Brian Lilley takes a look at the recent Glen Beck/Tea Party rally in Washington and the potential for such a grassroots movement developing in Canada in today’s SunMedia. As part of his analysis, Lilley turned to Canada’s think tank world and, specifically, MLI’s Managing Director, Brian Lee Crowley, for comment.
Dr. Brian Lee Crowley, managing director of the McDonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa-based think-tank, also gives the movement little chance of success.
Crowley says the impact of the Reform Party in Canada in the 1990s is still being felt in Canadian politics. Due to Reform, he says, Canadians don’t easily accept higher taxes.
“I think we’ve certainly changed the political culture quite a bit,” said Crowley. “Even the NDP campaigns now on no-tax increases or even some tax reduction. That’s a huge sea change from where we were several decades ago.”
Posted by George Young
