Negotiators for the federal Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance made substantial progress toward a new merged party yesterday in closed-door meetings, sources said, despite increased anxiety from Tory MPs.
Sources close to the talks between emissaries for the two parties said the sides are inching toward a possible deal to form a united front in the next election.
Sources said the talks went well, and that one or two meetings will be held in the next five or six days.
"Reasonable minds are coming together," said one source close to the talks.
The sources said the two sides are moving toward agreement on a series of issues, including the structure of the party, financing and a party name, which could be the Conservative Party of Canada.
I can only hope this is right! We need an alternative to what Canadians have had for the most of the last forty years -- to say nothing of the patronage and general profligacy of a party which assumes it is the natural governing party. NJC
