The
Big Blue Machine was a nickname for the group of strategists and advisors to the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in the 1970s and 1980s. The moniker was coined by journalist Claire Hoy of the
Toronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
in April 1971. It has most frequently been applied to
Bill DavisWilliam Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
' term in office from 1971 to 1985 where his
Red ToryA red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
government won election after election by promising moderate, well-run government. During that time, the Progressive Conservatives often ran to the left of the
LiberalsThe Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
. Davis' period was only a portion of an unprecedented 42 consecutive years of Tory rule in Ontario, and sometimes earlier organizations are also referred to by the Big Blue Machine moniker.
Noted members included
Alan EaglesonRobert Alan Eagleson is a disbarred Canadian lawyer, convicted felon in two countries, former politician, hockey agent and promoter...
, William Kelly, Patrick Kinsella, Gerald Nori, Eddie Goodman, Maurice Hughes, Norm Atkins, and Ross DeGeer. The party workers were often accused of being dismissive of the Members of Provincial Parliament they helped to elect, and would sometimes draft legislation without any input from the Tory caucus or cabinet.
The Big Blue Machine lent their expertise to the
British Columbia Social Credit PartyThe British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...
, enabling the latter to win the
election thereThe British Columbia general election of 1983 was the 33rd provincial election for the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 7, 1983. The election was held on May 5, 1983...
. The subsequent provincial budget, known as the Restraint Budget, embraced neo-conservative economic policies and concomitant attacks on institutions and issues sacred to the left, touching off the
Solidarity CrisisThe Solidarity Crisis refers to a protest movement in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1983 that emerged in response to the Social Credit government's economic policy of "restraint." A mass coalition, the Solidarity Coalition, was formed, composed of community organizations and trade unions, which...
, which nearly led to a general strike in the fall of that year. This group of exported advisors was known as the
Baby Blue Machine but the political machine did not last since B.C. Premier
Bill BennettWilliam Richards Bennett, PC, OBC , commonly known as Bill Bennett, was the 27th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia 1975–1986. He is a son of the former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, of R.B...
retired in 1986, although Patrick Kinsella stayed on to help engineer the takoever of the reborn
BC LiberalsThe British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
from
Gordon WilsonGordon Wilson is a former provincial politician in British Columbia. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of BC from 1987–1993, leader and founder of the Progressive Democratic Alliance from 1993–1997, and in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Finance and Minister of Employment, Investment...
and his replacement by current Premier Gordon Campbell. Kinsella was campaign manager in the
2001The British Columbia general election of 2001 was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001...
and
2005 general electionsThe 38th British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia , Canada. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
. His involvement in the
sale of BC RailThe BC Legislature Raids resulted from search warrants executed on the Legislature of British Columbia, Canada, in 2003. The legal proceedings were stopped just before government officials were to testify...
has raised questions about his apparent lobbying for CN Rail, the purchaser of the crown corporation, at the same time as consulting for the provincial government, the seller. Kinsella has denied the allegations and threatened to sue
NDPThe New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...
leader
Carole JamesCarole Alison James, MLA is a Canadian politician and former public administrator. She is the former Leader of the Opposition in British Columbia and former leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party , a social democratic political party...
, and also raised objections to presentation of material concerning his activities in the pre-trial hearings concerning influence-peddling and money laundering by ministerial aides in relation to the sale. The Liberals had lost the 1996 election due to many regions and stakeholders in the province being outraged by the idea, and came to power in 2001 because they promised not to sell it, though immediately set about doing so after the election.
The
1985 leadership conventionIn 1985, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party held two leadership elections: one in January, and one in November.-The January Convention:The January convention was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to choose a replacement for William Davis, who had served as Ontario PC leader and Premier...
was the beginning of the end for the Big Blue Machine's influence, as they endorsed
Larry GrossmanLawrence "Larry" Sheldon Grossman was a politician in Ontario, Canada.-Early years:Born in Toronto, Grossman was the son of Allan Grossman, who had represented a downtown Toronto riding in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for twenty years after defeating Ontario's last Communist Member of...
, who was defeated by the more conservative
Frank MillerFrank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...
. Under Miller's leadership, the PC Party finally lost power in the
1985 electionThe Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
. Although Grossman won the party leadership after Miller's resignation later in that year, the Big Blue Machine was again marginalized as he took the party to the right in the
1987 snap electionThe Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
.
In the
1990 leadership conventionThis page lists the results of leadership elections within the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario .Before 1920, leaders of the Conservative Party were usually chosen by caucus...
,
Dianne CunninghamDianne Cunningham is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1988 to 2003, and a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves....
ran as the choice of the establishment and the Big Blue Machine. She was defeated by
Mike HarrisMichael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
in what some saw as an upset, as Cunningham's
Red ToryA red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
leanings associated her with the unpopular federal Progressive Conservatives under
Brian MulroneyMartin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
. Harris represented the party's right-wing and was not associated with the Mulroney government in the minds of most voters.
Harris embodied a more conservative style, promoting tax cuts and a shift toward the American model of free markets that differed significantly from centrist governance of Bill Davis and the Big Blue Machine. His "
Common Sense RevolutionThe phrase Common Sense Revolution has been used as a political slogan to describe common sense conservative platforms in Australia and the U.S. state of New Jersey in the 1990s. Based on the Singapore Model of economics, its main goal is to reduce taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the...
" agenda returned the Tories to power in the
1995 provincial electionThe Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
. Many Conservatives MPPs under Harris were openly dismissive of Davis-era spending policies, and frequently highlighted the differences between Davis and Harris on policy issues. Harris' PC's won two elections, though Harris' spending cuts resulted in frequent clashes with public unions and health care waits in Ontario increased. Bad publicity increased about health care waiting periods, and bad publicity from the deaths in Walkerton caused Harris's popularity to decline in his second term. The deaths of seven people in
Walkerton, OntarioWalkerton is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within and governed by the municipality of Brockton. It is the site of Brockton's municipal offices and the county seat of Bruce County...
,while due heavily to Stan Koebel falsifying water safety records, also was found to be partly caused by Mike Harris' deregulation of water quality testing and cuts to the Ministry of the Environment. This in addition to negative publicity about hospital closings for health care restructuring caused Harris and the right-wing of the PC's to become unpopular. The Ontario PC's (led by Ernie Eves, since Harris had stepped down) were defeated in a landslide by
Dalton McGuintyDalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
's Liberals.