Conservative Party of Canada
Encyclopedia
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party
in Canada
which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance
and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum
. The party came to power in the 2006 federal election as a minority government
, a position it maintained after the 2008 election
, before winning its first majority government
in 2011. The current party leader is Stephen Harper
, who has been the Prime Minister of Canada
since 2006.
The historical Conservative Party was founded by the United Empire Loyalists
, and was vehemently opposed to free trade
and further integration with the United States, aiming instead to model Canadian political institutions after British ones. Then under the leadership of Brian Mulroney
, the party emphasized market forces
in the economy and reached a landmark free-trade deal with the United States in 1988. The Conservative Party generally favours lower taxes, smaller government, more decentralization
of federal government powers to the provinces
, modeled after the Meech Lake Accord
, and a tougher stand on "law and order" issues.
Canadian Alliance, the party also supports reform of the Senate
to make it "elected, equal, and effective" (the "Triple-E Senate
"). Party leader Stephen Harper advised the Governor General
to appoint the unelected Michael Fortier
to both the Senate and to the Cabinet on 6 February 2006, the day his minority government
took office. On 22 December 2008 Prime Minister Harper asked the Governor General to fill all eighteen Senate seats that had been vacant at the time. It was earlier reported in The Toronto Star
that this action was "to kill any chance of a Liberal-NDP coalition government
filling the vacancies next year".
The party introduced a bill in the parliament to have fixed dates for elections and, with the support of the Liberals
, passed it. However, Ned Franks, a Canadian parliamentary expert, maintains that the Prime Minister still has the right to advise the Governor General to dissolve the parliament early and drop the writs for an election
.
The appointment of Dr. Henry Morgentaler
, an abortion rights activist, to the prestigious Order of Canada
, was deplored by some Conservative MPs. The Conservative government distanced itself from the award.
The Conservative government excluded the funding of abortion
s in Canada's G8 health plan. Harper argued that he wanted to focus on non-divisive policies. This stance was opposed by the Liberals, NDP
and international health and women's groups. The Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada
, Marc Ouellet, praised this decision, but urged Harper to do more "in defence of the unborn". In May 2010, 18 Conservative MPs addressed thousands of students at the pro-life
13th annual March for Life rally on Parliament Hill
.
. In 2005, Harper spoke at a pro traditional-marriage rally, and declared "we can win this fight".
The party had a free vote on whether the House wanted to reopen the issue of same-sex marriage, which was defeated. In March 2011, just ahead of the expected Canadian election, the Conservatives added one line about gay rights to the "Discover Canada" booklet for new immigrants which they had published in 2009: "Canada’s diversity includes gay and lesbian Canadians, who enjoy the full protection of and equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage". The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney
, had previously removed mention of gay rights from the booklet published in 2009.
" should not be given a special "program" to "remain in Canada", according to all 110 Conservative Party MPs, who voted on this issue in the Parliament of Canada
on 3 June 2008. On 13 September 2008, this refusal to set up a “special program” was reiterated by a Conservative party spokeswoman after the first such conscientious objector
(Robin Long) had been deported and sentenced to 15 months in jail. This deportation occurred against the 3 June 2008 recommendation of a majority of elected representatives in Parliament. (See details about two motions in Parliament concerning Canada and Iraq War Resisters
.)
The Conservative Party is political heir to a series of right-of-centre parties that have existed in Canada, beginning with the Liberal-Conservative Party
founded in 1854 by Sir John A. Macdonald
and Sir George-Étienne Cartier
. The party later became known simply as the Conservative Party
after 1873. Like its historical predecessors and conservative parties in some other Commonwealth nations
(such as the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom
), members of the present-day Conservative Party of Canada are sometimes referred to as "Tories". The modern Conservative Party of Canada is also legal heir to the heritage of the historical conservative parties by virtue of assuming the assets and liabilities of the former Progressive Conservative Party
upon the merger of 2003.
The first incarnations of the Conservative Party in Canada were quite different from the Conservative Party of today, especially on economic issues. The early Conservatives were known to espouse economic protectionism and British imperialism, by emphasizing Canada's ties to the United Kingdom
while vigorously opposing free trade with the United States
; free trade being a policy which, at the time, had strong support from the ranks of the Liberal Party of Canada
. The Conservatives also sparred with the Liberal Party due to its connections with French Canadian nationalists including Henri Bourassa
who wanted Canada to distance itself from Britain, and demanded that Canada recognize that it had two nations, English Canada
and French Canada
, connected together through a common history. The Conservatives would go on with a popular slogan "one nation, one flag, one leader".
. Westerners of multiple political convictions including small-"c" conservatives saw the party as being uninterested in the economically unstable Prairie
regions of the west at the time and instead holding close ties with the business elite of Ontario
and Quebec
. As a result of western alienation both the dominant Conservative and Liberal parties were challenged in the west by the rise of a number of protest parties including the Progressive Party of Canada
, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(CCF), the Reconstruction Party of Canada
and the Social Credit Party of Canada
. The Progressives once outpaced the Conservatives, and, in 1920, became Official Opposition
, though soon after, the Progressive Party folded. Its former leader John Bracken
became leader of the Conservative Party in 1942 subject to several conditions, one of which was that the party be renamed the Progressive Conservative Party
.
Meanwhile, many former supporters of the Progressive Conservative Party shifted their support to either the federal CCF or to the federal Liberals. The advancement of the provincially popular western-based conservative Social Credit Party in federal politics was stalled, in part by the strategic selection of leaders from the west by the Progressive Conservative Party. PC leaders such as John Diefenbaker
and Joe Clark
were seen by many westerners as viable challengers to the Liberals who traditionally had relied on the electorate in Quebec and Ontario for their power base. While none of the various protest parties ever succeeded in gaining significant power federally, they were damaging to the Progressive Conservative Party throughout its history, and allowed the federal Liberals to win election after election with strong urban support bases in Ontario
and Quebec
. This historical tendency earned the Liberals the unofficial title often given by some political pundits of being Canada's "natural governing party". Prior to 1984, Canada was seen as having a dominant-party system
led by the Liberal Party while Progressive Conservative governments therefore were considered by many of these pundits as caretaker government
s, doomed to fall once the collective mood of the electorate shifted and the federal Liberal Party eventually came back to power.
In 1984, the Progressive Conservative Party's electoral fortunes made a massive upturn under its new leader, Brian Mulroney
, an anglophone
Quebecer and former president of the Iron Ore Company of Canada
, who mustered a large coalition of westerners aggravated over the National Energy Program
of the Liberal government and Quebeckers who were angered over Quebec not having distinct status in the Constitution of Canada
signed in 1982. This led to a huge landslide victory for the Progressive Conservative Party. Progressive Conservatives abandoned protectionism
which the party had held strongly to in the past and which had aggravated westerners and businesses and fully espoused free trade
with the United States and integrating Canada into a globalized economy. This was accomplished with the signing of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) of 1989 and much of the key implementation process of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), which added Mexico
to the Canada-U.S. free trade zone.
created by Preston Manning
, son of Alberta
Social Credit Premier Ernest Manning
. It advocated deep decentralization
of government power, abolition of official bilingualism
and multiculturalism
, democratization of the Canadian Senate
, and suggested a potential return to capital punishment
, and advocated significant privatization of public services. Westerners reportedly felt betrayed by the federal Progressive Conservative Party (PC), seeing it as catering to Quebec and urban Ontario interests over theirs. In 1989, Reform made headlines in the political scene when its first MP, Deborah Grey
, was elected in a by-election
in Alberta, which was a shock to the PCs which had almost complete electoral dominance over the province for years. Another defining event for western conservatives was when Mulroney accepted the results of an unofficial Senate "election" held in Alberta, which resulted in the appointment of a Reformer, Stanley Waters
, to the Senate.
By the 1990s, Mulroney had failed to bring about Senate reform as he had promised (appointing a number of Senators in 1990). As well, social conservatives were dissatisfied with Mulroney's social progressivism. Canadians in general were furious with high unemployment, high debt and deficit, unpopular implementation of the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) in 1991, and the failed constitutional reforms of the Meech Lake
and Charlottetown
accords. In 1993, support for the Progressive Conservative Party collapsed, and the party's representation in the House of Commons dropped from an absolute majority of seats to only two seats. The 1993 results were the worst electoral disaster in Canadian history, and the Progressive Conservatives never fully recovered.
In 1993, federal politics became divided regionally. The Liberal Party took Ontario
, the Maritimes
and the territories
, the separatist Bloc Québécois
took Quebec
, while the Reform Party took Western Canada
and became the dominant conservative party in Canada. The problem of the split on the right was accentuated by Canada's single member plurality electoral system, which resulted in numerous seats being won by the Liberal Party, even when the total number of votes cast for PC and Reform Party candidates was substantially in excess of the total number of votes cast for the Liberal candidate. Although this was a constant problem on the political left as well with the Liberals and NDP.
(formerly the Reform Party) and Progressive Conservative parties agreed to merge into the present-day Conservative Party, with the Alliance faction conceding its populist ideals and some social conservative elements.
On 15 October 2003, after closed-door meetings were held by the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party, Stephen Harper
(then the leader of the Canadian Alliance) and Peter MacKay
(then the leader of the Progressive Conservatives) announced the "'Conservative Party Agreement-in-Principle", thereby merging their parties to create the new Conservative Party of Canada. After several months of talks between two teams of "emissaries", consisting of Don Mazankowski
, Bill Davis
and Loyola Hearn
on behalf of the PCs and Ray Speaker Senator Gerry St. Germain
and Scott Reid
on behalf of the Alliance, the deal came to be.
On 5 December 2003 the Agreement-in-Principle was ratified by the membership of the Alliance by a margin of 96% to 4% in a national referendum conducted by postal ballot. On 6 December the PC Party held a series of regional conventions, at which delegates ratified the Agreement-in-Principle by a margin of 90% to 10%. On 7 December, the new party was officially registered with Elections Canada
. On 20 March 2004, Harper was elected leader
.
The merger was the culmination of the Canadian "Unite the Right
" movement, driven by the desire to present an effective right-wing opposition to the Liberal Party of Canada
, to create a new party that would draw support from all parts of Canada and would not split the right-wing vote. The splitting
of the right-wing vote contributed to Liberal victories in the 1993 federal election
, 1997 federal election
and the 2000 election
.
argued that his written agreement with Peter MacKay
, which had been signed a few months earlier at the 2003 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention, excluded any such merger. Orchard announced his opposition to the merger before negotiations with the Canadian Alliance had been completed. Over the course of the following year, Orchard led an unsuccessful legal challenge to the merger of the two parties.
In October and November, during the course of the PC party's process of ratifying the merger, four sitting Progressive Conservative MPs — André Bachand
, John Herron
, former Tory
leadership candidate Scott Brison
, and former Prime Minister Joe Clark
— announced their intention not to join the new Conservative Party caucus, as did retiring PC Party president Bruck Easton
. Clark and Brison argued that the party's merger with the Canadian Alliance drove it too far to the right, and away from its historical position in Canadian politics. Brison, at first, voted for and supported the ratification of the Alliance-Tory merger, then crossed the floor to the Liberals. Soon afterward, he was made a parliamentary secretary in Paul Martin
's Liberal government, and became a full cabinet minister after the 2004 federal election
. Herron also ran as a Liberal candidate in the election, but did not join the Liberal caucus prior to the election. He lost his seat to the new Conservative Party's candidate Rob Moore. Bachand and Clark sat as independent Progressive Conservatives until an election was called in the spring of 2004, and then retired from Parliament.
On 14 January 2004, former Alliance leadership candidate Keith Martin, left the party, and sat temporarily as an independent. He was reelected, running as a Liberal, in the 2004 election, and again in 2006 and 2008. In the 38th Parliament (2004–05), Martin served as parliamentary secretary
to Bill Graham, Canada's minister of defence. Additionally, three senators
, William Doody
, Norman Atkins, and Lowell Murray
, declined to join the new party and continue to sit in the upper house as a rump
caucus of Progressive Conservatives.
