My interest in politics started in 1955 when as a family member at the Canadian Bar Association I had a tour of the House of Commons and sat in a seat of a member of the House.
In the following winter, the pipeline debate occurred and the tour guide (the speaker) got into trouble by sending Donald Fleming from the House. That pipeline debate convinced me that the Liberals (I had been brought up in a Liberal household) were unworthy to govern. In 1957, when I was 14, I pushed for the Progressive Conservatives and they won a minority government, converted to majority in 1958.
In 1961 when I started University I joined the PC Club and the first thing I was asked was who the President of the Club should vote for for leader of the Ontario party (and I suggested John Robarts). I attended the National Convention in Ottawa.
By third year I was President of the student club and in those days, model Parliament was held so I ran for model Parliament. Moreover, I was selected to help count the ballots on the leadership question - it was also that year that I got to know Joe Clark well enough to be asked the next year to be on the National Executive of the senior party representing the Student Federation.
Later, when Joe Clark was running his 1979 election, I was asked to go and travel with him as his economist BUT I had too many obligations at work and home. My spouse had no interest in my participation in politics and I had promised when we married not to become involved by running.
I am no longer a member of any political party although I have some preferences. The only party I have never voted for are the HATED Liberals. I started by seeing the arrogance of that party when I took an interest in the pipeline debate and later the arrogance of Pierre Elliot Trudeau (whom I disagreed with on so many substantive things) and even later still the suptle arrogance of Jean Chretien. My dissertation on federalism was a direct contrast to Truedeau's views of federalism. Jean Chretien has been less offensive but still is arrogant and I fundamentally disagree with his policies. Moreover, his cabinet has only one or two stars in it - Paul Martin and Lloyd Axworthy. The rest can be written off as non-entities.
I always get some fun out of talking politics. Moreover, even though I had to turn Joe Clark down when he asked me to be an economist involved in his 1979 campaign, I would gladly take up a challenge from one of the right-of-centre parties TODAY.
When I started University, I was considerably left of center, thinking that governments could help people in need and believing in government action on the economy. I was trained as a Keynesian so I continued to believe that. It was probably in the 1970s when I saw the misuse of Keynes as an economist to justify government actions which clearly were not warranted (part of the big brother which Pierre Trudeau stood for), I slowly moved rightward and if one were to read my newspaper writings over time, one would find that I have moved fairly firmly to the right politically.
I will list some of the things I believe in now: