The ("), is a
Canadian federal
Political Party positioned around the
Centre of the political spectrum, combining a generally progressive social policy with moderate economics. The party has been frequently dubbed "Canada's natural governing party", since it was in power for most of the
Twentieth Century , and starting with
Wilfrid Laurier in
1896 every leader of the party has served as
Prime Minister Of Canada . The party has formed the
Official Opposition in the
Parliament Of Canada since February 2006.
After the dissolution of the
Progressive Conservative Party on the formation of the new
Conservative Party Of Canada , the Liberal Party is the only party remaining from Confederation, and is Canada's oldest functioning party.
Following the party executive's official acceptance of former Prime Minister
Paul Martin 's resignation on
March 18 2006 ,
Bill Graham was chosen
Interim Leader - he had been interim
Parliamentary Leader since
February 1 st. A permanent leader will be chosen on the weekend of
December 2 -
3 2006 at
This Year's Liberal Leadership Convention in
Montreal .
See Also: Rebellions of 1837
The Liberals are descended from the mid-19th century
Reform ers who agitated for
Responsible Government throughout
British North America . These included
George Brown ,
Robert Baldwin ,
William Lyon Mackenzie and the
Clear Grits in
Upper Canada ,
Joseph Howe in
Nova Scotia , and the
Patriotes and
Rouges in
Lower Canada led by figures such as
Louis-Joseph Papineau . The Clear Grits and ''Parti rouge'' functioned as a united bloc in the legislature of the
Province Of Canada beginning in
1854 , and a united Liberal Party combining both English and French Canadian members was formed in
1861 .
At the time of the confederation of the former British colonies of Canada (now
Ontario and
Quebec ),
New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia , the radical Liberals were marginalized by the more pragmatic
Conservative coalition assembled under Sir
John A. Macdonald . In the 30 years after
Canadian Confederation , the Liberals were consigned to opposition, with the exception of one stint in government.
Alexander Mackenzie was able to lead the party to power in 1873 after the Macdonald government lost a
Vote Of No Confidence in the House of Commons because of the
Pacific Scandal . Mackenzie subsequently won the
1874 Election , but lost the government to Macdonald in 1878. They spent the next 18 years in opposition.
''']]
In their early history, the Liberals were the party of continentalism (
Free Trade with the United States), and opposition to
Imperialism . The Liberals also became identified with the aspirations of Quebecers as a result of the growing hostility of
French-Canadians to the
Conservatives . The Conservatives lost the support of Quebecers because of the role of Conservative governments in the execution of
Louis Riel , the suppression of the rights of
French-Canadian s outside of Quebec, and their role in the
Conscription Crisis Of 1917 .
It was not until
Wilfrid Laurier became leader that the Liberal Party emerged as a modern party. Laurier was able to capitalize on the
Tories ' alienation of French Canada by offering the Liberals as a credible alternative. Laurier was able to overcome the party's reputation for
Anti-clericalism that offended the still-powerful Quebec
Catholic Church . In English-speaking Canada, the Liberal Party's support for
Free Trade made it popular among farmers, and helped cement the party's hold in the growing
Prairie provinces.
Laurier led the Liberals to power in the
1896 Election (in which he became the first francophone Prime Minister), and oversaw a government that increased immigration in order to settle
Western Canada . Laurier's government created the provinces of
Saskatchewan and
Alberta out of the
North-West Territories , and promoted the development of Canadian industry. The Liberals lost power in the
1911 Election due to opposition to the party's policies on
Reciprocity (or
Free Trade ), and the creation of a Canadian navy.
The Conscription crisis divided the party as many Liberals in English Canada supported conscription. Many of them joined Sir
Robert Borden 's Conservatives to form a
Unionist Government . With numerous Liberal candidates running as Unionists or
Liberal-Unionist s with the support of provincial Liberal parties in a number of provinces, the
Laurier Liberals were reduced to a largely Quebec-based
Rump . The long term impact of the Conscription crisis benefited the party as the issue only added to the animosity of French-Canadians towards the Conservatives, making that party virtually unelectable in Quebec for decades.