In February 2005, Liberals attempted to exacerbate the split among Tory Senators by appointing two anti-merger Progressive Conservatives, Nancy Ruth
and Elaine McCoy
, to the Senate. Both joined the rump PC Senate caucus. However, this gambit was not entirely successful: in March 2006, Senator Ruth joined the new Conservative Party and switched caucuses. In the early months following the merger, MP Rick Borotsik
, who had been elected as Manitoba's only PC, became openly critical of the new party's leadership. Borotsik chose not to run in the 2004 general election. Finally, following the 2004 federal election, Conservative Senator Jean-Claude Rivest
left the party to sit as an independent (choosing not to join Senators Doody, Atkins and Murray in their rump Progressive Conservative caucus). Senator Rivest cited, as his reason for this action, his concern that the new party was too right-wing and that it was insensitive to the needs and interests of Quebec.
for the leadership. Harris declined the invitation, as did New Brunswick
Premier Bernard Lord
and Alberta
Premier Ralph Klein. Outgoing Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay
also announced he would not seek the leadership, as did former Democratic Representative Caucus
leader Chuck Strahl
. Jim Prentice
, who had been a candidate in the 2003 PC leadership contest, entered the Conservative leadership race in mid-December but dropped out in mid-January due to an inability to raise funds so soon after his earlier leadership bid.
In the end, there were three candidates in the party’s first leadership election
: former Canadian Alliance
leader Stephen Harper
, former Magna International
CEO Belinda Stronach
, and former Ontario provincial PC
Cabinet minister Tony Clement
. Voting took place on 20 March 2004. A total of 97,397 ballots were cast. Harper won on the first ballot with a commanding 68.9% of the vote (67,143 votes). Stronach received 22.9% (22,286 votes), and Clement received 8.2% (7,968 votes).
The vote was conducted using a weighted voting system in which all of Canada’s 308 ridings
were given 100 points, regardless of the number of votes cast by party members in that riding (for a total of 30,800 points, with 15,401 points required to win). Each candidate would be awarded a number of points equivalent to the percentage of the votes they had won in that riding. For example, a candidate winning 50 votes in a riding in which the total number of votes cast was 100 would receive 50 points. A candidate would also receive 50 points for winning 500 votes in a riding where 1,000 votes were cast. In practice, there were wide differences in the number of votes cast in each riding across the country. More than 1,000 voters participated in each of the fifteen ridings with the highest voter turnout. By contrast, only eight votes were cast in each of the two ridings with the lowest levels of participation.) As a result, individual votes in the ridings where the greatest numbers of votes were cast were worth less than one percent as much as votes from the ridings where the fewest votes were cast.
The equal-weighting system gave Stronach a substantial advantage, because of the fact that her support was strongest in the parts of the country where the party had the fewest members, while Harper tended to win a higher percentage of the vote in ridings with larger membership numbers. Thus, the official count, which was based on points rather than on votes, gave her a much better result. Of 30,800 available points, Harper won 17,296, or 56.2%. Stronach won 10,613 points, or 34.5%. Clement won 2,887 points, or 9.4%.
The actual vote totals remained confidential when the leadership election results were announced; only the point totals were made public at the time, giving the impression of a race that was much closer than was actually the case. Three years later, Harper’s former campaign manager, Tom Flanagan
, published the actual vote totals, noting that, among other distortions caused by the equal-weighting system, “a vote cast in Quebec was worth 19.6 times as much as a vote cast in Alberta.”
leader and Prime Minister Paul Martin
called a general election
for 28 June 2004. However, in the interim between the formation of the new party and the selection of its new leader, factional infighting and investigations into the Sponsorship Scandal
significantly reduced the popularity of the governing Liberal Party.
This allowed the Conservatives to be more prepared for the race, unlike the 2000 federal election
when few predicted the early election call
. For the first time since the 1993 federal election
, a Liberal government would have to deal with a united conservative front. The Liberals attempted to counter this with an early election call, as this would give the Conservatives less time to consolidate their merger. During the first half of the campaign, polls showed a rise in support for the new party, leading some pollsters to predict the election of a minority
Conservative government. An unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty
hurt the federal Liberals' numbers in Ontario, as did a weak performance from Martin in the leaders' debates. The Liberals managed to narrow the gap and eventually regain momentum by targeting the Conservatives' credibility and motives, hurting their efforts to present a reasonable, responsible and moderate alternative to the governing Liberals.
