephen Harper is what
Tom McMillan said about Harper not believing in 'the facts' or
'science' and that he only believed in beliefs... That is no way to
conduct the business of government or ones own life... to live in
delusion...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/book-mcmillan-tories-minister-1.3895417
Tom McMillan memoir says federal Tories are unrecognizable
Not my Party explores the history of the Conservative Party
By Viola Pruss, CBC News
Posted: Dec 14, 2016 1:00 PM AT
Tom McMillan is a former federal cabinet minister and
Progressive Conservative MP. Mitch Cormier/ CBC
It's no secret that Tom McMillan is critical of the modern Tories.
The former federal cabinet minister and Progressive Conservative member of Parliament for Hillsborough, P.E.I., just published a book about it.
Not my Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper, is as much part-memoir, as a history of the last 50 years of the Tories in Canada.
"The book is very much about the Conservative Party of Canada," McMillan said.
"Not from the point of view of a partisan but from that of someone who is deeply concerned about what has come of the grand old Tory party which no longer exists, at least for the time being."
McMillan said it took him about five or six years to write the book but a lifetime of experience to inspire it.
While Not my Party recounts his own experience in politics — from his early years as policy secretary for Robert Stanfield, to being a minister in Brian Mulroney's cabinet — it also laments the end of the Progressive Conservative Party when it merged with the Canadian Alliance Party in 2003.
The takeover, as McMillan calls it, created a new Conservative Party that lost many of its historic roots.
"And that's exactly what happened," he said.
"These very cunning right-wingers saw an opportunity to take over an established institution with a broad membership and a history and heritage, and recast it in a completely different mould."
McMillan said he consulted a wide circle of people while writing his book, from academics to policy specialists and former colleagues.
But he also talked to people who never voted for the Tory party, who shared his thoughts on the Conservatives today.
"I heard a lot from these people, they informed my book, I consulted them, many of them guided it," he said.
"And in that sense my book is not only the voice of Tom McMillan, author. It's the voice of many people who share my views on the subject."
With the defeat of the Tories in the 2015 election, he said Not my Party took on a new urgency.
The Tories will now have to reshape their party, starting with the decisions made by their new leader, he said.
McMillan hopes his book will offer some insight on how the party can return to old principles and reclaim its place in Canadian politics.
"I'm not presenting myself as some professional critic of the Conservative Party," he said.
"But what I do is express a wish in the book that other people of like mind … who are progressive and reformist and believe in that kind of party, will link their voices with mine and put pressure on the Conservative Party frankly to come to its senses, to restore its soul."
The former federal cabinet minister and Progressive Conservative member of Parliament for Hillsborough, P.E.I., just published a book about it.
Not my Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper, is as much part-memoir, as a history of the last 50 years of the Tories in Canada.
"The book is very much about the Conservative Party of Canada," McMillan said.
"Not from the point of view of a partisan but from that of someone who is deeply concerned about what has come of the grand old Tory party which no longer exists, at least for the time being."
A party that lost its roots
McMillan said it took him about five or six years to write the book but a lifetime of experience to inspire it.
While Not my Party recounts his own experience in politics — from his early years as policy secretary for Robert Stanfield, to being a minister in Brian Mulroney's cabinet — it also laments the end of the Progressive Conservative Party when it merged with the Canadian Alliance Party in 2003.
The takeover, as McMillan calls it, created a new Conservative Party that lost many of its historic roots.
"And that's exactly what happened," he said.
"These very cunning right-wingers saw an opportunity to take over an established institution with a broad membership and a history and heritage, and recast it in a completely different mould."
McMillan said he consulted a wide circle of people while writing his book, from academics to policy specialists and former colleagues.
But he also talked to people who never voted for the Tory party, who shared his thoughts on the Conservatives today.
"I heard a lot from these people, they informed my book, I consulted them, many of them guided it," he said.
"And in that sense my book is not only the voice of Tom McMillan, author. It's the voice of many people who share my views on the subject."