''']]
Under Laurier, and his successor
William Lyon Mackenzie King , the Liberals promoted Canadian sovereignty and greater independence from the
British Empire . In
Imperial Conferences held throughout the 1920s, Canadian Liberal governments often took the lead in arguing that Britain and the
Dominion s should have equal status, and against proposals for an ''imperial parliament'' that would have subsumed Canadian independence. After the
King-Byng Affair of 1926, the Liberals argued that the
Governor General Of Canada should no longer be appointed on the recommendation of the British government. The decisions of the Imperial Conferences were formalized in the
Statute Of Westminster , which was actually passed in 1931, the year after the Liberals lost power.
The Liberals also promoted the idea of Canada being responsible for its own foreign and defence policy. Initially, it was Britain which determined external affairs for the dominion. In 1905, Laurier created the
Department Of External Affairs , and in 1909 he appointed the first
Secretary Of State For External Affairs to
Cabinet . It was also Laurier who first proposed the creation of a
Canadian Navy in 1910. Mackenzie King appointed
Vincent Massey the first Canadian
Ambassador to Washington in 1926, marking the Liberal government's insistence on having direct relations with the
United States , rather than having
Britain act on Canada's behalf.
]]
The Liberals have often been accused of, or credited with, simply advancing whatever policies would get them elected. In the period just before and after the
Second World War , the party became a champion of 'progressive social policy'.
As Prime Minister for most of the time between 1921 and 1948, King introduced several measures that led to the creation of Canada's social safety net. Bowing to popular pressure, he introduced the mother's allowance, a monthly payment to all mothers with young children. He also reluctantly introduced
Old Age Pension s when
J. S. Woodsworth required it in exchange for his
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party's support of King's minority government. Later,
Lester B. Pearson introduced
Universal Health Care , the
Canada Pension Plan , Canada Student Loans, and the Canada Assistance Plan (which provided funding for provincial welfare programs).
''']]
Under
Pierre Trudeau , this mission evolved into the goal of creating a "just society". In recent years, however, the party has been accused of "campaigning on the left and governing from the right".
The Trudeau Liberals became the champions of
Official Bilingualism , passing the ''
Official Languages Act '', which gave the French and English languages equal status in Canada. Trudeau hoped that the promotion of bilingualism would cement Quebec's place in
Confederation , and counter growing calls for an independent Quebec. This policy aimed to transform Canada into a country where English and
French-Canadians could live together in comfort, and could move to any part of the country without having to lose their language. While this has not occurred, official bilingualism has helped to halt the decline of the French language outside of Quebec, and has also ensured that all federal government services (as well as radio and television services provided by the government-owned
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation /
Radio-Canada ) are available in both languages throughout the country.
The Trudeau Liberals are also credited with support for official
Multiculturalism as a means of integrating immigrants into Canadian society without forcing them to shed their culture. As a result of this and a more sympathetic attitude by Liberals towards immigration policy, the party has built a base of support among recent immigrants and their children.
The most lasting effect of the Trudeau years has been the patriation of the
Canadian Constitution and the creation of Canada's
Charter Of Rights . Trudeau Liberals support the concept of a strong, central government, and fought
Quebec Separatism , other forms of
Quebec Nationalism , and the granting of "
Distinct Society " status to Quebec.
After Trudeau's retirement in 1984, many Liberals, such as
Jean Chrétien and
Clyde Wells , continued to adhere to Trudeau's concept of federalism. Others, such as
John Turner , supported the failed
Meech Lake and
Charlottetown Constitutional Accord s, which would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" and would have increased the powers of the provinces to the detriment of the federal government.
Under the party's new leader, John Turner, the Liberals lost power in the
1984 Election , and were reduced to only 40 seats in the
House Of Commons . The Progressive Conservatives won a majority of the seats in every province, including Quebec. It was the worst defeat in the party's history. What was more, the
New Democratic Party , successor to the CCF, won almost as many seats as the Liberals, and some thought that the NDP would push the Liberals to third-party status. The party began a long process of reconstruction. A small group of young Liberal MPs, known as the
Rat Pack , gained fame by criticizing the Tory government of
Brian Mulroney at every turn.
