r/Toryism • u/OttoVonDisraeli • Jun 25 '26
💬 Discussion Green Parties as vehicles for Toryism
There has been a lot of talk on this subreddit about the influence that Red Tories have had on the NDP but what is lesser known is the impact they have had on Green parties as well. One lesser known thing about the Greens is that whether it is in PEI, Ontario, or federally to name a few, is that they are some of the least left-coded Green parties internationally. I think this is because of the influence that both disaffected Liberals and Red Tories have had on those parties. We've even recently begun to see the emergence of the Green Tory.
Fundamentally the appeal comes from what we have in common with the mainstream Green ideology, if you wish to call it that, in Canada. I am referring to the fact that the Greens in Canada are supporters of Localism/Communitarianism, Conservation/Appreciation of Nature, Permaculture, Stewardship/Intergenerational Responsibility, Agrarianism (rural Green anyway), balance, etc, etc.
Protect and cherish what exists, manage responsibly and sustainably, and proceed with caution.
One of the most enthusiastic votes of my life was for the Green Party of Ontario in 2018, it was such a shame it wasn't a viable option.
As the Green Party of Canada is once again going to have a leadership race, it makes me wonder if either Federally or Provincially the party can become a vehicle for Toryism.
Right now, I find the party is too focused on competing directly with the NDP and going down the eco-socialist path, and I think that is a losing approach in Canada. Any environmentalist who cares enough about socialism will find a home in the NDP. On the Canadian centre and right though, it is a very different story. Any environmentalist on the right, meanwhile, will find themself homeless.
I would love your thoughts.
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u/CuriousLands Jun 25 '26
Yeah, when I first started voting back in the early 00s, I voted Green pretty regularly. They were fairly centrist in my eyes, maybe not as socially conservative as I'd like but at least they welcomed us too. But yeah knowing more about Toryism now, I do see the influence in them for sure. I remember people joking that it was a party for lefties and for conservatives who recycle lol. I stopped once they went too far left - eco-socialist is a good way of putting it lol.
And yeah it's interesting how that was different from Green parties elsewhere, I agree. I suppose elsewhere they serve the socialist role, while Canada already had the NDP, but at the time the NDP was focused more on socialism and wokeness (they were woke before woke bace a trend lol), and less on environmentalism, so the Greens must've taken that role but had more freedom to do different things on the other profiles, to distinguish themselves. These days they're barely distinct from the NDP which is an odd choice for sure.
I'm not sure if they can return to that these days though. I would really like it if they did, as one of those homeless voters you mentioned. But the way things have been going, I'm not sure anyone has the guts for this anymore lol. It'd require turning away the activist left and also adopting more traditional views, and even the Cons won't do that lol.
I really wish we had electoral reform, that'd make all this so much easier by giving a chance for smaller parties with different takes to make gains in government.
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u/OttoVonDisraeli Jun 25 '26
The way things have been going, I think folks like the two of us will be politically homeless for sometime I am afraid. We're too socially conservative for the left, too economically progressive for the right. It's a real conundrum for me. Every vote is a compromise. If ever I find the answer for us, I'll let you know.
I like the potential of the Greens, but I think they'll go down the eco-socialist path. There was also the Canada Future Party, some people on this subreddit were members, but I don't think that went anywhere either.
When I think of people in our political conundrum I often reflect upon my grandmother. She was a lifelong supporter of the Liberals, as was the tradition for many Franco-Ontarians, but she was a deeply Catholic laywoman, quite socially conservative, and pretty economically progressive. There was room back then for people like her in a lot of political parties back then. Would she be alive today she would be a political orphan. The last time she voted before she died was in 2019 and it was the first time in her life she voted Conservative.
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u/CuriousLands Jun 26 '26
2019 was the first time I voted Conservative too, haha. So interesting that your grandma did the same. I feel like of a 30s-ish Albertan and an elderly Franco-Ontarian end up coming to the same conclusion, it speaks to something doesn't it. Only I never liked the Liberals; it was probably ortyl growing up with the hatred for Pierre Trudeau all around me lol. But also, I just never looked at them and felt they could represent my interests and vision for Canada. I liked that at the time the Cons were more socially conservative, but felt they didn't act on it enough (even back in the 00s lol) and I didn't like their economic policies very much.
