What they all had in common is European origin, meaning they were not classed as “The other” once they stopped being so damn Polish/Dutch/etc origin. Not so for the local native population, whom were the biggest target of the good ol boys. The fights were legendary and the insults memorable. Similarly, the black decedents of slaves (some of whom came as part of the underground railroad) also got boxed, despite being in the region longer than many of the Europeans. Same for certain Indo and Chinese families (all them could be counted on 2 hands)

Prior to the 1990′s there weren’t any government committees or those other things conservatives love to complain about; the good ol boys had the frrrreeeedom to abuse whoever they wanted without much consequence. There simply weren’t enough minorities to fight back and force respect, nor enough conscientious among the majority to protest.

That’s the difference with rural areas – numbers. City groups may be just as bad, but realize there is a cost for disrespect and moreover no one know who’s capable of what so there’s a cautious respect between individuals. In a small town, it’s always known who has the power and the bullies rarely have to worry about negative reaction from the rest of the dominating tribe. This is true in any country during any time period. It also explains why so many rural people hate Toronto – they’re not God here.

I can’t help but think that you have a grossly distorted perception of rural Canadians. I’m not going to deny the presence of some anti-immigrant sentiment – but I’ll say honestly that I’ve seen as much of it from inner city urbanites (some recent immigrants themselves) as I have from my fellow hicks in the sticks.

As for monocultural? I’m almost offended. The valley I grew up in was settled by Italians, Irish, Greeks, Brits, Scots, Americans … etc, all of whom brought their own unique cultural heritages with them and shared them with their new neighbours. Those cultures have blended, but people still speak Italian alongside English, invite their neighbours to opulent Greek weddings, go to the Legion for Robbie Burns Night and St. Patrick’s Day, celebrate July 4th and July 1st … it goes on and on.

I would put it to you that this is real multiculturalism – not a forced melting pot or an artificial mosaic but an organic stew where each new component adds something new, while also absorbing the larger taste of the stew.

Immigrant voting had nothing to do with prosperity and everything to do with manipulation on the part of the Liberals. They created the “We opened the country to your family and we appreciate your loyalty” game and rode it for decades.

Special interest groups gained great power and influence by supporting the Libs.  Now that the Libs are no longer able to offer that, they are losing support of those groups.

If someone wants to join the Conservative Party because they feel it most closely reflects their values, I’m all for it.  If it is to gain access to the levers of power and influence, then I do not.

Surely you don’t believe that this is going to be an easy ride for Mr Harper?

Half a chance to prosper?
Harper’s logic is sound, given his inability to penetrate the cities; however he’s going to run into some problems with the shotgun-toting, wannabe Republicans that make up his base since anti-immigrant sentiment is core to their values and if Harper wants city votes he will need to reverse course on that topic.