Canadian Conservatives

This week, Holly and I are joined by one of my mentors, long-time conservative strategist Dan Robertson, who has an unconventional set of ideas: Canada’s Conservative Party can’t out-campaign a system rigged against it.

Dan’s solution? Structural reform. He outlines three controversial but compelling ideas to level the playing field—and maybe even turn the Tories into a true national contender again.

What We Cover:

1. Proportional Representation

• Why the “first past the post” system doesn’t actually benefit conservatives
• How PR could eliminate the Liberals’ advantage in voter efficiency
• And why Canada’s system keeps millions of centre-right votes from counting at all

“I love to see conservatives champion competition everywhere—except in politics. It makes no sense.”

2. Mandatory Voting

• Why the right underperforms in low-turnout elections
• A civic case for participation as a duty of citizenship
• And what Australia can teach Canada about centre-right success in a compulsory voting system

“This is the bare minimum of civic service. If we believe in responsibility, this is a no-brainer.”

3. A New Strategy for Quebec

• Dan proposes the unthinkable: Fold the federal Conservative brand in Quebec
• Instead, back a CAQ-style provincial-federal hybrid party
• And model a new electoral coalition—just like the CDU–CSU in Germany

“In Quebec, we’re foreigners. It’s not ideological. It’s tribal. We need to rethink everything.”

🎧 Plus:

• Could these reforms actually help turnout?
• Why voter apathy might be structural, not cultural
• And how to build a cross-partisan case for political reform, even on the right

00:00 Welcome and introducing Dan Robertson — Harper PMO veteran on conservative structural problems
01:35 The controversial case for proportional representation — Why first-past-the-post hurts conservatives
03:32 The 2021 campaign and the myth of conservative voter efficiency
04:42 Three structural problems — Voter efficiency, party identification, and strategic voting
07:31 Mandatory voting — The most controversial proposal and the case for civic duty
09:43 Pack up and leave Quebec — Creating space for a CAQ-style federal alternative
12:10 The playing field is rigged — Why strategic changes aren't enough
13:23 Can this happen without a referendum? The political reality check
15:15 Conservatives and change — Overcoming the psychological barrier to reform
16:17 Pushback on instability and the progressive coalition myth
17:34 Every vote counts — Why PR empowers all types of conservatives
19:56 If you could only pick one — PR over mandatory voting
21:12 The Quebec fiefdom problem and why stepping back could work now
22:13 Voter disillusionment and the renewal promise of PR
23:10 Hundreds of thousands of wasted conservative votes — Time for provocative change