The race for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada has attracted several candidates who represent the reason why the Reform Party exists. Four of the five official candidates are Red Tories. Only one of them, Michael Fortier, is a small-c conservative.

Why would liberals such as Joe Clark want to lead a Tory party? To find an answer we have to go back to Dief the Chief. Starting with him the party began a drift towards the left which has seen it transformed from a small-c conservative party into a small-l liberal party. In ideology, it is virtually indistinguishable from the Liberals and the NDP. The fact that both the Liberals and the NDP have adopted many Tory policies and that the Tories have adopted many Grit and NDP policies speaks for itself.

I realize these statements will get many of the old guard from all parties up in arms; but to see the truth in the statement, all one has to do is examine the last five decades of Canada's political party leadership history.

The wishy-washiness of many of the individuals who have sought party leadership is one of the best indicators of how the lines between the parties have dimmed. The slow meshing of party philosophies has permitted potential party leaders the leeway to consider running for the leadership of other parties.

The first really big political transformation in this regard was the switch to the Liberals from the NDP by the NDP's three Quebec wise men: Marchand, Pelltier, and Trudeau. Then the fact that the Liberals at one time actively courted Brian Mulrooney to run for them and that John Turner was courted by the Tories to lead them - both men gave serious consideration to making a switch - adds weight to a contention that political parties as they now exist are redundant.

What is needed to cure this unfortunate development is a sharp restructuring of party philosophies, or an end to the party system altogether. If we are to keep the system, a conservative party must be conservative in philosophy as well as name; the same applies to the Liberals. Thus, the Red Tories should go en-mass to the Liberals, and the New Democrats and Liberals should stop pretending there is a real difference between their philosophies and unite. Then the small-c conservative NDPers and Liberals, which includes Paul Martin, should make a switch to a rejuvenated Conservative party.

After this sorting out, the real Conservative party could hold a convention that would see non-radical Reform members rejoining the fold and Paul Martin elected leader. Such an eventuality would produce an unbeatable combination. As a bonus for Canadians, for the first time in almost five decades, they would have credible choices at election time.

Wow! When I dream, I dream big! However, human nature being what it is, the “12th” of never will probably arrive before politicians come to their senses and create two political parties. The main reason they won't come to their senses is that the power they perceive to be granted by being a "bigwig" in a political party, and the perks that go with it, corrupts and corrupts completely.

Once in power, politicians view the constituency, which they supposedly represent, as a vehicle to unscrupulously manipulate in order to retain power. Lying, misrepresentation, funding unneeded programs, etc. - nothing is beyond the need to keep power!

While we wait patiently for someone with the guts to reform the system, we will have to bear with the political mess we have. The Grits, New Democrats and Tories will continue with the Big Dadaism they've been practising. In the case of the New Democrats, who are led by a woman, we had better stick in the word Big Mamaism for political correctness.

The Reform Party, which once offered hope for reform, has displayed far too much intolerance for the cultural, racial, sexual and other differences between peoples to ever be a credible alternative. Anyway, with Preston in Stornoway - where he said he would never live - and with several Reformers opting into the luxury pension plan, the Party's believability is nearing zilch.

The lack of real options Canadians have when selecting their governments leads one to question whether Canada can prosper as it once did without making major change. The five decades of unopposed paternalistic socialism that the main political parties have inflicted upon the country has brought it to near ruin. The dollar has lost half its value in relation to its American counterpart. Professionals and entrepreneurs are fleeing to more business-friendly climes in record numbers - the USA specifically. Unemployment hovers around the 10 percent level and the gap between rich and poor grows wider. Record high taxes have led to an underground economy that undermines the country's economic future and questions its future ability to pay its bills.

The before-mentioned exemplifies the need for political restructuring. The fact that respect for law and order, essential to the well-being of a functioning democracy, is slipping and an underground economy is flourishing indicates that the country is creating a major mess for it's children to sort out.

Daniel N. Paul