When we use the word Tory today, it’s often short-hand for somebody who is in the Conservative Party of Canada, but the Red Tories were a loosely defined group of Conservatives from an earlier era of Canadian history that had a Christian inflected vision of the role of politics that differs somewhat from what we may be accustomed to from our Conservative politicians today. This week, Ryan sits down with the Rev. Dr. David Widdicombe to unpack the tradition of Red Toryism with special attention to its Anglican pedigree.

David Widdicombe has a PhD from the University of Oxford and was the long-time rector of St. Margaret’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg, MB.

Further Reading

Grant, George. Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism, 40th Anniversary Edition. Montréal: Mcgill-Queens University Press, 2005.

Horowitz, G. “Conservatism, Liberalism, and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation.” The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue Canadienne d’Economique et de Science Politique 32, no. 2 (1966): 143–71.

Leacock, Stephen. The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice. Nabu Press, 2010.

Segal, Hugh. Two Freedoms: Canada’s Global Future. Toronto: A J. Patrick Boyer Book, 2016.

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For more information about the upcoming Political Theology series in the New Leaf Learning Centre (March 18 - April 8, 2022) visit: newleafnetwork.ca/events/canadianpoliticaltheology

The Red Tories with the Rev. Canon Dr. David Widdicombe