Anything But Conservative

Anything But Conservative, also known as the ABC campaign, is a political campaign established by Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams to oppose the election of any candidates for the Conservative Party of Canada during the 2008 Canadian federal election, particularly within that province. The campaign is a response to what Williams has termed a broken promise by Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper regarding equalization payments to the province.

The project is officially overseen by an organization known simply as "ABC Campaign", which is affiliated with the provincial Progressive Conservative Party of which Williams is leader, and which has been registered with Elections Canada as a "third party" for the purposes of election expenditures. [cite web| url=http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=pol&document=40ge&dir=thi/tie&lang=e&textonly=false|title=Registered Third Parties – 40th General Election| accessdate=2008-09-17|publisher=Elections Canada|date=2008-09-16 The organization was registered by John Babb, the current president of the NL PC party. [http://www.pcparty.nf.net/executive.htm] ] [cite web|url=http://whois.cira.ca/public?domain=anythingbutconservative.ca|title=WHOIS search results - anythingbutconservative.ca|accessdate=2008-09-17|publisher=Canadian Internet Registration Authority|date=2008-09-02 The domain in question was registered in the name of the NL PC party.] The provincial government itself has also paid for advertisements supporting the goals of the campaign. [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/03/28/williams-ads.html |title=Harper denies claims in N.L. attack ads |accessdate=2008-09-16 |work=CBC News |publisher= |date=2007-03-28 ]

Although the current federal Conservative Party does not have any formal affiliation to the various provincial Progressive Conservative parties, the two groups ordinarily work together on an unofficial basis, and thus the ABC campaign represents a rare public rift between federal and provincial "Conservative" parties. The campaign does not specifically endorse any alternative federal party, and PC politicians are campaigning on behalf of candidates for both the federal Liberal and New Democratic parties.

A separate group unaffiliated with Williams, known as Project ABC [http://www.anythingbutconservative.com] , is also using the slogan in the 2008 election to protest the Conservatives' environmental policies.

Background

On January 4, 2006, during the 2006 federal election campaign, then-opposition leader Harper sent a letter to Williams with the following statement regarding equalization:

blockquote|A Conservative government would also support changes to the equalization program to ensure provinces and territories have the opportunity to develop economies and sustain important core social services. We will remove non-renewable natural resource revenue from the equalization formula to encourage the development of economic growth in the non-renewable resource sectors across Canada. The Conservative government will ensure that no province is adversely affected from changes to the equalization formula.|Stephen Harper, letter to Danny Williams, January 4, 2006 (emphasis added) [cite web
url = http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01harper.pdf
title = Letter to Danny Williams
accessdate = 2008-09-16
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author = Stephen Harper
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Harper began to distance himself from the statement that October. [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2006/10/16/harper-williams.html |title=Rift widens between Harper, Williams |accessdate=2008-09-16 |last= |first= |date=2006-10-16 |work=CBC News|publisher= ] The subsequent 2007 federal budget ostensibly met this promise by introducing the option of a new equalization formula allowing each province to exclude its natural resources - but also imposing a cap on the amount of equalization each province could receive, effectively negating the Atlantic Accord. The budget also gave each province the option of retaining the original equalization formula, meaning that no province would lose revenue due to the new formula.

Nonetheless, Williams said that, based on the restrictions imposed on the new formula, the province had been "shafted", and that "based on the fact that they've broken their promise and broken their commitment, [citizens] should not vote Conservative in the next federal election." [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/03/20/william-budget-reax.html |title=N.L. 'shafted' in federal budget: Williams |accessdate=2008-09-16 |work=CBC News |publisher= |date=2007-03-20 ]

The campaign began unofficially in May 2007, when Williams told the Economic Club of Toronto that the decision would cost the province billions of dollars, adding: "I am encouraging Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and Canadians, in the next federal election to simply vote ABC — easy to remember. Vote ABC — anything but Conservative." [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/05/03/williams-harper.html |title=Defeating Harper easy as ABC, Williams tells Toronto audience |accessdate=2008-09-16 |work=CBC News |publisher= |date=2007-05-03 ]

Political parties have in the past mounted similar campaign's to sway voters against a particular party, as in the 2001 Alberta provincial election, where Stephen Harper led the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) in a "Vote Anything but Liberal" campaign. [National Citizens Coalition, "NCC Ad Campaign Urges Albertans Not to Vote Liberal", "Canada NewsWire", 13 February 2001, 11:45 report.]

2008 federal election

Since the start of the 2008 election, a campaign website has been launched, while members of the provincial PC caucus have begun to campaign on behalf of federal Liberal and NDP candidates. [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/09/16/abc-bedfellows.html|title=Strange bedfellows: Williams's ABC campaign heads to trenches|work=CBC News|date=2008-09-16|accessdate=2008-09-16] All caucus members are expected to participate in the ABC campaign, with the exception of backbencher (and one-time health minister) Elizabeth Marshall, who said she could not bring herself to support a Liberal or NDP candidate. [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/09/08/marshall-abc-sideline.html |title=No appetite for ABC campaign: Marshall |accessdate=2008-09-16 |work=CBC News |publisher= |date=2008-09-08 ] No provincial PC politician has yet openly supported the federal Conservatives during the 2008 campaign.

On a campaign visit to the province, Harper responded that "no one can tell a Newfoundlander and Labradorian how to vote," and that the voters' choice should be "about your own best interests." [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/13/harper-williams.html|title=Harper takes swing at N.L. premier's 'ABC' campaign|publisher=CBC|date=2008-09-13|accessdate=2008-09-16]

Leo Power, a veteran of federal politics and the Conservative Party of Canada's campaign co-chair for Newfoundland and Labrador, said raising money and recruiting volunteers has proved difficult, and blames Williams's ABC campaign, saying it has cut deep into the federal election machine that is struggling to compete. Power has also said his party's best hope of winning a seat in the province is in the riding of Avalon with incumbent candidate Fabian Manning.cite web |title=Tory organizer blames ABC campaign for party's woes |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/10/02/power-abc.html |last = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2008-10-03 |accessdate=2008-10-03]

References

External links

* [http://www.anythingbutconservative.ca/ AnythingButConservative.ca] - Williams campaign official website

* [http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=23555164110 Vote ABC - Facebook group]

* [http://www.voteabc.blogspot.com/ Vote ABC - Blog supporting the ABC campaign]

* [http://www.anythingbutconservative.com AnythingButConservative.com] - "Project ABC" (environmental group) website

* [http://anythingbutconservative.webs.com/ AnythingButConservative.webs.com] - Strategic voting site supporting the ABC campaign