Editing Common Sense Revolution (section)

==Origin==

From 1943 to 1985, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) held uninterrupted power in Ontario, under [[Red Tory]] premiers such as [[Leslie Frost]], [[John Robarts]], and [[Bill Davis]]. In 1985, this era of Conservative Premiers (termed the [[Big Blue Machine]] by observers{{who|date=January 2025}}) came to an end when the minority government of Davis' successor, [[Frank Miller (Canadian politician)|Frank Miller]], was defeated in the legislature and in the subsequent  [[1985 Ontario general election|provincial election]] when the [[Ontario Liberal Party]] formed a [[minority government]]  and the Liberal leader, [[David Peterson]], was sworn in as premier. The PC party was again defeated in the [[1987 Ontario general election|1987 election]] that gave Peterson a [[majority government]].

In 1990, a junior cabinet minister from Miller's former government, Mike Harris, won the leadership of the party which was widely interpreted as a move to the [[political right]], as Harris defeated the more centrist [[Dianne Cunningham]]. Harris immediately set about crafting a new image for himself and the party. In his first election in [[1990 Ontario general election|1990]], he branded himself "the tax fighter". He strongly opposed an unpopular [[photo-radar]] program introduced by the Liberal government and attacked it as a revenue grab. Despite his party's third place showing in the election (which was won by NDP leader Bob Rae), Harris had managed to improve the party standing in the legislature and bring some attention to his plan. After the 1990 election, Harris and his advisors (including prominent Ontario Tories [[Tony Clement]], then President of the party, Leslie Noble, Alister Campbell and [[Tom Long (politician)|Tom Long]]) set to work creating a more comprehensive reform package to present to the province. The result was the CSR.<ref>Excellent sources for this are Promised Land by John Ibbitson and Right Turn by Christina Blizzard</ref>