Dalhousie-King's Conservatives

The Dalhousie University-University of King's College Conservatives, more commonly referred to as the Dalhousie-King's Conservatives or DKC is a student society dedicated to the promotion of conservatism on the campuses of both Dalhousie University and King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The organization is chartered to support the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia and the Conservative Party of Canada and has assisted both parties in numerous elections. The DKC is proud to be one of the most active political student societies in Halifax.

History Pre-1993

The exact origins of the club are unknown, but likely mirror those of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Youth. Early promotional material suggest that partisan campus clubs were founded in the 1940s or 1950s, during Robert Stanfield's time as leader of the Nova Scotia PC Party.

In the 1960s, campus clubs in the PC Party thrived, as there were four federal elections during the decade, three provincial elections and a major leadership contest. The 1967 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention was a hard fought affair and campus clubs including that at Dalhousie played a major role. This was also the case in both 1976 and especially 1983, where candidate John Crosbie had a strategy of controlling the leadership votes allotted to campus clubs.

The 1980s were the heyday of Progressive Conservative youth politics in Nova Scotia. John Buchanan was Premier and Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister and the Nova Scotia PC Youth membership was soaring. Leadership of the youth was heavily contested with more than 500 people voting at the provincial youth conventions. Young Tories associated with Dalhousie or King's at that time include John MacDonell and Scott Brison.

Up until the mid-1990s, Dalhousie actually had two different Progressive Conservative campus clubs: one at Dalhousie Law School and the other of a general nature for the whole student body.

1993 to present

The 1990s were a time of both challenge and triumph for the club. The defeat of the both the federal and provincial Conservatives had a demoralizing and decimating effect on the youth. By 1994, the Dalhousie PC Youth had just two members: Drew Campbell and James Dodds, and in 1995, Campbell was the sole member. However, Campbell became a revitalizing force for the group, he recruited, among others, Daniel Clark who became President from 1996-1999. During Clark's presidency, membership grew from two to over 50. In 1997, Campbell created and launched the first Dalhousie PC Youth website, which became a template for the provincial party's [http://www.pcparty.ns.ca|website] . During this period in the late 1990s, the Dalhousie campus was the centre of Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative youth politics, with the Dalhousie organization being far more active than their provincial cousins. Campbell, Clark, Kevin Lacey, and future president [http://responsiblegovernmentleague.blogspot.com/|Liam O'Brien] played a key role in the revitalization of the provincial youth organization.

Clark's presidency was based heavily on the notion of expanded presence and increased profile of the organization. Hospitality suites were organized at the provincial party's Annual General Meeting (AGM), involvement in the Dalhousie Student Union society roundtables, articles in the Dalhousie Gazette and movie night fundraisers. Prior to leaving Nova Scotia in 1999, Clark organized the successful John Crosbie dinner fundraiser - one of the most visible events organized by a PC Youth organization in Nova Scotia.

The Dalhousie PC Youth were strong supporters of the leadership of Dr. John Hamm, when in early 1999 efforts to call for a leadership review challenged the leader. The Dalhousie youth organized the 'I Support Hamm' campaign which swept the AGM that year. Their faith in the leader was justified as many Dalhousie PC Youth members played a critical role in the election of Hamm as Premier during the 1999 election. Roles included those in the central campaign's communications, technology, tour and in the ridings as well. Due to the influence of King's College student Liam O'Brien, the organization changed its name (and mandate) to reflect its close association with that school, and the Dalhousie-King's PC Youth was born. O'Brien later became President of the new association. During this time, the DKPCY resumed its role from the 1980s, not as the centre of PC Youth activities in Nova Scotia, but as one part of a revitalized Nova Scotia PC Youth.

2003 was a very busy year for the club, as it was for conservative politics in Canada. In addition to that year's provincial election, the club elected delegates to the 2003 leadership convention of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and also to the PC Party of Canada's Special Meeting of Members called to ratify the agreement to form the new Conservative Party of Canada. Slates were elected for Scott Brison and in favour of ratifying the agreement between Peter MacKay, an alumnus of Dalhousie but not an active club member during his time as a student, and Stephen Harper.