The
1988 Election was notable for Turner's strong opposition to the
Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiated by
Progressive Conservative Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney . Although most Canadians voted for parties opposed to
Free Trade , the Tories were returned with a
Majority Government , and implemented the deal. The Liberals recovered from their near-meltdown of 1984, however, winning 83 seats and ending much of the talk of being eclipsed by the NDP.
Turner resigned in 1990 due to growing discontent within the party with his leadership, and was replaced by bitter rival
Jean Chrétien , who had served as a Cabinet minister under Pearson, Trudeau and Turner. Chrétien's Liberals campaigned in the
1993 Election on the promise of renegotiating the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and of replacing the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Just after
The Writ Was Dropped for the election, they issued the
Red Book , a detailed statement of exactly what the Liberals would do in office if they won power. This was unprecedented for a Canadian party. Taking full advantage of the inability of Mulroney's successor,
Kim Campbell to overcome a large amount of antipathy toward Mulroney, they won a strong majority government with 177 seats—the third-best performance in party history. The Progressive Conservatives were reduced from a majority government to only two seats. This was the worst electoral defeat ever suffered by a governing party at the federal level in Canada.
For the next decade, the Liberals dominated Canadian politics in a fashion not seen since the early years of Confederation. This was because of the destruction of the "grand coalition" of
Western socially conservative populists,
Quebec Nationalists , and fiscal conservatives from Ontario that had supported the Progressive Conservatives in 1984 and 1988. The PCs' Western support, for all practical purposes, transferred en masse to the Western-based
Reform Party , which replaced the PCs as the major right-wing party in Canada. However, the new party's agenda was seen as too extreme for most Canadians. Even when Reform restructured into the
Canadian Alliance , the party was still unable to gain much traction in the east of the country, winning only three seats east of Manitoba in the next decade. Reform/Alliance was the official opposition from 1997 to 2003, but was never able to overcome wide perceptions that it was merely a Western protest party. Quebec Conservatives largely switched their support to the
Sovereigntist Bloc Québécois , while the party's Ontario support largely moved to the Liberals. The PCs never recovered from the 1993 blowout; while they rebounded to 20 seats in the next election, they won only two seats west of Quebec in the next decade.
Due to the way seats in the House of Commons are distributed, it is impossible to win a majority government, and very difficult to win a minority government, without substantial support in Ontario and/or Quebec. The Liberals were the only party with a strong base in both provinces, thus making them the only party capable of forming a government. With their strong support in the
Maritime Provinces and every major Canadian city except
Calgary and
Edmonton , the Liberals were re-elected to a strong, albeit reduced, majority in
1997 and nearly tied their 1993 total in
2000 .
However, the Liberals were not able to recover their traditional dominant position in Quebec despite being led by a Quebecer. The Bloc capitalized on discontent with the failure of the 1990
Meech Lake Accord and Chrétien's uncompromising stance on federalism (see below) to win the most seats in Quebec in every election from 1993 onward, even serving as the official opposition from 1993 to 1997. Chrétien's reputation in his home province never recovered. The Liberals did manage to get something of a breakthrough in 2000 after the PQ government forced consolidations of several Quebec urban areas into "megacities." A series of by-elections allowed the Liberals to gain a majority of Quebec ridings for the first time since 1984, but all of those gains were wiped out in the next two elections. Currently, the Liberals' support in Quebec is largely limited to the Montreal area.
''']]
While the Chrétien Liberals campaigned from the left, their time in power is most marked by the cuts made to many programs in order to balance the federal budget. Chrétien continued the Trudeau Liberal approach to federalism, and opposed making major concessions to Quebec and other provincialist factions. In contrast to their promises during the 1993 campaign, they implemented only minor changes to NAFTA, embraced the free trade concept and -- with the exception of the replacement of the GST with the Harmonized Sales Tax in some Atlantic provinces -- broke their promise to replace the
GST .
After a proposal for Quebec independence was narrowly defeated in the as well as decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of marijuana. Chrétien displeased the
United States government when he pledged that Canada would not support the
2003 Invasion Of Iraq , a decision that was nevertheless quite popular among Canadian voters. In part due to the fractured nature of the opposition in the House of Commons during his tenure, Chretien's Liberals remained very popular among Canadians, particularly when they were compared to the years under Mulroney and Campbell.
