I've been to Canada in 2007 and 2014. In 2014, I was just astounded at how similar Canada's society is the United States, even so the point where you can see American flags being waved and hung in Niagara Falls, Ontario side by side with the Canadian and British flags.
But thing I've always wondered was the conservative movements and groups of Canada, are they or are they not like American conservatives?
The answer is for the most part, no. Here, I'm going to be comparing Canada's conservatives vs. America's conservatives by their stances and ideology.
Most of the content here is based off of the Conservative Party of Canada's stances, and not "all" of Canada's conservatives.
1. Style of Politics
In the United States, we conservatives love to pride ourselves in being armed and being ready to stand against a tyrannical government on our home soil. We pride the fact that it is for this very reason that our country came into being.
We favor a constitutional republic led by a president.
Canada on the other well....actually funny story. Though I'll say that this sort of ideology has really died down, but traditionally and historically, Canadian conservatives favor retaining ties with the British monarchy.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Loyalists who fled to Canada became Canada's conservatives! Because those were the "conservatives" of the day.
So our "conservatism" here in the United States in terms of our political system, was actually the "liberals" of the day, as the original conservatives were the Tories. We were at one point, considered liberals and traitors.
Consequently, Elizabeth II is not only the Queen of the United Kingdom, but also of Canada and many other nations in the former British Empire (namely Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea to name a few....).
American conservatives would absolutely cringe at the idea of having a monarch as the leader of the United States, be it here or abroad.
Unlike the United States, Canada signed itself into independence.
But truth to be told - I will say this again, traditional British-based Canadian conservatism is dying out. Conservatives of Canada are actually beginning to think a lot like the Republicans and conservatives here, in that they want small government.
Canada in general, has exited the British sphere of influence, and is very close with the United States.
2. Social Issues
Another huge distinction between Canadian and American conservatives is that Canada's conservatives as of today aren't influenced by the Christian right on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. Canada's conservatives are actually progressive when it comes to social issues.
While Canada does have social conservatives and Christian Right groups, they don't influence the Conservative Party (Canada's main right-wing party). You're not going to hear most Canadian conservatives or Conservative Party supporters and voters pushing for Parliament to ban same-sex marriage, which as of today is legal in ALL of Canada's provinces, long before it was legalized in all 50 states and all territories of the United States.
The discussion of same-sex marriage almost immediately gets shut down in Conservative Party discussions and former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who led the Conservative Party to victory two times, even said that same-sex marriage and abortion were both non-issues.
3. Guns
This one is a huge contrast. Again, a lot of this is rooted back in the first comparison. Unlike the United States, where we pride ourselves in owning guns for self-defense against criminals and tyrants, in Canada they are a mere sporting and hunting tool.
It would be an ugly overstatement to say that Canada hates guns, because they don't. As a matter of fact, just like American conservatives, Canadian conservatives see gun control as being pointless.
Many Canadians love guns and enjoy sport-shooting, and even hunting as Canada's remote areas are perfect hunting grounds. However, it's the attitude of guns that differs. As I said in the first comparison, Canada never "fought" for independence, they "signed" themselves into sovereignty. Therefore, Canadians never had inherited the mentality that Americans have for the need to be armed.
Because there never a "Right to Bear Arms" in Canada's constitution and Charter of Rights, over the past decades, the Canadian government has been able to slam citizens with law after law for stricter gun control without much opposition.
Back in 2015, I was having a conversation with a Conservative Party voter from Canada when their election season was going on. When I brought up the topic of guns and the Canadian use of guns for self-defense, the person told me that it wouldn't be culturally acceptable in Canada, as guns being used for resistance and self-defense has never really been a part of Canadian culture.
In Canada, you're not going to see gun owners putting up stickers and decal with warning messages to intruders and/or tyrants. That would actually be sort of a felony in Canada, as they would classify that was threatening to use force.
Are there gun rights organization in Canada?
Yes there are, and they are nowhere near as powerful as some of ours, such as the National Rifle Association, the National Association for Gun Rights and Gun Owners of America.
Most of them, aren't advocating for self-defense rights either, but for sporting and hunting rights. Groups advocating for the right to carry legally, let alone promote self-defense, are often downtrodden by fierce opposition, even from firearms sporting organizations like the Canadian Sports Shooting Association, which is one of Canada's prominent firearms lobby groups. This makes the idea of legally carrying in Canada a near lost-cause.
Concealed-carry permits in Canada, while existent, are almost never issued to regular citizens.
However during the leadership of Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party did take a pro-gun stance, abolishing the mandatory registering of long guns in 2012.
Is self-defense legal in Canada and can you use guns for self-defense in Canada?
Yes to both. As long as you can prove that your life was in imminent danger, and that your firearm was the necessary force to end that danger, then you are legally clear. There are many cases where Canadian gun owners have used their firearms to ward off intruders, and have won the court battle.
But there are also times where Canadians have attempted to use their guns American-style, and have gotten in legal trouble.
The "imminent danger" law rule doesn't just apply to guns, but use of force in general.
Ironically though, this is actually similar to some of our self-defense laws here in the States (depending on which state as self-defense is a state-by-state thing, less of a federal one).
4. Immigration
Similar, I'll say only "loosely" similarly to American conservatives, Canadian conservatives are "generally" fans of strict immigration laws, which is a broad assumption so to speak.
American conservatives often like to judge their views on immigration based on our situation with those immigrants' countries of origin. It is why we got the situations with Mexico and the Middle East and why American conservatives don't really look too kindly on immigrants from the two places (especially the latter).
In addition, Canada doesn't have a border crisis like we do and neither do they have as much illegal immigrants as we do. So immigration isn't too much of an issue for Canadian conservatives.
In addition, American conservatives are not fans of who they deem a threat to English culture, and of the Christian right - to Christians.
Canadian conservatives support necessary immigration laws within a multi-cultural setting, you're not really going to hear Canadian conservatives venting off about how immigrants need to learn English or how Canada was found on Christian principles. This leads to our next point and topic.....
5. Culture
American conservatives pride themselves in being staunch defenders of our European Anglo-Celtic origins, vying for the requirement and nationalizing of the English language, protection and preservation of English culture and stereotypically embrace Christianity as America's spiritual body. This is known as "paleoconservatism".
In 2016, lawmakers in Tennessee attempted to make the Bible the state's holy book.
Canadian conservatives on the other hand as I've said, embrace multiculturalism, something Canadians in general, are known for. This is why in Canada, English and French are both official languages.
American conservatives would cringe at the idea of Spanish receiving any type of government recognition.
6. Climate Change
Conservatives in the United States do not support the idea of climate change. Canadian conservatives on the other hand, while they aren't super crazy for it as progressives are, they are generally more friendly-leaning towards issues related to climate change.