Shortly after the formation of the Conservative Party of Canada, Canadian Alliance supporters at Dalhousie became involved with the club. At the club's 2004 annual meeting, the club changed its name to the Dal-King's Conservatives. This name change was motivated by a few factors: an effort to make the former Alliance members feel at home, an opportunity to use the party name which would have more recognition among the national student body at the universities, and also as a mark of support for the new Conservative Party from young members in a show of goodwill toward encouraging the establishment of a youth wing for that party.

In autumn 2004, the organization was de-ratified as an official Dalhousie Student Union organization over a disagreement about the Union's rules regarding liability and alcohol. After considerable pressure, including considerable campus media coverage and an appeal to the student union's Judicial Board, along with other student societies, the stance of the Union relaxed and the Dal-King's Conservatives were re-ratified in winter 2005.

In September 2006 the society assumed the name Dalhousie-King's Progressive Conservatives (DKPC), that was used for the society's website, flyers and other documents, however this would change in January 2007 when the group's executive took great steps to clean up the society's constitution (that had been loosely put together since the club's foundations).

In recent years

In recent years the DKC has enjoyed high activity from members and non-members alike at many social and political functions. The 2007-2008 school year saw the DKC launch one of their most successful initiatives in recent memory, the DKC "Speaker Series". Elected members of both the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia and the Conservative Party of Canada are invited out to engage in an evening of informal dialogue with the DKC. Notable speakers have included Premier Rodney MacDonald, Gerald Keddy MP, Hon. Chris d'Entremont, Hon. Karen Casey, Hon. David Morse, Hon. Mark Parent, Hon. Cecil Clarke and many others. Events like these have made the Dalhousie-King's Conservatives one of the top campus clubs in the country.

The meet and greet with Premier Rodney MacDonald was interrupted by group of anti-poverty protesters, who significantly altered the feeling of the meeting, and brought a sombre mood to those gathered. [http://www.dalgazette.ca/html/module/displaystory/story_id/2230/format/print/edition_id/71/displaystory.print]

It is worth noting that sometimes the club's members, and recent alumni, find themselves in positions of prominence in the political, business and legal sectors. Many individuals have worked closely with the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Nova Scotia. Others have worked as senior advisers to cabinet ministers, as well as senior roles in the party-at-large as candidates for public office, provincial party executive members, national youth wing executives, campaign managers, legal advisers to campaigns, and important policy and operations positions.

Presidents

* 1970-1971 Arthur Donahoe
* 1992-1993 Hal McLean
* 1993-1994 Chris Whynaught
* 1993-1995 James Dodds
* 1995 Drew Campbell
* 1995-1996 Marsha Stagg
* 1996-1999 Daniel Clark
* 1999-2001 Liam O'Brien
* 2001-2002 Liz Bradshaw
* 2002-2004 Will Szubielski
* 2004-2005 Liam O'Brien
* 2005-2006 Ryan O'Connor
* 2006-2007 Jon Matters
* 2007-present Tyler Dennis

Former names

* Dalhousie-King's Progressive Conservative Youth
* DKPCY
* Dalhousie Progressive Conservative Youth
* Dalhousie PC Youth
* Dal PCY
* DPCY
* Dalhousie Law Progressive Conservatives
* Dalhousie Young Conservatives

Notable alumni

* Scott Brison, Liberal Member of Parliament (Kings—Hants) (2000-present)
* John MacDonnell, Peter MacKay's Chief of Staff (2006-present)

External links

* [http://www.dktories.ca Official website]
* [http://www.dalgazette.ca/html/module/displaystory/story_id/2230/format/print/edition_id/71/displaystory.print Story about Rodney MacDonald's visit]
* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2202425598 Facebook group: Campus Conservatives]