Several controversial comments were made by Conservative MPs during the campaign. Early on in the campaign, Ontario MP Scott Reid
indicated his feelings as Tory language critic that the policy of official bilingualism
was unrealistic and needed to be reformed. Alberta MP Rob Merrifield
suggested as Tory health critic that women ought to have mandatory family counseling before they choose to have an abortion. BC MP Randy White
indicated his willingness near the end of the campaign to use the notwithstanding clause
of the Canadian Constitution to override the Charter of Rights on the issue of same-sex marriage
, and Cheryl Gallant
, another Ontario MP, compared abortion to terrorism. The party was also criticized for issuing press releases accusing both Paul Martin and Jack Layton
of supporting child pornography
, although both releases were recalled within a few hours.
Harper's new Conservatives emerged from the election with a larger parliamentary caucus
of 99 MPs while the Liberals were reduced to a minority government of 135 MPs, requiring the Liberals to obtain support from at least twenty-three opposition MPs in order to guarantee the passage of Liberal government legislation. The Conservatives' popular vote, however, was actually lower than the combined Alliance and PC popular vote in the 2000 federal election.
and Toronto Star
columnist Chantal Hébert
suggested that the then-subsequent election could result in a Conservative government if the public were to perceive the Tories as emerging from the party's founding convention (then scheduled for March 2005) with clearly defined, moderate policies with which to challenge the Liberals. The convention provided the public with an opportunity to see the Conservative Party in a new light, appearing to have reduced the focus on its controversial social conservative agenda (although most Conservatives continue to oppose same-sex marriage
). It retained its populist appeal by espousing tax cuts, smaller government, a grassroots-oriented democratic reform, and more decentralization by giving the provinces more taxing powers and decision-making authority in joint federal-provincial programs. The party's law and order package was an effort to address the perception of rising homicide rates, which had gone up 12% in 2004.
unexpectedly crossed the floor
from the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Party. In late August and early September 2005, the Tories released ads through Ontario's major television broadcasters that highlighted their policies towards health care, education and child support. The ads each featured Stephen Harper discussing policy with prominent members of his Shadow Cabinet
. Some analysts suggested at the time that the Tories would use similar ads in the expected 2006 federal election
, instead of focusing their attacks on allegations of corruption in the Liberal government as they did earlier on.
An Ipsos-Reid Poll conducted after the fallout from the first report of the Gomery Commission
on the sponsorship scandal showed the Tories practically tied for public support with the governing Liberal Party, and a poll from the Strategic Counsel suggested that the Conservatives were actually in the lead. However, polling two days later showed the Liberals had regained an 8-point lead. On 24 November 2005, Opposition leader Stephen Harper
introduced a motion of no confidence
which was passed on 28 November 2005. With the confirmed backing of the other two opposition parties, this resulted in an election on 23 January 2006, following a campaign spanning the Christmas season.
The Conservatives started off the first month of the campaign by making a series of policy-per-day announcements, which included a Goods and Services Tax
reduction and a child-care allowance. This strategy was a surprise to many in the news media, as they believed the party would focus on the sponsorship scandal
; instead, the Conservative strategy was to let that issue ruminate with voters. The Liberals opted to hold their major announcements after the Christmas holidays; as a result, Harper dominated media coverage for the first few weeks of the campaign and was able "to define himself, rather than to let the Liberals define him". The Conservatives' announcements played to Harper's strengths as a policy wonk, as opposed to the 2004 election and summer 2005 where he tried to overcome the perception that he was cool and aloof. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal approval numbers, which had always trailed his party's significantly, began to rise relatively rapidly.
On 27 December 2005, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
announced it was investigating Liberal Finance Minister
Ralph Goodale
's office for potentially engaging in insider trading
before making an important announcement on the taxation of income trust
s. The revelation of the criminal investigation and Goodale's refusal to step aside dominated news coverage for the following week, and it gained further attention when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
announced they would also launch a probe. The income trust scandal distracted public attention from the Liberals' key policy announcements and allowed the Conservatives to refocus on their previous attacks on corruption within the Liberal party. The Tories were leading in the polls by early January 2006, and made a major breakthrough in Quebec where they displaced the Liberals as the second place party (after the Bloc Québécois).
In response to the growing Conservative lead, the Liberals launched negative ads suggesting that Harper had a "hidden agenda", similar to the attacks made in the 2004 election. The Liberal ads did not have the same effect this time as the Conservatives had much more momentum, at one stage holding a ten-point lead. Harper's personal numbers continued to rise and polls found he was considered not only more trustworthy, but also a better potential Prime Minister than Paul Martin. In addition to the Conservatives being more disciplined, media coverage of the Conservatives
was also more positive than in 2004. By contrast, the Liberals found themselves increasingly criticized for running a poor campaign and making numerous gaffes.