Paul Martin , author of the 1993 Red Book, succeeded Chrétien as party leader and prime minister in 2003. Despite the personal rivalry between the two, Martin was the architect of the Liberals' economic policies as Chrétien's
Minister Of Finance during the 1990s.
In the June 28, 2004
Federal Election , the Martin Liberals were returned to government, despite stronger competition from the newly-united
Conservative Party led by
Stephen Harper . The Liberal Party was reduced from a majority to a
Minority Government due, in part, to the
Sponsorship Scandal , in which advertising agencies supporting the Liberal Party received grossly inflated commissions for their services.
The party's 2006 election campaign was further damaged by this scandal, most notably by an
RCMP criminal investigation into the leak of the income trust announcement. Many Liberal candidates were defeated in an variety of ridings by
Conservatives and
New Democrats . On
Election night, as the returns showed certain defeat, Paul Martin announced he would resign as party leader.
Since then
Bill Graham has been appointed interim leader and the process has begun for selecting a new party leader. An unusually large number of prominent members such as
Frank McKenna ,
Brian Tobin ,
Allan Rock and
Belinda Stronach have declined to run, yet at the same time many new faces have stepped forward. There are currently ten people running for the leadership of the Liberal Party
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Conservative Prime Minister
Stephen Harper 's recent cabinet apointments created some controversy. The Liberal Party reportedly feels they could quickly regain power resulting in calls to accelerate the leadership selection process.
{Link without Title} . While there were some predictions the party's National Executive would call the convention for as late as March 2007, it instead decided to announce the convention for the first weekend of December 2006.
In the present times, as a
Centrist party, the Liberal party has favoured a variety of policies from both
Right and
Left of the political spectrum. Thus, it has been a strong champion of
Balanced Budget s, and has removed the
Deficit completely from the federal budget a few years after coming to power in 1993, while reducing spending on some
Social Programs and gradually introducing tax cuts. On the other hand, it has legalized
Same-sex Marriage and use of
Cannabis for medical purposes, and has been proposing complete
Decriminalization of possession of small amounts of it.
During the
2006 Election the Liberal party's platform has included an
Some controversy over possible Liberal Party policies arose when its
Youth Wing proposed full legalization of
Cannabis and
Prostitution .
''']]
The Liberals have long been considered a very united party. For instance, since
Louis St. Laurent , every Liberal leader/prime minister has served in the previous leader/prime minister's Cabinet. There have long been two distinct wings in the party--a socially-populist and federalist wing (represented by Trudeau and Chrétien), and a constitutionally flexible, fiscally conservative wing (represented by Turner and Martin). However, disputes between the two have usually been forgotten rather quickly. In contrast, the time between Martin's assumption of power and the calling of the 2004 election saw an unprecedented amount of infighting in the party.
When the Liberals won power in 1993, party unity was assured by placing Martin, whom Chrétien had defeated for the
Party Leadership In 1990 , in the crucial role of Minister of Finance. However, Martin had probably assured himself of a Cabinet post in any case as the author of the Red Book.
Martin's supporters dominated the party machinery, putting Martin in the driver's seat to become the party's next leader. However, the two men appeared to work very well together for a decade. The split opened wider, however, in the summer of 2002 when Chrétien moved to curtail Martin's apparent campaigning for the leadership, after promising that he would remain prime minister until
2004 , in defiance of the Martin camp's organizing. There are varying stories as to what actually occurred at this point. Chretien claims that Martin resigned from cabinet; Martin claims that Chretien fired him. Martin was replaced as Finance Minister by
Deputy Prime Minister John Manley , who many saw as Chretien's preferred heir.
Martin's influence in the party, and the fact that polls at the time indicated that Martin was a more popular leader among the Canadian public than Chretien, forced Chrétien to announce his retirement later in the year, earlier than he had originally hoped. Martin easily beat the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Sheila Copps at the
Liberal Leadership Convention in November 2003, and in December of that year Martin formed his government as Prime Minister. Chretien and Martin have reportedly had spoken little to each other since the summer of 2002.
