Tory activist says merger 'a blackmail'
 
OTTAWA (CP) -- A proposal to merge the Progressive Conservatives with the Canadian Alliance is a form of blackmail that betrays the party of Confederation, says the man who helped elect one of the dealmakers.

David Orchard, a longtime crusader against the North American Free Trade Agreement who has twice run for the Tory party leadership, delivered a 45-minute broadside Friday against the agreement signed this week by Conservative Leader Peter MacKay and Stephen Harper of the Alliance.

"This creature ... is an illegitimate creation conceived in deception and born in betrayal," said Orchard.

Orchard served as the kingmaker on May 31 when MacKay was chosen leader at a Conservative convention in Toronto.

Their last-minute, fourth-ballot deal explicitly ruled out a merger with the Alliance, but Orchard's critique Friday went far beyond the personal betrayal by MacKay.

He said the merger proposal, as written, runs roughshod over the PC party constitution and amounts to takeover by the Alliance.

"This really has to do with the rule of law," said the Saskatchewan organic farmer.

"As a political party you have a certain trust of Canadians. We seek, we aspire to govern our country. When we govern our country we're going to abide by the Constitution and uphold that Constitution ... Constitutions are not playthings that you throw away or override like that. They are something that civilized people live by."

The deal has to be ratified by two-thirds of the Conservative party membership by Dec. 12. Orchard argued the continuing sale of Tory memberships -- which have ballooned since word of the deal leaked Wednesday -- means the existing party will be swamped by Alliance supporters.

And he called the merger a sell-out stampeded by the prospect of fighting new Liberal leader-in-waiting Paul Martin in a spring election.

"Are we so afraid of Paul Martin that we're prepared to destroy 150 years of tradition in this country? Are we so frightened to face the electorate with our platform that we're running to hide behind Stephen Harper's skirts?"

Orchard's surprising, last-minute deal with MacKay prior to the fourth and deciding ballot shocked the Conservative's May convention.

Orchard's 600 delegates -- about a quarter of the convention -- moved to MacKay and put him over the top against second-place Jim Prentice, a veteran Tory backroomer from Calgary.

The first condition in the handwritten, signed agreement between Orchard and MacKay reads: "No merger or joint candidates with the Canadian Alliance and we will maintain the 301 rule," of running PC candidates in every federal riding.

The original version had included a prohibition against talks with the Alliance, but that was scratched out.

On June 26, MacKay and Harper agreed to an emissary process to explore various options for electoral co-operation, including a party merger.

By Aug. 21, when the six appointed negotiators sat down for face-to-face for talks, it was agreed the ultimate goal was an outright merger.

MacKay had some trouble explaining his change of heart Thursday.

"I'm not trying to get around anything, I've kept my commitments," he initially insisted.

He contended there would still be room in a new and enlarged party for Orchard's anti-free trade views and environmental protection policies.

Virtually in the next breath, however, MacKay abandoned that line and argued that his shift in policy was necessary for the greater good of the country.

"This is bigger than David Orchard or Stephen Harper or myself," he said.

"This is about a decision for our membership and ultimately for Canadians. I believe it is a decision that is in the best interest of the country, it's a nation-building exercise."