On 23 January 2006, the Conservatives won 124 seats, compared to 103 for the Liberals. The results made the Conservatives the largest party in the 308-member House of Commons, enabling them to form a minority government. On 6 February, Harper was sworn in as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, along with his Cabinet.
in response to the sponsorship scandal
, President of the Treasury Board
, the Honourable John Baird
introduced the bill to the Canadian House of Commons
on 11 April 2006. The bill was passed in the House of Commons on 22 June 2006, and was granted royal assent
on 13 December 2006.
The 2006 Canadian federal budget
was presented to the House of Commons by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
on 2 May 2006. The government announced that the Goods and Services Tax
would be lowered from 7% to 6% (and eventually to 5%); income tax
cuts for middle-income earners, and $1,200-per-child childcare
payment (the "Universal Child Care Benefit") for Canadian parents. On 6 June 2006, the budget was introduced for third reading in the House of Commons and was declared passed by unanimous consent as the result of procedural confusion. (The Bloc Québécois
had previously indicated that it would support the budget, and its passage was never in doubt.)
On 31 October 2006, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
announced that the government would begin taxing income trusts in 2011, which went against one of their campaign promises, causing much consternation among supporters. On 22 November 2006, Harper introduced his own motion to recognize the Québécois as forming a "nation within a united Canada". Five days later, Harper's motion passed, with a margin of 266–16; all federalist parties, as well as the Bloc Québécois
, were formally behind it.
During three by-elections held on 17 September 2007, mayor Denis Lebel
captured the seat of Roberval for the Conservatives, taking it from the Bloc, while Bernard Barre ran a close second in Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot. This raised the Conservative total in the House of Commons to 126 members.Some believe these results indicate that the Conservatives have consolidated their position as the main federalist option in Quebec, outside of Montreal.
The RCMP searched Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa on 15 April 2008 at the request of Elections Canada. Elections commissioner William Corbett requested the assistance of the Mounties. Elections Canada is probing Conservative party spending for advertisements during the 2006 parliamentary election campaign.
The Conservative Party of Canada, having reached the $18.3 million advertising spending limit set out under the Canada Elections Act, transferred cash to 66 local campaign offices. The local campaigns sent the money back to national party headquarters to buy local television and radio advertisements for their candidates. Financial agents for at least 35 of those Conservative candidates later asked to be reimbursed for those expenses. Candidates who get 10% of the votes in their riding get a portion of their election expenses returned from Elections Canada. Elections Canada refused, saying the party paid for the ads, not the candidates. The Conservatives maintain they didn't break any rules.
On 26 May 2008, the Conservative Party recognized in a private-members bill the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide. The famine, orchestrated by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, has been recognized as genocide by a dozen countries — although some historians disagree.
. The Conservative Party returned to government with 143 seats, up from the 127 seats they held at dissolution, but short of the 155 necessary for a majority government. This is the third minority parliament in a row in Canada, and the second for Harper. The Conservative Party pitched the election as a choice between Harper and the Liberals
' Stéphane Dion
, whom they portrayed as a weak and ineffective leader. The election, however, was rocked midway through by the emerging global financial crisis and this became the central issue through to the end of the campaign. Harper has been criticised for appearing unresponsive and unsympathetic to the uncertainty Canadians were feeling during the period of financial turmoil, but he countered that the Conservatives were the best party to navigate Canada through the financial crisis, and portrayed the Liberal "Green Shift" plan as reckless and detrimental to Canada's economic well-being. The Conservative Party released its platform on October 7. The platform states that it will re-introduce a bill similar to C-61
.
Michaëlle Jean
to prorogue Parliament in order to avoid a coalition of the Liberals and New Democratic Party taking power months after the 2008 election. The request was granted by Jean, and the prorogation lasted until 26 January 2009.