While the issue of the party leadership was settled, at the lower levels of the party considerable in-fighting began. Most of the Chrétien-era cabinet ministers were relegated to the
Backbenches and ministers such as Copps,
John Manley ,
Allan Rock ,
Don Boudria ,
David Anderson ,
Herb Dhaliwal and
Stephane Dion were moved into minor roles as Martin built his cabinet. Many of them decided to leave politics for the private sector.
Some Chrétien loyalists refused to retire, hoping to remain as backbenchers. Unlike in previous elections, however, incumbent Liberals were not backed by the party in their
Ridings . In many cases, Chrétien allies faced challengers who received unofficial support from the Martinites. For example, the periodic redrawing of riding boundaries resulted in a high-profile battle between Copps and future Martin House Leader
Tony Valeri for a riding nomination.
In late 2004, Martin expelled former supporter and
Mississauga MP
Carolyn Parrish from the party after she told Martin he could "go to hell." Other reasons for her dismissal include several comments which were perceived as
Anti-American . Parrish sat as an independent in the House of Commons until the dissolution of Parliament in December 2005, but voted with the Liberals on almost all issues. Issues have also recently arisen between the largely Chrétien-appointed Liberal
Senate Caucus and the Prime Minister's Office. Martin has also faced criticism for being closer with and more rewarding to recent political additions to the Liberal Party including MPs
Jean Lapierre ,
Scott Brison ,
Ujjal Dosanjh ,
Keith Martin and most recently
Belinda Stronach , as opposed to regular Liberal MPs. In April 2005,
David Kilgour , one of the party's two MPs from Alberta announced that he was leaving the party to sit as an independent member of the House of Commons due to the damaging allegations of corruption in the Liberal Party's Quebec wing based on testimony in the
Gomery Commission inquiry. This was followed shortly thereafter by the announcement of Liberal MP
Pat O'Brien that he too was departing from the Liberal Caucus because of the Prime Minister's decision to rush same-sex marriage legislation through the House of Commons.
with
Paul Martin on
May 17 ,
2005 , announcing her decision to leave the Conservative Party in order to join the Liberals and Martin's
Cabinet .]]
In May 2005, MP
Belinda Stronach surprised many when she
Crossed The Floor from the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Party. Stronach represented a riding in the politically important Toronto suburbs, known as the
905s after their area code, and some believed her defection could damage the Conservative Party's chances to attract socially liberal voters, particularly in Ontario. Others have raised suspicions about the timing and opportunism of Stronach's decision, noting that she became a
Cabinet Minister immediately after crossing the floor, and that the departure came mere days before a crucial non-confidence vote in the house.
Chrétien's supporters have suggested that Martin has used the scandal as a pretense to remove many Chrétien supporters, such as
André Ouellet ,
Alfonso Gagliano , and
Jean Pelletier , from their positions in government, crown corporations, and the party. The Chrétien camp contends that the Gomery commission was set up to make them look bad, and that it was not a fair investigation. Subsequent to the release of the first report, Chrétien has decided to take an action in Federal Court to review the commission report on the grounds that Gomery showed a "reasonable apprehension of bias", and that some conclusions didn't have an "evidentiary" basis.
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''interim''.
George Brown (
July 1 1867 -
September 20 1867 )
1 (unofficial)
''interim''. No one (
September 20 1867 -
1869 )
''interim''.
Edward Blake (
1869 -
1871 )
''interim''. No one (
1871 -
March 6 1873 )
1.
Alexander Mackenzie (
March 6 1873 -
April 27 ,
1880 )
2.
Edward Blake (
May 4 ,
1880 -
June 2 ,
1887 )
3.
Wilfrid Laurier (
June 23 ,
1887 -
February 17 ,
1919 )
''interim''.
Daniel Duncan McKenzie (
February 17 ,
1919 -
August 7 ,
1919 Interim Leader )
4.
William Lyon Mackenzie King (
August 7 ,
1919 -
August 6 ,
1948 )
5.
Louis St. Laurent (
August 7 ,
1948 -
January 15 ,
1958 )
6.
