Common Sense Revolution

The phrase Common Sense Revolution (CSR) has been used as a political slogan to describe conservative platforms with a main goal of reducing taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the size and role of government. It has been used in places such as Australia and the U.S. state of New Jersey in the 1990s. This article deals with the "Common Sense Revolution" as it was under Ontario Premier Mike Harris, and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 1995 to 2002.

From 1943 to 1985, the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party held uninterrupted power in Ontario, under Red Tory premiers such as Leslie Frost, John Robarts, and Bill Davis. In 1985, this era of Conservative Premiers (termed the Big Blue Machine by observers) came to an end when the minority government of Davis' successor, Frank Miller, was defeated in the legislature and in the subsequent provincial election when the Ontario Liberal Party formed a minority government and the Liberal leader, David Peterson, was sworn in as premier. The PC party was again defeated in the 1987 election that gave Peterson a majority government.

In 1990, a junior cabinet minister from Miller's former government, Mike Harris, won the leadership of the party which was widely interpreted as a move to the political right, as Harris defeated the more centrist Dianne Cunningham. Harris immediately set about crafting a new image for himself and the party. In his first election in 1990, he branded himself "the tax fighter."He strongly opposed an unpopular photo-radar program introduced by the Liberal government and attacked it as a revenue grab. Despite his party's third place showing in the election (which was won by NDP leader Bob Rae), Harris had managed to improve the party standing in the legislature and bring some attention to his plan. After the 1990 election, Harris and his advisors (including prominent Ontario Tories Tony Clement, then President of the party, Leslie Noble, Alister Campbell and Tom Long) set to work creating a more comprehensive reform package to present to the province. The result was the CSR.

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