Local Conservative leader Bruce Hallsor offered these remarks to a meeting of the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke Conservative Association on June 24th, 2025.
Common Sense and the Conservative Perspective
Bruce Hallsor
This is our first gathering since a very disappointing election. An election we all, with much good reason, expected would see the Conservative party returned to power after a frustrating decade of immature and destructive government.
It is important at times like this to remember that while the Conservative party exists to fight and win elections, the Conservative movement exists to promote conservative ideas. Even when we do not win elections, we can still play a productive and positive role in Canadian society by advancing conservative ideas and policies.
- influence we can have if we ground ourselves in conservative thought, and promote our ideas
I personally believe that we did have a real impact on policy in the last two years, and that a country which was very recently on a trajectory of ever higher taxes, economic nihilism, and cultural suicide, has turned a corner. Public push back on carbon taxes, woke extremism, and resource development as led by conservatives, and is now influencing policy choices from both Liberals and even NDP governments.
Things would be better no doubt if we were in government, but we should never lose sight of the influence we can have if we ground ourselves in conservative thought, and promote our ideas. An opposition that merely imitates the government will not make much change even it if gets into office. An opposition that uses its influence to promote its values, can have a great impact.
To have this impact, we first need to understand where we have come from, and not forget who we are.
The starting point is to remind ourselves that we are the inheritors of a timeless conservative philosophy that has a tremendous amount of currency among ordinary Canadians.
- resist these false divisions.
The media, academics, and other elites try to divide Conservatives into categories. They say that economic conservatives are different than social conservatives, and that law and order conservatives are different than libertarian conservatives. We must resist these false divisions.
While individuals might come to conservatism emphasising different sets of issues, the conservative way of understanding the world is true for all conservatives.
The principles observed by Edmund Burke 250 years ago, have not changed. They are great principles that have guided conservatives of different times and places, and they are as applicable in analysing our response to China today, as they were in analysing Britain’s response to the French Revolution.
Conservatism can be summed up as belief in the value of traditional values and institutions, and a healthy scepticism of new ideas. Conservatives believe that the wisdom of past generations has much to offer, and that we should not be so arrogant as to presume that we today have nothing to learn from the generations of the past. We are not against change, but we believe in evolution rather than revolution. We believe in individual liberty and oppose state absolutism. We understand the law of unintended consequences, and we have witnessed that radical political and social change often leads to tyranny, violence, and losses of liberty and prosperity.
Conservatism is adaptable to different times and places. Unlike absolutist philosophies, Conservatism in the United States will look different than Conservatism in Britain, or Canada, or India.
- Marxism, Socialism, Libertarianism, Anarchism, and the other man-made philosophies, are all inventions
Marxism, Socialism, Libertarianism, Anarchism, and the other man-made philosophies, are all inventions. They are inflexible, and while they claim to be universal, they all are all created at certain place and point in time.
Conservatism is not like this. Conservatism does not pretend to have a single prescription for all societies and all cultures. Instead, it is a way of thinking that embraces the world as it is, and treats change with a healthy scepticism, aware of the law of unintended consequences.
Sir Roger Scruton described Conservatism is less a philosophy than an instinct. It is an attitude that most common people understand and share, at least if we are happy in this world. It’s the instinct to hold on to what we love, to protect it from degradation and violence and to build our lives around it.
Burke never claimed have invented an ideology. His writings were merely an attempt to understand human nature, to understand how society has formed, and to reject innovations that disrespect the inheritance of our forefathers. Burke observed that the customs, traditions, laws, and morality that we have inherited from our ancestors are the result of generations of learning and adapting. Future progress must build upon these foundations, rather than casting them away.
Who are we to be so arrogant as to believe that we know everything, and that the learning passed to us by generations of ancestors is worth nothing? Essentially, Burke argued that we should accept the common sense of our ancestors, and treat with scepticism contrived new ideas which seek to displace received wisdom.
- common sense is an inherent part of Conservative Philosophy
The term “common sense” appears in conservative writings of all ages. While there are conservatives whose primary area of interest is economic, or social, or otherwise, it is common sense that unites all Conservatives together.
It’s not that we conservatives have a monopoly on common sense. But it is fair to say that common sense is an inherent part of Conservative Philosophy in a way that it cannot be in that of other political persuasions.
- the experts were wrong, and that the common sense of the common people prevailed
Our enemies – the ones who seek to divide us, have accused some modern conservative leaders of the sin of “populism”. If populism means that we promote common sense positions rather than academically driven ideological positions, then populism is a true and honest expression of the timeless values of conservative thought.
