Scott Gilmore, a "self-loathing" Conservative, wants to have dinner with you

Scott Gilmore — an unapologetic "self-loathing" Conservative — has had it with his political party.

If the Tory leadership race is any indication, he writes in his latest column for Maclean's magazine, the Conservatives appear to be dominated by "xenophobic, economically illiterate, populist buffoons." It's time to build a new right-of-centre party, says the former Canadian diplomat, one that values "liberty, equality and facts over ideology."

Intrigued?

If so, Gilmore is inviting you to dinner. And according to his column, 'Confessions of a self-loathing Tory,' he's also buying the first round of drinks.

Dinner tours for a new Tory party

"If you are also unhappy with what the Conservative Party has turned into, join me," he wrote in Maclean's on Wednesday, announcing plans to stop in major Canadian cities to speak with voters over dinner about the possibility of creating such a party.

"Maybe no one else shows up. Maybe they do but no one agrees. Maybe we agree, but nothing happens. I admit, the odds of this succeeding are very small, but they are not zero. I believe it’s worth trying."

Gilmore's proposal was an instant success. In less than 24 hours, he told National Observer, more than 500 people signed up to attend a dinner in one of four stops — Montreal, Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver. The response was so overwhelming, he has created a website just for 'The New Conservative Dinners,' and is contemplating adding more stops along the way.

"I was expecting a couple of dozen (responses)," Gilmore said via email. "We will simply find bigger venues."

Gilmore, who has served as a diplomat both in Jakarta and on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in East Timor, is an Ottawa-based writer and social entrepreneur. His international charity, Building Markets, focuses on entrepreneurship as a sustainable poverty solution rather than foreign aid.

He's also the spouse of Liberal Ottawa-Centre MP Catherine McKenna, Canada's minister for environment and climate change. But his political views are a little different — born in rural Flin Flon, Man. and having grown up in Edmonton, Gilmore has said he learned early "that real men voted Tory."

But things have changed, he wrote in his column, and the Conservative Party isn't keeping up.

A new vision for right-of-centre politics

"This country has become far more cosmopolitan, multicultural, tolerant and socially liberal than it was a generation ago," said Gilmour. "And these social and demographic shifts can’t be undone. Which is why I had expected the Conservatives would recognize they needed to catch up with the rest of us."

The 'new conservative party,' he described, would be a party that believes in climate change, a party that believes in equality regardless of race, creed, language, sexual orientation or gender, and "a party that doesn’t see feminism as a left-wing plot."

But it would also be a party that believes in the power of free trade and markets, that believes government should not always be a first resort solution for societal problems, and that Canada should aspire towards ambitious national projects, not just tax cuts for the “struggling middle class.”

Gilmore's national dinner tour will start the week after the Tories choose a new leader on May 27, with the goal of answering the following questions, according to his website: "Does Canada need a new conservative party? Can we change the party we have? What does your conservative party look like?"

"Anyone who is interested in the future of conservative politics in Canada" is welcome to attend, he told National Observer, extending the invitation beyond Tory voters.

Asked if he would ever consider running for leadership of a brand new, right-of-centre party, Gilmore joked:

"Imagine Boris Johnson without the wit or charm. That would be me. No."