The merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Parties became official Monday.
A new political party, the Conservative Party of Canada, has now been registered with Elections Canada, the leaders of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties announced.
Tory Leader Peter MacKay and Alliance Leader Stephen Harper held a press conference Monday morning in Ottawa to announce the registration of the new party.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper, left, and Progressive Conservative Leader Peter MacKay announce Monday that their parties have become the Conservative Party of Canada. (Fred Chartrand/CP)
They also announced that Tory Senator John Lynch-Staunton will serve as interim leader, and that they have established an interim joint council, composed of six members of each party. The council is responsible for the logistics of merging the parties.
"We are putting in place the infrastructure, we are laying down much of the track that is going to carry us forward as we create and lay the foundation for the new Conservative Party," Mr. MacKay said.
Although the new party has been recognized by Elections Canada, both the PC and Alliance caucuses are to remain intact for now, with Mr. MacKay and Mr. Harper heading each. The parties will take several weeks to select new officers, caucus critics and whips, as well as a leader in the House of Commons, the two leaders said.
Decisions probably will not be made until January, they said, and both caucuses will be consulted before any announcements are made.
Mr. Harper said it is natural for the process to take some time.
"If the Liberal government can have two leaders for two years, then I think we can do so for two months, can't we?" he said, referring to the transition of leadership from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to Paul Martin, who officially takes over on Friday.
The two parties have also set up a new, Conservative trust fund, to facilitate the coming together of both parties' assets. The Alliance and PC trust funds will be shut down.
The leaders said while they will examine how the two parties may be doubling up on staffing, they hope to grow the party, not shrink it.
Mr. MacKay said there will be an Ottawa office, as well as a possible Calgary office and others.
"This is going to be a bigger, broader, more active party, so to that end, we hope not to be downsizing but in fact, making this party larger. And that could include such things as other offices and more staff as opposed to less."
However, both leaders, particularly Mr. MacKay, admitted that they must work hard within their respective caucuses to make the transition as painless as possible.
Mr. MacKay planned to spend Monday's caucus meeting trying to smooth things over with his anti-merger MPs.
Although about 90 per cent of Progressive Conservatives voted in favour of the deal, compared with nearly 96 per cent of the Alliance, the Tory Leader will have to encourage harmony Monday among those who voted against it. Some MPs have threatened to leave the Tory caucus over the union.
Mr. MacKay said he hoped for a constructive caucus meeting.
"I certainly hope all members of the new party will remain members...it is my wish that every member of the PC caucus will participate in the new party," he said.
The overwhelming results of the vote are proof that change was needed, he said.
"The democratic voice of the party was resounding. This isn't being thrust on anybody. This isn't any sort of a surprise."
The leaders said that, beginning Monday, they hoped that the Tories and Alliance would use the new opportunity to fight the Liberals rather than each other.
Manitoba Tory MP Rick Borotsik is one of the naysayers who voted against the union on the weekend.
But he recognized that because of an impending federal election, action must be taken soon.
"I'm also a pragmatist, I also realize that we are heading in that direction, there's no question about that," he told CBC Newsworld. Mr. Borotsik also added: "if Stephen Harper is taking this party forward, then that shows to me that it's nothing more than a continual metamorphosis from the Reform [Party] to the Alliance to the Conservative."
"If that's the way it's heading, I have no part in the particular party." Tory MP Scott Brison has also said he will not remain in the party if it is led by Mr. Harper.
Two other MPs—former leader Joe Clark and New Brunswick MP John Herron — announced Monday they will not sit with the new party. Quebec Tory MP André Bachand has also expressed misgivings about merger and has done nothing to quell speculation that the Liberals are trying to recruit him.
He said Monday he will not run for the new party and will sit as an independent for the time-being.
New beginning
This week marks a new chapter in the union of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties.
Both leaders and others in the party are now looking ahead to a leadership vote.
Already, one candidate — Progressive Conservative Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice — has put his name forward to run for the leadership.
Mr. Harper is also expected to follow suit, as are Mr. MacKay and MPs Scott Brison, Brian Pallister and Chuck Strahl.
Mr. Harper, however, would not comment during the press conference Monday on whether he will run for the leadership. The merger agreement calls for a new leader to be chosen in March
MPs for the new conservative party will also be asked to map their future together at parliamentary retreat some time before the middle of January.
The parties are trying to prepare quickly for a likely federal election next spring, to be called by Mr. Martin.
Alliance President Don Plett told Newsworld that getting the new party ready for the election will be no small task.
He said the parties must prepare for 308 separate nomination meetings before the election.
"We need to bring our assets and liabilities together," he said.
With a report from Brian Laghi and CP