-For an example, look at the carbon tax. It was a policy idea supported by the entire academic establishment for many years. Elites of every ideological persuasion argued it was going to save the world.
-Only common sense told us that it was just another tax. In 20 years of implementation in BC, carbon emissions went up. The tax raised a lot of revenue, but because demand for energy proved to be inelastic, it did not really change consumer behaviour.
-As recently as six months ago, Liberals and others were sneering at Pierre Poilievre for being a climate change denier. Then, in an instant, the whole edifice came crashing down. On the eve of an election, the Liberals completely reversed themselves and repealed it, and so did the provincial NDP. People who had told us to “trust the expert” now found the experts were wrong, and that the common sense of the common people prevailed.
-Despite losing the provincial and federal elections, this policy reversal was an undeniable win for the Conservative movement.
-The same phenomenon is true with the opioid crisis.
-Our society figured out some generations ago that indiscriminate use of narcotics causes enormous social ills. While some people, perhaps even the majority of people, are capable of deriving some pleasure from the use of these drugs, and in many cases can manage the negative effects, we know that a minority of people, but a significant minority, become easily and extremely addicted, and that these drugs are capable of destroying their lives.
-We have heard for many years from experts in public health and drug policy that the war on drugs was a failure, and that criminalising drug use causes harm to drug users. Gradually, police were encouraged not to enforce the law. Then, the government started funding so-called ‘safe’ injection sites. Then the state de-criminalised possession of many hard drugs. Finally, the laws were relaxed, and the government offered free distribution of hard drugs. Even today, in the face of overwhelming evidence that liberalisation has lead to more addiction, a growing mental health crisis, exploding overdose rates, and desperate homeless encampments in the downtowns of all our major cities, most public health officials continue to argue for more legalisation and more “safe supply”.
-Conservatives could see this all coming. It seemed to us like nothing more than common sense. And now, the NDP provincially, and the Liberals federally, are starting to acknowledge that the experts were wrong, and their policies have created huge unintended consequences that are destroying our cities.
-You can see the same phenomenon occurring now with trans-gender policies. Common sense and centuries of history tell us that there are two genders. 90% of people understand this, but the elite opinion thinks they know better, and they call anyone who holds traditional values a bigot or worse.
- values are formed through our relations with other people
It’s not that Conservatives would disagree with reforms to protect transgender people from discrimination, or that conservative values cannot include sensible drug treatment policies or even some legalisation. There is also a conservative case to be made for taxes on energy products. But we approach these reforms with critical thought and see the value in moving slowly and carefully, with respect for established values and institutions. Conservatives do not try to cancel those with opposing views. We prefer to have a dialogue that respects all views and seeks compromise that will work for all.
Conservatives understand that our identities and values are formed through our relations with other people, and not through our relation with the state. For us, the social world emerges through free association, rooted in family relations, friendships, and community life. The customs and institutions that we cherish have grown from below, by the 'invisible hand' of co-operation.
They have rarely been imposed from above by the work of politics, the role of which, for a conservative, is to reconcile our many aims, and not to dictate or control them. For conservatives, civil society is the end, and the state is the means to protect it.
Conservatism is a philosophy of common sense, which values common knowledge and common people.
We believe in both inheritance and stewardship. Conservatives do not squander resources, but strive to enhance them and pass them on.
Left-wing thinkers often caricature the conservative position as one that advocates the free market at all costs, introducing competition and the profit motive even into the most sacred precincts of communal life. Adam Smith and David Hume made clear, however, that the market, which is the only known solution to the problem of economic co-ordination, itself depends upon the kind of moral order that arises from below, as people take responsibility for their lives, learn to honour their agreements and live in justice and charity with their neighbours.
- liberty is threatened by license
Our rights are also freedoms, and freedom makes sense only among people who are accountable to their neighbours for its misuse.
We conservatives value our freedom not as an absolute. We value it because we understand that our freedoms are a concrete and historical achievement, the result of civil discipline over centuries, and the sign of our undemonstrative respect for the law of the land.
Sir Roger Scruton wrote that liberty is threatened by license. Liberty can only exist in conjunction with personal responsibility and respect for others, whereas license is a way of exploiting others for purely personal gain. Liberty therefore depends on having common values which protect individuals from chaotic personal lives and which cherish the integrity of the home in the face of the man threats to it. Historically, such common values have most often been fostered by religious institutions, but is why conservatives in all cultures tend to support them. Common values are also reflected in the common law, in the monarchy, and in other institutions that reflect traditional values.