, to prorogue parliament to prevent the coming confidence vote. The Governor General granted this request 4 December; Parliament was prorogued until 26 January 2009. The subsequent backlash against the coalition temporarily propelled the Conservative polling numbers to majority territory, and resulted in the resignation of the Liberal leader Stephane Dion, the installation of Michael Ignatieff as interim-leader, and the Liberals backing away from support of a coalition.
of Quebec
, Bob Runciman
of Ontario
, Vim Kochhar
of Ontario, Elizabeth Marshall
of Newfoundland and Labrador
, and Rose-May Poirier
of New Brunswick
. Throughout his time as Prime Minister, Harper has appointed a total of 38 Senators, all of which exclusively represent The Conservative Party of Canada.
This changed the party standings in the Senate, which had been dominated by Liberals, to 51 Conservatives, 49 Liberals, and five others. A Globe and Mail article has suggested Harper may invoke Section 26 of the Constitution, as his predecessor Brian Mulroney
did during the GST debate, to have an extra eight senators appointed, for a total of 113, thus granting Tories an absolute majority in the Red Chamber. With the 29 November 2010 retirement of former Liberal Senator Peter Stollery
, Harper was in a position to appoint another Conservative Senator, bringing the Conservatives an absolute Senate majority with 53 of 105 seats. By the end of 2011 an additional four Liberals, a Progressive Conservative (not aligned with the Conservative Government), and one Conservative will reach the mandatory retirement age of 75.
, thus triggering a general election. This was the first occurrence in Commonwealth history of a government in the Westminster parliamentary tradition losing the confidence of the House of Commons on the grounds of contempt of Parliament. The non-confidence motion was carried with a vote of 156 in favour of the motion, and 145 against.
, the Action démocratique du Québec
(ADQ), and the British Columbia Liberal Party
(not related to the federal Liberal Party of Canada
). The federal Conservative party has the support of many of the provincial Conservative leaders. In Ontario, successive provincial PC Party leaders John Tory
, Bob Runciman
and Tim Hudak
have expressed open support for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada, with former Mike Harris
cabinet members Jim Flaherty
, Tony Clement
, and John Baird
now ministers in Harper's government.
Support between federal and provincial Conservatives is more tenuous in some other provinces. In Alberta, relations have been strained between the federal Conservative Party and the Progressive Conservatives
. Part of the federal Tories' loss in the 2004 election was often blamed on then Premier Klein's public musings on health care late in the campaign. Klein had also called for a referendum
on same-sex marriage
. With the impending 2006 election, Klein predicted another Liberal minority, though this time the federal Conservatives won a minority government. Klein's successor Ed Stelmach
has generally tried to avoid causing similar controversies, however Harper's surprise pledge to restrict bitumen exports drew a sharp rebuke from the Albertan government, who warned such restrictions would violate both the Constitution of Canada
and the North American Free Trade Agreement
. After the 2007 budget was announced the two conservative governments in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador accused the federal Conservatives of breaching the terms of the Atlantic Accord
.
As a result relations have worsened between the two provincial governments, leading Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams
to publicly denounce the federal Conservatives, which has given rise to his ABC (Anything But Conservative
) campaign in the 2008 election. While officially separate, federal Conservative Party documents, such as membership applications, can be picked up from most provincial Progressive Conservative Party offices. Several of the provincial parties also contain open links to the federal Conservative website on their respective websites.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum
Politics of Canada
The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state...
. The party came to power in the 2006 federal election as a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
, a position it maintained after the 2008 election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
, before winning its first majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in 2011. The current party leader is Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
, who has been the Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
since 2006.
Principles and policies
United Empire Loyalists
The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...
, and was vehemently opposed to free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
and further integration with the United States, aiming instead to model Canadian political institutions after British ones. Then under the leadership of Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, the party emphasized market forces
Market Forces
Market Forces is a science fiction novel by Richard Morgan, first published in 2004.Set in 2049 in the wake of a global economic downturn called the Domino Recessions, it follows up-and-coming executive Chris as he plunges into the profitable field of Conflict Investment...
in the economy and reached a landmark free-trade deal with the United States in 1988. The Conservative Party generally favours lower taxes, smaller government, more decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
of federal government powers to the provinces
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
, modeled after the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
, and a tougher stand on "law and order" issues.
Parliamentary changes
As the successor of the western-basedWestern Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
Canadian Alliance, the party also supports reform of the Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
to make it "elected, equal, and effective" (the "Triple-E Senate
Triple-E Senate
The Triple-E Senate is a proposed variation of reform to the current Canadian Senate, calling for senators to be elected to exercise effective powers in numbers equally representative of each province; this is in contrast to the present arrangement wherein individuals are appointed to the Senate...
