Doug Saunders make a telling case, however, another aspect of the challenge to Canada is raised (for me at least) by the title to this article: The historic tendency of the Federal Conservative Party (under its various names through the decades) to ape the positions and modes of presentation of the 'small c' conservative Party of the leading Anglo-American country (first the UK and increasingly since the early 1970s the US) of the era).

Currently, this, unfortunately, means that excessive free market & social conservative tendencies that have marked the past 3 decades of the GOP and the nihilist, anti-foreigner & authoritarian populist Trump phenomena are receiving undue favourable notice in some Canadian Federal Conservative Party quarters.

Unchecked, this could compound the usual Canadian unity tensions & impasses.