Conservatives in Canada Join Forces

TORONTO — Canada’s two largest conservative parties have agreed to merge as a way to halt the vote-splitting that has helped deny them power in Ottawa for a decade.

Members of the Progressive Conservative Party voted 90% in favor of the merger with the larger Canadian Alliance on Saturday, a day after the Alliance backed the move by 96%.

The aim of the merger is to present a single conservative alternative to the governing Liberal Party. Vote-splitting between the two conservative parties allowed the Liberals to cruise to three successive federal election victories in the last decade.

The newly created Conservative Party of Canada has scheduled a leadership convention for March 19 to 21 before taking on the Liberals, led by Paul Martin, in an election expected next spring.

“With this overwhelming vote, we have just become Paul Martin’s worst nightmare,” said Peter MacKay, the Progressive Conservative Party leader.

Alliance leader Stephen Harper is expected to head the new party.

The new party would attempt to bridge regional divides. Almost all Alliance members hail from the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, while nearly all members of the Progressive Conservative Party, known as the Tories, represent Ontario and eastern regions.

In the 301-seat lower house of Parliament, the Alliance holds 63 seats and the Tories have 15, while the Liberals hold 170.