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Quebec's Third Way

Éditorial - The state of conservative politics in Canada leaves much to be desired. The Canadian Alliance, conceived as a right-wing alternative to the Liberals, has yet to grow beyond its Reform-era geographic base, its political platform is still very much a work in progress and its MPs seem to shy away from controversial subjects of concern to Canadians, such as immigration, marriage and health care. As for Joe Clark and his Progressive Conservatives, they run to the left of the governing Liberals.

The nation's nominally conservative Premiers are short on conservative ideas as well. In Ontario, Ernie Eves, Mike Harris' Conservative successor, has yet to identify a pillar of the Common Sense Revolution that he will not overturn for the sake of an uptick or two in electoral support. In Alberta, where the government once had a reputation for austerity, per capita government spending is now among the highest in Canada. If oil prices drop, the province might fall back into large deficits.

But yesterday, a breath of fresh air blew in from an unlikely source: Quebec. For decades, the province has been dominated by the provincial Liberals and the Parti Québécois. The two parties take different sides on the issue of independence. But they find common ground in the notion that, either way, Quebec City should control a big, bloated governmental apparatus.

In the last year, Mario Dumont has overturned this cozy arrangement. A 32-year-old political entrepreneur who has spent his adult life looking for a viable ideological niche, Mr. Dumont is now Quebec's leading proponent of small -- or, at least smaller -- government. Among the province's entrepreneurs and professionals, many of whom care more about competing in a global business environment than building "winning conditions" for separation and other parochial projects, his message resonates. If a general election were held today, Mr. Dumont's formerly marginal party, Action Démocratique, might win enough votes to form the next government.

On Monday, Mr. Dumont took his message outside Quebec's borders. Speaking to a lunch crowd at Toronto's Canadian Club, he outlined a program that would eschew separatist agitation -- he spoke of his province as a participant in Canada, competing economically against other provinces -- and take the province away from the stale, statist model faithfully implemented intermittently by Liberal and PQ administrations. Candidly lamenting his province's poor economic performance in relation to the rest of North America, he declared that Quebec's "tax laws and social programs must better reward someone's effort to help himself." His priority, he says, "will be to get out of the way of the men, women and firms who create jobs with their own money."

To his credit, Mr. Dumont also braved the inevitable chorus of "two-tier" catcalls, and voiced support for more choice in health care. In the same vein, he criticized the PQ's decision to make daycare a government-run service. "A sea change is required in our approach to government," he said. "We need to cultivate greater self-reliance. We should not perpetuate the illusion that the state can fix just about any problem."

Mr. Dumont brands his political model as a sort of Québécois Third Way: In his speech, he invoked Britain's Tony Blair -- the West's prototypical centrist -- as a role model. But we think he's a little bit bolder than Mr. Blair. In his speech, Mr. Dumont went so far as to endorse a flat tax. When was the last time you heard any Canadian politician -- in any province -- speak of that?

We hope Mr. Dumont keeps his political momentum and becomes Quebec's next premier. His leadership would not only give the provincial economy a shot in the arm, it might push politicians in the rest of the country to follow in his footsteps.