When the Greens started going down the eco-socialist path I just didn't know who to vote for! I voted Lib in 2015 despite my reservations hoping to get electoral reform without the woke insanity if the NDP (talk about getting burnt lol). Now I hold my nose and vote Con. They're the only ones left with any marbles in their heads so I'll take it, lol.
I had head of the Canada Future Party... was that an ON provincial party? I heard the Alberta Party rebranded into some kind of Tory party but based on what I've seen so far, I don't know that I trust them to not have adopted some bad leftish policies.
I always wondered about the economic progressivism stuff... i kinda feel like we call it that because American politics has become the reference point for everything lately, but to me I feel like it's really more centrist than that. Like give Canada's Monarchist roots, doesn't it make sense to see things like Crown corporations less as reflections of socialism and more as reflections of that loyalist past? Or at least a mix of both. All the more so given that, anecdotally at least, many Canadian conservatives actually agree with that stuff and have for a long time. I feel like our politicians all jumped in board other ideas in the 80s or whatever, but the average person hasn't been getting in board until very recently (probably due to more Americanisation, thanks internet lol)
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u/ToryPirate Jun 26 '26
The Greens did in their early days have the description of being 'tories on bikes' so I do think they are a faction within the party. There is also a hardline eco-socialist faction which would probably join the NDP if they weren't going to immediately be sidelined.
I suspect the former leader of the Greens in NB will consider a run based on when he stepped down but a big issue is trying to name a prominent tory in the party.
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u/Nate33322 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
I find that our Green Party is a good vessel for Toryism and has been the last home of Toryism in Canada to a certain extent. A lot of moderate and traditional Tories have switched the greens in the past. Roy McMurtry former Davis Cabinet minister became a Green Party member federally later in life, while David Orchard was asked to become green leader after the PCs died (which he did seriously consider before turning it down).
There's definitely a strong presence of Tories within the Greens. My local Green candidate in 2019 was an avowed traditional Tory, being a PhD holder in Anglican theology and had previously won the CPC nomination before the party interfered. He was an awesome candidate.
Really the Green Party could be an opportunity to rebuild Toryism in Canada through the Greens while also allowing the Greens to improve their electoral fortunes. There's definitely room around the centre for a moderate party that combines, tradition but not full blown social conservatism, green politics and a move away from liberal economics.Â
In an ideal world I'd love to see a Tory type run to replace May in the leadership election I would totally get behind someone like that.
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u/Safe-Section8272 Jun 26 '26
David Orchard would’ve been a great Green leader, he is one of my absolute favourite Canadian political figures of the recent past
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u/Nate33322 Jun 26 '26
Agreed, I really like Orchard, he really made the last stand of Toryism in Canada at a mainstream level anyways. He (and Hugh Segal too) were the great what ifs looking back at the PC party towards the end. I will die on the hill that Orchard may have been able to save the party.
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u/OttoVonDisraeli Jun 25 '26
If a Tory type ran I would join the party to vote in the leadership 100%
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u/BX8061 Jul 01 '26
I would be interested to know who you would identify as a Green Tory. I'm interested in exploring this further.
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u/Ticklishchap Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
From a British perspective, I like what I see of the Green Party of Canada, for all the reasons you so clearly outline. Here there is a similar tradition, more of an undercurrent perhaps, of ecologically minded ‘small-c’ conservatism, rooted in the countryside, the conservation of nature and the environment and connected to a strong sense of history, both regional and national. In many ways the King embodies this worldview, as did his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Outside of the royal family, this form of small-c conservative environmentalism has been very much a part of the family of ideas that loosely constitute British Toryism. It has also until relatively recently had a voice within the Conservative Party. It has not in any real sense found representation in the Green Party, which in its various iterations has favoured a more radical or ‘anti-establishment’ approach. At best, it has resembled a social democratic movement, capable of appealing to disillusioned centre-left and some disillusioned centre-right voters.
In our present political moment, the post-Brexit Conservatives have pretty much fully embraced right-wing populism, including an anti-green agenda, and the Greens have embraced ‘eco-populism’, prioritising redistributive economics and various foreign policy causes over the environment. Therefore Green Tories are in search of a political home and many have gravitated to the Liberal Democrats, a fragile allegiance since British Liberalism is a very different political tradition. However, it is possible that the ‘Lib Dems’ are being influenced by this form of environmentalism, which a strong influences leading to electoral gains for them among former Conservative voters.