Cycling into Saigon: The Conservative Transition in Ontario

The essence of democracy is the peaceful and legitimate transfer of government. In 1995 in Ontario, the omens for a successful transition weren’t promising. Almost no one had expected Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution to catapult his Progressive Conservatives from third-party obscurity to victory in the June election. The Harris manifesto declared its intention to dismantle almost every policy of the defeated NDP administration of Bob Rae. Weeks of confrontation and confusion seemed inevitable. Yet, as Cameron and White compellingly describe, the transition was a surprising success, involving necessary co-operation between political mortal enemies. Cycling into Saigon has important lessons for everyone involved or interested in this key stage of the electoral process, wherever it takes place.