Laurentian consensus

The Laurentian consensus is a phrase created by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson in their book The Big Shift.
Who they are (were)
In The Big Shift, Bricker and Ibbitson coin the term "Laurentian consensus" to describe the consensus that emerged in governing elites in the 20th century. The consensus is (was) made up of left-leaning individuals, usually Liberals, living along the St Lawrence Watershed and belonging to Canada's political, business, and media elite in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Bricker and Ibbitson describe them as "a small, select group, found in Central Canada's major centres, who up until very recently controlled the political and cultural levers of the country."
According to Brickner and Ibbitson, individuals subscribing to the worldview of this consensus include (included): John A. Macdonald, George Brown, George-Etienne Cartier, Ernest Lapointe, O.D. Skelton, Henri Bourassa, Harold Innis, Hume Wrong, Lester Pearson, Vincent Massey, George Grant, Walter Gordon, Marshall McLuhan, Bora Laskin, Pierre Trudeau, Rene Levesque, Tom Kent, Charles Taylor, Lucien Bouchard, Jeffrey Simpon, Margaret Atwood, Adrienne Clarkson, and Andre Pratte. Recent media commentators have stated they believe high-ranking bureaucrats, such as Elections Canada CEO Marc Mayrand, also adhere to the basic tenets of the Laurentian consensus.
Bricker and Ibbitson note that although the big shift culminated with the election of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's majority government in 2011, the consensus is still around, "ensconced in their leafy downtown enclaves - Toronto's Annex, Ottawa's Glebe, Montreal's Outremont," patiently waiting for the public to realize that the consensus should be re-elected to power. Bricker and Ibbitson note this stubbornness fails to recognize and respond to the big shift. They compare the current status of the Laurentian consensus to that of "the Catholic church during the Renaissance, trying to keep the Earth at the centre of the universe despite everything the astronomers were telling them. So they contort reality to make it fit their false assumptions, even as their contortions become increasingly ridiculous."
What they believe
"Although they often disagree amongst themselves, they share a common set of assumptions about Canada: that it's a fragile nation; that the federal government's job is to bind together a country that would otherwise fall apart; that the biggest challenge is keeping Quebec inside Confederation; that the poorer regions must forever stay poor, propped up by the richer parts of the country; that the national identity - whatever it is - must be protected from the American juggernaut; that Canada is a helpful fixer in the world, a peacekeeper, a joiner of all the best clubs."
Bricker and Ibbitson argue these individuals self-gathered and generated this vision of the country without ever consulting other Canadians. The authors argue that the Laurentian elites established a consensus that "their version of the country is the country, and that they will run the country, just as they have always run it in the past." Part of their vision was that they were the "natural governing party" of Canada, destined to govern for a majority of the time, "and because they talk only to each other and to no one else, they continue to think they matter."
Bricker and Ibbitson believe the Laurentian consensus finally fell with the election of a Conservative majority government in the May 2011 federal election, although they argue that the members of the consensus are patiently cynical and waiting to be re-elected to power.
The Big Shift
Bricker and Ibbitson argue that the Big Shift was exemplified in the May 2011 federal election. For them, the Big Shift included major changes in Canada's make up, including:
* "Importing" roughly 250,000 immigrants each year for the past 20 years, with most of them settling in Toronto and South western Ontario
* The rise in "brown" immigrants and the fall of "white" immigrants
* White Canadians having fewer children
* The geopolitical shift from Atlantic to Pacific focus
* The shifting of Canada's "power centres" from Ontario to Alberta as a result of the rise in resource development and the fall of manufacturing jobs
Bricker and Ibbitson note this is not a "right-wing" or "left-wing" argument, but that the Conservative Party of Canada has been the best to-date at recognizing the shift and crafting policies that appeal to the new Canada.

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