I must remind you all that the current Conservative party has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Progressive Conservative party of yesteryear. Here is the short version of how it went down. This new party re-branded themselves.
Another Progressive Conservative government was elected after the results of the 1979 federal election, with Joe Clark becoming Prime Minister. Clark served from 1979 to 1980, when he was defeated by the Liberal Party after the 1980 federal election. In 1984, the Progressive Conservatives won with Brian Mulroney becoming Prime Minister. He was Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993, and his government was marked by free trade agreements, and less government intervention in the economy.The party suffered a nearly complete loss after the 1993 federal election, thanks to a splinter of the right-wing. The Conservatives other predecessor, Reform Party, led by Preston Manning placed in third, leaving the Progressive Conservatives in fifth. A similar result occurred in 1997, and in 2000, when the Reform Party became the Canadian Alliance. As the Canadian Alliance, the party secured about 25% of the votes, and 60 seats. In 2003, the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives merged, forming the Conservative Party of Canada.
So these conservatives are mostly a base of Reform party philosophies, not the old PC ones.