Lester B. Pearson (
January 16 ,
1958 -
April 5 ,
1968 )
7.
Pierre Trudeau (
April 6 ,
1968 -
June 15 ,
1984 )
8.
John Turner (
June 16 ,
1984 -
June 22 ,
1990 )
''interim''.
Herb Gray (
February 6 ,
1990 -
December 21 ,
1990 2 interim
Parliamentary Leader )
9.
Jean Chrétien (
June 23 ,
1990 -
November 13 ,
2003 )
10.
Paul Martin (
November 14 ,
2003 -
March 18 ,
2006 )
3
''interim''.
Bill Graham (
February 1 ,
2006 -
March 18 ,
2006 interim
Parliamentary Leader )
3, (
March 18 ,
2006 - present
Interim Leader )
NOTES:
''
1 Brown was regarded by most Liberal candidates as their leader in the
1867 Election but did not officially hold the title. Had he won a seat he would have almost certainly become Leader of the Opposition and had the Liberals won enough seats to form a government Brown would almost certainly have become Prime Minister. However, he failed in his bid for a seat in the House of Commons and the Liberals had no official leader until 1873.''
''
2 Herb Gray served as Leader of the Opposition from February 6 until Chrétien was re-elected to Parliament in December 1990. He led the Liberal Party in parliament though he was never the leader or interim leader, of the Liberal Party as a whole.''
''
3 After the defeat of the Liberals by the Conservatives of Stephen Harper in the 2006 Canadian federal election, Paul Martin announced in the early hours of January 24, 2006 his intention to resign the leadership of the Liberal Party. Bill Graham was later selected as parliamentary leader by caucus, while Martin indicated he would remain nominal party leader. On March 18, 2006, Graham was appointed interim leader after Martin officially stepped down from the post.''
The Liberal Party held its first
Leadership Convention in 1919, electing
William Lyon Mackenzie King as leader. Prior to that party leaders were chosen by
Caucus .
See Also: Liberal leadership conventions
- 1953-1968 includes one Liberal-Labour Member of Parliament.
- In 1917, some Liberals ran under the Unionist banner, figures only count those who ran as " Laurier Liberals "
Each province in Canada has its own Liberal Party.
In most provinces, they are direct organizational affiliates with the federal Liberal party, much like the provincial sections of the
New Democratic Party .
These parties, and their leaders, are:
- Manitoba Liberal Party , Hon. Jon Gerrard , MLA
- New Brunswick Liberal Association , Shawn Graham , MLA
- Liberal Party Of Newfoundland And Labrador , Jim Bennett
- Nova Scotia Liberal Party , Francis MacKenzie
- Prince Edward Island Liberal Party , Robert Ghiz , MLA
- Saskatchewan Liberal Party , David Karwacki
- Yukon Liberal Party , Arthur Mitchell , MLA
The
Ontario Liberal Party (Hon.
Dalton McGuinty ,
MPP ,
Premier of
Ontario , leader) and
Alberta Liberal Party (
Kevin Taft ,
MLA , leader) are officially autonomous but are still closely associated with the federal Liberal Party.
The
Parti Libéral Du Québec (Hon.
Jean Charest ,
MNA ,
Premier of
Quebec , leader) and the
British Columbia Liberal Party (Hon.
Gordon Campbell ,
MLA ,
Premier of
British Columbia , leader) use the Liberal name but are completely independent of the federal party and function as coalitions of Liberal and Conservative supporters because neither province has a right wing party at the provincial level. They do not officially support the Liberal Party in federal elections, preferring to remain neutral. The active members of the BC Liberal Party are often very strong and active members of the federal party. The last election saw many defeated MLAs run as federal Liberals
The
Saskatchewan Party was an unofficial merger of the members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan and members of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, and now contains supporters of the federal Conservatives and federal Liberals in its ranks. The Saskatchewan Party is also completely independent and officially neutral when it comes to federal politics, although its only leaders have had roots in the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties of the past.
The
Northwest Territories and
Nunavut have non-partisan legislatures, except for 1898 to 1905 when parties were elected to the
Northwest Territories ; the
Northwest Territories Liberal Party formed the opposition for two elections.