A law-governed society is only made possible in the long run if we know who we are and define our identity – not by our religion, our tribe, or our race – but by our country -- the place where our man-made law prevails, the sovereign territory in which we have built the free form of life that we share.
This sovereign territory is our home, and it is in terms of it that our public duties are defined. We may have religious and family duties too, but they are private duties, not incumbent on the citizenry as a whole. Our public duties are defined by the secular law, and by the customs and institutions that have grown alongside it. … It seems to me that the national identity that we, as Canadians, have inherited, is far more robust than its detractors assume.
- The Liberals have spent 150 years unsuccessfully trying to erase Canada’s British traditions in order to accommodate others.
Despite our regional differences, and some significant ethnic based divisions that have arisen from time to time, for more than 150 years we have found practical ways to work together and accommodate each other. Canada is not a post-national state, as Justin Trudeau claimed. Canada is one of the most successful countries in the world, and in fact, after the United Kingdom and the United States, has the third oldest constitution in the world. This longevity is at the root of what makes Canada great, and what makes it naturally conservative.
While some are always trying to reinvent government based on the new ideas of each generation, conservatives believe in continuity -- and a gradual approach to absorb change.
Liberals and Socialists believe that people are to be understood through their group identifications, and should be treated differently by the state based on their group identity. Underlying this is uneven treatment, and the suggestion that some groups are virtuous, and others are not virtuous. Conservatives believe that people are individuals first, and that within a country we should permit individual differences and tolerate those who think differently.
This is why it was the Conservative party which first brought together a coalition of English and French leaders to found our country. Only conservatism was broad enough to embrace French Canadian nationalism in Quebec, and British Empire nationalism in English Canada. The Liberals have spent 150 years unsuccessfully trying to erase Canada’s British traditions in order to accommodate others. Conservatives understand that each region can retain its own cultural identity, without the state having tto engineer false cultural constructs.
- Conservatives unite, and ideologies divide
Our history is one of common people embracing common sense solutions to living and working together. We are a nation of pioneers who have come from across the globe to build a country for themselves and their families, with no grand purpose or ideology. We are a country that does not seek to dominate others, but has always been prepared to stand with its allies.
Canadians are not boastful, but we are justifiably proud of who we are. Those who say we are a post-national country are wrong. We may not be an ethnically based or ideologically based nation, but we are a country founded on fundamental principles of freedom, enterprise, and a desire to build a fair and tolerant society. These Canadian values are conservative values, and we should never forget that.
- Prudency. Scepticism. Toleration. Nationalism
Conservatives unite, and ideologies divide. Think of the time of Covid. Conservatives looked for ways to accommodate the unvaccinated and preserve free choice. Liberals and New Democrats preferred to label Canadians as either virtuous or unvirtuous, and to exploit this division for their own electoral purposes.
They use this same method to shut down freedom of speech. The ideologues of the left do not just refuse to let people articulate dissenting opinions about certain issues, they demonize those people and cancel their participation in society.
If a nurse questions the use of new pronouns, she must not be allowed to work in the hospital. If a Mayor reads a book which argues that there were some benefits to residential schools, then he must be censured. The tool of ideologues is coercion. If ideology is the disease, then common sense is the cure.
As Edmund Burke wisely said, “the people never give up their liberties unless they are under some delusion”. Ideologies create such delusions, and use them as tools to erase liberties.
Populism – a much maligned word by our elites -- is defined as a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
Common Sense is defined as sound and prudent judgment, resisting fads, and looking for practical solutions to problems.
Conservatism is a philosophy which values the lessons we have learned from the past, values the traditions and institutions that our ancestors have left to us, and is sceptical, but not intolerant, of new ways and new ideas.
All three of these, populism, conservatism, and common sense, are really part of the same value system. Prudency. Scepticism. Toleration. Nationalism.
These are our values. These are also the values of ordinary Canadians.
If we keep to these values, and use them to reach out to include people, the Conservative party will grow, and will prevail in coming elections
If we build our future platforms on the foundation of these beliefs, then we will contribute positively and effectively to the future course of Canada’s development.
In the long run, we will earn the public’s respect if we are consistent and principled in our policy offerings.
If we do this, we will win more elections in the future, but more importantly, we will have more influence on public opinion and will shape the future of Canada.
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Contact: Val Smith, Membership, Victoria Conservative Association