Such a party is unlikely to result, sad to say, from the experiment begun this past weekend in Ottawa. It is not that the new party the delegates to the United Alternative convention have voted to create is such a long-shot, uncertain even of ending the bootless rivalry between the Reform and Conservative parties, let alone displacing the Liberals in government. It is that the party, whatever its eventual fate, will not be a party devoted to making government more respectful of personal autonomy, or more accountable to the electorate -- more liberal, or more democratic.

Rather, it will be a party whose basic policies have been crafted with an eye to riding the rage of the politically dispossessed -- or those who style themselves as such. In the resolutions adopted by the convention, as proposed by the organizers, endorsed by the keynote speakers, and debated and amended by the delegates, the same three themes emerged, reflecting the passions and despairs of the "outs" of Canadian political life -- all those who, for one reason or another, have been denied the taste of power by the endless Liberal hegemony in Ottawa.

They were: a desire to diminish and restrict the powers of the federal government at every turn, not in favour of the freedom of the people, but of the prerogatives of the provincial governments; hostility to the Charter of Rights and judicial review, or "the maddening trend towards judge-made law," as it was described by the premier of Alberta, Ralph Klein, so far as these inhibited legislative discretion, to be remedied by frequent recourse to the notwithstanding clause; and the hope that, so liberated from federal or judicial restraint, the powers of the provinces might be sufficient to persuade the people of one province, Quebec, not to abandon the country.

Much else was discussed, of course, and much of this was encouraging. It is hard not to like a party that votes to strike a clause, under Economic and Fiscal Themes, recognizing "the needs of Canadian youth." Property rights got vigorous and broad-based support, as did balanced budgets, parliamentary reform, and individual freedom. The less attractive side of right-wing politics, as in proposals to curb immigration or to give preference to particular religious or social views, were generally rebuffed.

But the greatest enthusiasm was shown whenever a speaker railed against the "arrogance" of the federal government or denounced "unaccountable judges," and the most sustained applause of all was reserved for the radical Quebec nationalists, Jean Allaire and Rodrigue Biron, with whom the party hopes to establish a beachhead in the province.

It's early days, of course. But if the convention is any guide, this will not be the democratic-accountability party many Reformers might have hoped, or the limited- government party that many others on the right would prefer. It appears, rather, to be one more in a long line of attempts to build that elusive coalition between western populists and Quebec nationalists, the aim of every opposition party and the crowning achievement of Brian Mulroney.

If so, it is not just bad policy, but bad politics. Dazzled by Mr. Mulroney's success, its proponents suppose this to be the all-purpose formula for defeating the Liberals. This is a misreading of history. Far from a template of general applicability, the success of the Mulroney coalition was dependent upon a specific set of circumstances: chiefly, the sharp left turn the Grits had taken in the 1970s and 1980s. It wasn't fed-bashing or judge- baiting that won Mr. Mulroney back-to-back majorities: it was the deficit and free trade, bread-and-butter policies on which the public judged the Liberals to be out to lunch.

The Mulroney coalition, in short, can beat a left-wing Liberal party. It cannot beat a centre-right Liberal party, such as the current model. Liberal incontinence is the one indispensible ingredient, both in holding the disparate elements of the coalition together, and in frightening enough voters to abandon the Natural Governing Party's embrace.

Without it, the United Alternative's attempt to remake itself in the Mulroney mould risks simply alienating its western base, without making the desired inroads in Central Canada.

More on this next time.

Related Sites United Alternative The Reform Party's proposal for a new alternative to the governing Liberals.

Reform Party Progressive Conservative Party Canadian Taxpayers Association A piece in which the writer argues that uniting the right is not the correct solution to Canada's political woes.