Return to old principles
Not my Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian
Tories, from Robert Standfield to Stephen Harper, is as much
part-memoir, as a history of the Conservative Party in Canada. (Indigo
Books)
The Tories will now have to reshape their party, starting with the decisions made by their new leader, he said.
McMillan hopes his book will offer some insight on how the party can return to old principles and reclaim its place in Canadian politics.
"I'm not presenting myself as some professional critic of the Conservative Party," he said.
"But what I do is express a wish in the book that other people of like mind … who are progressive and reformist and believe in that kind of party, will link their voices with mine and put pressure on the Conservative Party frankly to come to its senses, to restore its soul."
Corrections
-
A previous version of this story stated the Conservative Party merged with the Alliance Party in 1993. In fact, the Progressive Conservative Party merged with the Canadian Alliance Party in 2003.Dec 14, 2016 1:55 PM AT
http://thecommentary.ca/ontheline/1394-tom-mcmillan/
The Hon. Tom McMillan
17 November 2016 | 
Email This Post
| 
Print This Post
The former federal cabinet minister The Hon. Tom McMillan discusses his new book and memoir Not My Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper (Nimbus, 2016), with Joseph Planta. Email This Post
| Print This Post
 |
Not My Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper by Tom McMillan (Nimbus, 2016). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Not My Party |
Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.
The book is called Not My Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper. Its author is the political scientist, former federal cabinet minister, former Member of Parliament from Prince Edward Island, and former diplomat, Tom McMillan. In the book he also recounts his own years in politics, first as a policy secretary to Robert Stanfield, then through his years running for the Progressive Conservative Party, his time as a minister in Brian Mulroney’s cabinet, through to his defeat in the Free Trade election of 1988, his subsequent attempts at re-election, as well as his years in Boston, where he resides today; where for a number of years he was Canada’s Consul General to New England. The book is a lively, fascinating look at the last fifty years plus of politics in Canada, with stories about people in Canada’s political past. It also laments the end of the old PC Party, and its—according to the author—devolution to a party he hasn’t been able to support, the Conservative Party that emerged after the merger of the Reform/Canadian Alliance Party. The book offers a way for progressives to reclaim their party, and it provides an argument for its place in the Canadian discourse. Tom McMillan was first elected to the House of Commons in 1979, re-elected in 1980 and 1984. In 1984, he was appointed a minister of state in the Mulroney government, going on to serve as environment minister from 1985 to 1988. The book is published by Nimbus. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in Boston today, the Honourable Tom McMillan; Mr. McMillan, good morning.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (36.6MB)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Michael_McMillan
Thomas Michael "Tom" McMillan, PC (born October 15, 1945) is a Canadian political scientist and former politician.
Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, McMillan was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1979 general election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Hillsborough, Prince Edward Island. He was re-elected in the 1980[1] and 1984 elections. He served as Deputy House Leader from 1983 to 1984 under Leader of the Opposition Brian Mulroney.
Following the Tory landslide in the 1984 general election, Mulroney appointed McMillan to Cabinet as Minister of State for tourism.[2] A year later, McMillan was named Minister of the Environment, replacing the controversial Suzanne Blais-Grenier.[3] McMillan maintained a much lower profile than his predecessor.
He was concerned with emerging issues of the 1980s like acid rain, and remained active in local issues and heritage preservation. When in 1981 an historic bank building in his riding was demolished there was an outcry from concerned citizens, including McMillan. He summed up the loss of this historic structure, "The actions of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Charlottetown have been decidedly more imperial than Canadian." He became increasingly active in preservation causes including the restoration of a brick powder magazine located in Brighton Compound in Charlottetown.
McMillan remained Environment minister until he was defeated in the 1988 general election due to opposition to the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement among his constituents.[4][5] In August 1989, McMillan was appointed Canada's consul-general to Boston.[6][7] He maintained his involvement in politics, and attempted unsuccessfully to regain his seat in the 1993 general election.[8] He again attempted a comeback in the 1997 general election, this time in the riding of Peterborough, Ontario, but came in third place behind Liberal candidate Peter Adams and the Reform Party's Nancy Branscombe.[9]
Based on his experiences and previous studies, he wrote a book entitled Not My Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper which was published in 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment