Anything But Conservative

During the 2001 Alberta provincial elections, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper led the National Citizens Coalition in a "Vote Anything but Liberal" campaign.National Citizens Coalition, "NCC Ad Campaign Urges Albertans Not to Vote Liberal", Canada NewsWire, February 13, 2001, 11:45 report.

The ABC campaign originated in the 2008 Canadian Federal Election with the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, encouraging the province's voters to support any party other than the federal Conservative Party. The campaign was established by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, and was targeted particularly within that province in response to what Williams called a broken promise by Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper regarding equalization payments to the province. The campaign was considered a success as all federal Conservative party candidates lost their seats in the province. Williams remained the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador until his retirement from politics in 2010.

The project was officially overseen by an organization known simply as "ABC Campaign", which was affiliated with the provincial Progressive Conservative Party of which Williams is leader, and which was registered with Elections Canada as a "third party" for the purposes of election expenditures.{{cite web |date=September 16, 2008 |title=Registered Third Parties – 40th General Election |url=http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=pol&document=40ge&dir=thi/tie&lang=e&textonly=false |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916210640/http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=pol&document=40ge&dir=thi%2Ftie&lang=e&textonly=false |archive-date=September 16, 2008 |access-date=September 17, 2008 |publisher=Elections Canada}} The organization was registered by John Babb, [http://www.pcparty.nf.net/executive.htm the current president of the NL PC party]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923001902/http://www.pcparty.nf.net/executive.htm|date=September 23, 2008}}.{{cite web |date=September 2, 2008 |title=WHOIS search results: anythingbutconservative.ca |url=http://whois.cira.ca/public?domain=anythingbutconservative.ca |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921205822/http://whois.cira.ca/public?domain=anythingbutconservative.ca |archive-date=September 21, 2008 |access-date=September 17, 2008 |publisher=Canadian Internet Registration Authority}} The domain in question was registered in the name of the NL PC party. The provincial government itself also paid for advertisements supporting the goals of the campaign.{{cite news |date=March 28, 2007 |title=Harper denies claims in N.L. attack ads |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/harper-denies-claims-in-n-l-attack-ads-1.634310 |access-date=September 16, 2008}} It has been estimated that the campaigners spent over $81,000 on the ABC campaign.

File:Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams.jpg

File:Stephen-Harper-Cropped-2014-02-18.jpg

The Progressive Conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Danny Williams attracted national attention on December 23, 2004, when he ordered all Canadian flags removed from provincial buildings during a dispute with then Prime Minister Paul Martin. Williams wanted the province to keep all of its offshore oil and gas revenues, along with equalization payments, an exception to the fiscal formula which rescinded equalization transfer payments to a province that had increased natural resources revenues. Martin largely accepted Williams' demands in late January 2005, supposedly due to an expected by-election (incumbent Liberal MP Lawrence D. O'Brien was terminally ill) that would hold the balance of power for the Liberal minority government. After O'Brien's death, Todd Russell retained the seat for the Liberals in the resulting by-election held on May 24, 2005.

The agreement, known as the Atlantic Accord was criticized for being unfair to other provinces in the rest of Canada,{{Cite web |last=Stephenson |first=Marilla |title=Don’t laugh too hard about Danny’s equalization dramas |url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1104404.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206153710/http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1104404.html |archive-date=February 6, 2009}} it was particularly criticized by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. Ontario was traditionally one of the Confederation's "have" provinces, while Newfoundland was a "have-not", this has changed in recent years. McGuinty argued that his province—already sending more money to the federal government than it gets back in equalization payments—would get further short-changed as the accord permitted Newfoundland to keep its oil revenues rather than sharing them with the other provinces. While the accord did prolong the federal Liberal government's time in power, it was viewed as "short-term gain for long-term pain" as Paul Martin gained a reputation for doing or saying whatever was possible in order to stay in power, something that caused Ontario voters to become disenchanted with the Liberals.{{cite news |last1=Tandt |first1=Michael Den |last2=Leblanc |first2=Daniel |date=December 13, 2005 |title=Rival parties seize the day with Liberals' first gaffe |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051213.wxelxn13/BNStory/specialDecision2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215101412/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051213.wxelxn13/BNStory/specialDecision2006/ |archive-date=December 15, 2005 |publisher=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto}}{{cite web|url=http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/05/23/conrad-black-on-equalization-mcguinty-is-right-to-demand-its-end.aspx |title=Conrad Black on equalization: McGuinty is right to demand its end |last=Soupcoff |first=Marni |publisher=National Post |date=May 23, 2008 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20050217/ontario_equalization_20050216?s_name=Autos&no_ads= |title=McGuinty ramps up equalization rhetoric|date=February 17, 2005|publisher=CTV News}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

On January 4, 2006, during the 2006 Federal Election campaign, the then-opposition Conservative party leader Stephen Harper sent a letter to the conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Danny Williams, with the following statement regarding the federal equalization formula:

{{blockquote|A Conservative government would also support changes to the equalization program to ensure provinces and territories have the opportunity to develop economies and sustain important core social services. We will remove non-renewable natural resource revenue from the equalization formula to encourage the development of economic growth in the non-renewable resource sectors across Canada. The Conservative government will ensure that no province is adversely affected from changes to the equalization formula.|Stephen Harper, letter to Danny Williams, January 4, 2006{{cite web

| url = http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01harper.pdf | title = Letter to Danny Williams | access-date =September 16, 2008 | author = Stephen Harper | date = January 4, 2006 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080920162218/http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01harper.pdf| archive-date= September 20, 2008 | url-status= live}}

}}

Following the election and after becoming Prime Minister, Harper began to distance himself from the statement that October.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/rift-widens-between-harper-williams-1.606226 |title=Rift widens between Harper, Williams |access-date=September 16, 2008 |date=October 16, 2006 |work=CBC News}} The subsequent 2007 federal budget ostensibly met this promise by introducing the option of a new equalization formula allowing each province to exclude its natural resources—but it also imposed a cap on the amount of equalization each province could receive, effectively negating the Atlantic Accord. The budget also gave each province the option of retaining the original equalization formula. This budget was praised by Ontario Premier McGuinty, a critic of the Atlantic Accord. Nonetheless, Williams said that, based on the restrictions imposed on the new formula, the province had been "shafted", and that "based on the fact that they've broken their promise and broken their commitment, citizens should not vote Conservative in the next federal election."{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/n-l-shafted-in-federal-budget-williams-1.660092 |title=N.L. 'shafted' in federal budget: Williams |access-date=September 16, 2008 |work=CBC News |date=March 20, 2007 }}

The federal Conservative Party does not have any formal affiliation with the various provincial Progressive Conservative parties (although there were ties with its predecessor, the federal Progressive Conservative). The federal and Newfoundland Conservatives generally got along well until the equalization issue.{{cite web |author=Sean Morris |first=Michael |date=August 27, 2010 |title=Pop Culture Institute: Happy Birthday Brian Peckford |url=http://popcultureinstitute.blogspot.com/2007/08/happy-birthday-brian-peckford.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331005918/http://popcultureinstitute.blogspot.com/2007/08/happy-birthday-brian-peckford.html |archive-date=March 31, 2012 |access-date=September 11, 2011 |publisher=Popcultureinstitute.blogspot.com}}{{cite web |date=April 28, 2003 |title=Nfld. Premier Roger Grimes heads to Ottawa to express anger over cod closures |url=http://article.wn.com/view/2003/04/28/Nfld_Premier_Roger_Grimes_heads_to_Ottawa_to_express_anger_o/ |access-date=September 11, 2011 |publisher=Article.wn.com |publication-place=St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador}}

The ABC campaign did not specifically endorse any alternative federal party, and Progressive Conservative politicians campaigned on behalf of candidates for both the federal Liberal and New Democratic parties. The campaign led to the federal Conservatives shutting out of Newfoundland and Labrador in the 2008 election; nationally, however, the campaign had little effect for that election, as that party was elected to another minority government. The federal conservative government reached an agreement to help fund hydroelectric power in Newfoundland, which tried to ensure the re-election of the Conservative Party on May 2, 2011.{{cite web |title=Developing the Lower Churchill: A $6.2 billion project |date=2011-04-01 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024212657/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/developing-the-lower-churchill-a-6-2-billion-project-1.975868 |archive-date=2020-10-24 |url-status=live |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/developing-the-lower-churchill-a-6-2-billion-project-1.975868}}

The campaign began unofficially in May 2007; it was when Williams told the Economic Club of Toronto that the decision would cost the province billions of dollars, adding: "I am encouraging Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and Canadians, in the next federal election to simply vote ABC—easy to remember. Vote ABC—anything but Conservative."{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/defeating-harper-easy-as-abc-williams-tells-toronto-audience-1.676665 |title=Defeating Harper easy as ABC, Williams tells Toronto audience |access-date=September 16, 2008 |work=CBC News |date=May 3, 2007 }} Harper and Newfoundland opposition leader Gerry Reid criticized Williams' "overreaction", saying "this kind of confrontation is damaging the business investment climate of Newfoundland and Labrador".{{cite web |date=March 28, 2007 |title=Williams, Harper trade fire over attack ads |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/williams-harper-trade-fire-over-attack-ads-1.235003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723061708/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070327/NLA_ads_070327 |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |publisher=CTV News}} Nonetheless, in the provincial election held that year, the Conservatives won 44 of 48 seats in the legislature.{{Cite news |date=October 9, 2007 |title=Heartbreak for Liberals as Grit vote collapses |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/heartbreak-for-liberals-as-grit-vote-collapses-1.679544 |work=CBC News}}

At the start of the 2008 election, a campaign website was launched, while members of the provincial PC caucus campaigned on behalf of federal Liberal and NDP candidates.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/strange-bedfellows-williams-s-abc-campaign-heads-to-trenches-1.722751|title=Strange bedfellows: Williams's ABC campaign heads to trenches|work=CBC News|date=September 16, 2008|access-date=September 16, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080923183343/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/09/16/abc-bedfellows.html| archive-date= September 23, 2008 | url-status= live}} All caucus members were expected to participate in the ABC campaign, with the exception of the backbencher (and one-time health minister) Elizabeth Marshall, who said she could not bring herself to support a Liberal or NDP candidate.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/no-appetite-for-abc-campaign-marshall-1.720695 |title=No appetite for ABC campaign: Marshall |access-date=September 16, 2008 |work=CBC News |date=September 8, 2008 }} No provincial PC politician openly supported the federal Conservatives during the 2008 campaign. On a campaign visit to the province, Harper responded that "no one can tell a Newfoundlander and Labradorian how to vote" and that the voters' choice should be "about your own best interests."{{cite news |date=September 13, 2008 |title=Harper takes swing at N.L. premier's 'ABC' campaign |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/harper-takes-swing-at-n-l-premier-s-abc-campaign-1.753451 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916144919/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/harper-takes-swing-at-n-l-premier-s-abc-campaign-1.753451 |archive-date=September 16, 2008 |access-date=September 16, 2008 |publisher=CBC}}

The "ABC" slogan became commonly used throughout the country during the campaign. A number of unaffiliated groups opposing the Conservatives' policies, including an environmental group calling itself "Project ABC",{{cite web |title=Anything BUT Conservative |url=http://www.anythingbutconservative.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915020529/http://www.anythingbutconservative.com/ |archive-date=September 15, 2008 |access-date=September 11, 2011 |publisher=Anythingbutconservative.com |df=mdy}} also used the slogan or similar sayings during the 2008 campaign. The anti-Conservative campaign promoted strategic voting to minimize the number of seats won by the Conservatives. There were also online services organizing "vote swapping" to maximize the distribution of non-Conservative votes.

Image:Anything But Conservative Toronto.jpg in Toronto]]Leo Power, a veteran of federal politics and the Conservative Party of Canada's campaign co-chair for Newfoundland and Labrador, said raising money and recruiting volunteers has proved difficult, and blames Williams's ABC campaign, saying it has cut deep into the federal election machine that was struggling to compete. Power has also said his party's best hope of winning a seat in the province was in the riding of Avalon with incumbent candidate Fabian Manning.{{cite news |title=Tory organizer blames ABC campaign for party's woes |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/tory-organizer-blames-abc-campaign-for-party-s-woes-1.706869 |last = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |author-link = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=October 3, 2008 |access-date=October 3, 2008 | work=CBC News}}

While there was "anyone but Harper" activity stemming from a variety of sources across the country,{{cite web |last=MacArthur |first=Amber |date=September 8, 2008 |title=Oct. 6 - Anyone But Harper |url=http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081006/081006_amac_blog/20081006/?hub=CP24Home |work=CP24}}{{cite news |last=Maccharles |first=Tonda |date=September 10, 2008 |title=Newfoundland premier says: 'Anyone but Harper' |url=https://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/496756 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912194147/https://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/496756 |archive-date=September 12, 2008 |publisher=Toronto Star |location=Ottawa}} the ABC campaign's national presence was limited to media interviews and a billboard on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto; Williams did not travel across Canada as he had previously suggested.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/goose-egg-not-essential-for-abc-success-williams-1.731064?ref=rss|title='Goose egg' not essential for ABC success: Williams|work=CBC News|date=October 8, 2008|access-date=October 15, 2008}} Of the province's seven seats in the House of Commons, the Liberals won six while the NDP won one, with the Conservatives being shut out.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/goose-egg-conservative-vote-collapses-in-n-l-1.731366|title=Goose egg: Conservative vote collapses in N.L.|work=CBC News|date=October 14, 2008|access-date=October 15, 2008}} The federal Conservatives were elected to a second consecutive minority government, with more seats than in the previous parliament, including gains in Ontario (whose politicians had been most critical of the Atlantic Accord). However, the shutout of Conservative MPs in Newfoundland and Labrador likely contributed to the lack of a majority government for the conservatives.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadians-voted-to-move-our-country-forward-harper-says-of-strong-minority-1.768873|title=Conservatives re-elected to minority government, CBC projects|work=CBC News|date=October 14, 2008|access-date=October 15, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081016110227/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadians-voted-to-move-our-country-forward-harper-says-of-strong-minority-1.768873| archive-date= October 16, 2008 | url-status= live}}

After the ABC Campaign, all federal Conservative candidates lost their seats in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the 2011 federal election, the Conservatives gained a single seat in Newfoundland and Labrador. The provincial Progressive Conservatives, led by Williams, won 44 out of 48 seats in the provincial elections. Williams remained the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador until his retirement in 2010. He retired from politics on December 3, 2010.

Post-campaign Williams argued that the federal Conservative government's changes to equalization payments would cost Newfoundland $1.6 billion over three years, as it removes the ability of the province to choose whether to sign on to previously announced equalization policies. However, the budget passed in February 2009, with the support of the official opposition Liberals led by Michael Ignatieff. Williams unsuccessfully lobbied the Liberals to remove the changes to equalization, but Ignatieff refused, saying, "I'm not in the business of carrying Premier Williams' water. He has to understand that I have to represent Canadians from coast to coast and from all provinces".

St. John's mayor Dennis O'Keefe suggested that the Liberal MPs from Newfoundland would be committing "political suicide" if they followed the party line on the budget.{{cite web|url=http://news.aol.ca/article/okeefe-mps/509056/|title='Political suicide' for Liberals who stick with budget: St. John's mayor|publisher=AOL News|date=February 2, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Ignatieff permitted the six Newfoundland Liberal MPs to break with party discipline and vote against the budget.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ignatieff-allows-n-l-mps-one-time-protest-vote-against-budget-1.806059|title=Ignatieff allows N.L. MPs 'one-time' protest vote against budget|publisher=CBC News|date=February 3, 2009}} Ignatieff resigned after losing the 2011 federal elections. One other provincial premier, Prince Edward Island's Robert Ghiz, supported Williams' position. Williams was disappointed by the lack of support from other provinces, saying, "This is a great country and I want to be part of it, but the country disappoints me when we don't rally to protect each other."{{cite news |last=McGregor |first=Roy |date=February 7, 2009 |title=Danny's dukes are up - who's with him? |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090207.MACGREGOR07/TPStory/Comment |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210145913/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090207.MACGREGOR07/TPStory/Comment |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto}}

During the 2015 federal elections, it is claimed by the ABC Campaign that thousands of grassroots volunteers knocked on doors to ask Canadians to vote strategically in key ridings.{{cite web|last1=MacDonald|first1=Mike|title=Strategic voting advocates go door to door in key ridings|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-strategic-voting-1.3265538|website=CBC.ca|publisher=CBC|access-date=24 October 2015}} The leadership of Unifor, Canada's second-largest union, has called on its members to vote strategically. The leadership of CUPE, Canada's largest union, supports NDP and is opposed to strategic voting.{{Cite web |last=Neumann |first=Ken |date=2014-09-23 |title=The case against strategic voting in the next federal election |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/the-case-against-strategic-voting-in-the-next-federal-election/article_ab870dd6-32f7-5dfc-84c6-49e22585c54e.html |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}

The Liberals won a majority of 184, and the Conservatives lost 60 seats. According to Éric Grenier, "With the Conservatives performing only slightly below expectations in the seat count, these surprise wins came largely at the expense of the NDP in some of their most secure ridings, as the Liberals' momentum swept up strategic voters to carry them over the majority threshold."{{cite web|last1=Grenier|first1=Éric|title=Momentum carries Liberals past majority threshold|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-grenier-polls-oct20-1.3279691|website=CBC.ca|publisher=CBC|access-date=24 October 2015}} Post-election polls show that roughly one-third of the votes for the Liberal Party candidates were cast strategically to prevent another Conservative government. Strategic voting negatively affected the NDP in Quebec and Ontario but helped them win seats in British Columbia and Alberta. 44 per cent of NDP voters in British Columbia and 40 per cent in Alberta said that they were voting strategically for NDP.{{cite web|last1=Grenier|first1=Éric|title=Post-election polls suggest reasons behind Trudeau win|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-election-poll-change-oct24-1.3286044|website=CBC.ca|publisher=CBC|access-date=24 October 2015}}

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