The West Wants In

Conservative Christianity and Western Canadian Conservatism

Abstract

Commentators on Canadian politics often argue that the Western provinces are more socially conservative than the rest of the country. Indeed, there is a perception that British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba together form a Canadian “Bible Belt,” analogous to the religiously socially conservative South in the United States. Drawing upon secondary research on Canadian history and political science and documentary evidence, this essay argues that conservative forms of Christianity have helped distinguish conservatism in Western Canada and especially in Alberta from the rest of the country, but that the influence of conservative Christianity is more nuanced than simply making Western Canadian conservatism more socially conservatism. The essay shows the religious demographics of the Western provinces compositionally made Western Canadian conservatism more socially conservative on hot button social issues, but by charting out the political thought of Preston Manning, Ernest Manning, and William Aberhart, the essay demonstrates that evangelical theology also influenced Western Canadian conservatism’s distinctly libertarian and populist streaks. In turn, Western Canadian conservatives drifted to conservative parties other than the mainstream conservative party, like Social Credit and the Reform Party, which better speak to the socially conservative, libertarian and populist instincts of Western Canadian conservatives. The essay concludes with a suggestion on future topics of exploration within the literature and with a brief summary of the essay’s contents.