Manning says Conservatives aren't just about the West

The election of Stephen Harper's Conservatives finally gives western Canadians the government in Ottawa they have been demanding for decades, but one of the leading voices of western alienation says the rest of the country will find the new government "refreshing."

Reform Party founder Preston Manning said on Tuesday that the ideas behind the Conservatives are important to people across the country.

"These ideas, although they have energy and impetus from the West, have relevance to the entire country and I think people are going find Stephen Harper and his group refreshing," Manning told CBC Newsworld.

Manning formed the Reform Party in the late 1980s out of frustration that the West didn't have the political influence in Ottawa many believed it should, given the region's importance to the economy.

Federal politics in the Prairies, particularly in Alberta, has been dominated since 1993 by the Reform Party, followed by the Canadian Alliance and then the Conservatives. The small-c conservative movement has been looking for a breakthrough in Ontario and Quebec to break out of opposition and into government.

On Monday, they got it – 10 seats in Quebec and 40 in Ontario.

"Western Canada's influence has been growing within the country and last night it took another big jump forward," Manning said. "Stephen is an excellent one to express that change and bring it to Ottawa."

Manning said the Conservatives' ideas aren't specific to the West. Accountability in government, flexible federalism and energy security, for a few examples, are important across the country, he said.