"). Party leader Stephen Harper advised the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
to appoint the unelected Michael Fortier
Michael Fortier
Michael M. Fortier, PC is a former Canadian Minister of International Trade and a former Conservative senator from Quebec...
to both the Senate and to the Cabinet on 6 February 2006, the day his minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
took office. On 22 December 2008 Prime Minister Harper asked the Governor General to fill all eighteen Senate seats that had been vacant at the time. It was earlier reported in The Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
that this action was "to kill any chance of a Liberal-NDP coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
filling the vacancies next year".
The party introduced a bill in the parliament to have fixed dates for elections and, with the support of the Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, passed it. However, Ned Franks, a Canadian parliamentary expert, maintains that the Prime Minister still has the right to advise the Governor General to dissolve the parliament early and drop the writs for an election
Dropping the writ
Dropping the writ is the informal term for a procedure in some parliamentary government systems, where the head of government goes to the head of state and formally advises him or her to dissolve parliament...
.
Abortion
The current Conservative government position on abortion is that a debate on abortion legislation will not take place in Parliament. Party leader Stephen Harper stated that "As long as I’m prime minister we are not reopening the abortion debate".The appointment of Dr. Henry Morgentaler
Henry Morgentaler
Henry Morgentaler, CM is a Canadian physician and prominent pro-choice advocate who has fought numerous legal battles for that cause.-Early life:...
, an abortion rights activist, to the prestigious Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, was deplored by some Conservative MPs. The Conservative government distanced itself from the award.
The Conservative government excluded the funding of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s in Canada's G8 health plan. Harper argued that he wanted to focus on non-divisive policies. This stance was opposed by the Liberals, NDP
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
and international health and women's groups. The Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada
Roman Catholicism in Canada
The Catholic Church in Canada is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Bishops Conference. It has the largest number of followers of a religion in Canada with 46% of Canadians baptized as Catholics...
, Marc Ouellet, praised this decision, but urged Harper to do more "in defence of the unborn". In May 2010, 18 Conservative MPs addressed thousands of students at the pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
13th annual March for Life rally on Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
.
Same-sex marriage
Party leader Stephen Harper staunchly opposes same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
. In 2005, Harper spoke at a pro traditional-marriage rally, and declared "we can win this fight".
The party had a free vote on whether the House wanted to reopen the issue of same-sex marriage, which was defeated. In March 2011, just ahead of the expected Canadian election, the Conservatives added one line about gay rights to the "Discover Canada" booklet for new immigrants which they had published in 2009: "Canada’s diversity includes gay and lesbian Canadians, who enjoy the full protection of and equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage". The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney
Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....
, had previously removed mention of gay rights from the booklet published in 2009.
Deportations of Iraq War resisters
"Conscientious objectors" to "wars not sanctioned by the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
" should not be given a special "program" to "remain in Canada", according to all 110 Conservative Party MPs, who voted on this issue in the Parliament of Canada
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
on 3 June 2008. On 13 September 2008, this refusal to set up a “special program” was reiterated by a Conservative party spokeswoman after the first such conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
(Robin Long) had been deported and sentenced to 15 months in jail. This deportation occurred against the 3 June 2008 recommendation of a majority of elected representatives in Parliament. (See details about two motions in Parliament concerning Canada and Iraq War Resisters
Canada and Iraq War resisters
During the Iraq War, which began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there were United States military personnel who refused to participate, or continue to participate, in that specific war. Their refusal meant that they faced the possibility of punishment in the United States according to Article 85...
.)
Crime and law enforcement
The Conservatives have promised to re-introduce Internet surveillance legislation that they were not able to pass, and bundle it with the rest of their crime bills. They said they plan to fast track the legislation within 100 days after taking office.Predecessors
Liberal-Conservative Party
The Liberal-Conservative Party was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1873, although some Conservative candidates continued to run under the label as late as the 1911 election and others ran as simple Conservatives prior to 1873...
founded in 1854 by Sir John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
and Sir George-Étienne Cartier
George-Étienne Cartier
Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, PC was a French-Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation.The English spelling of the name, George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling, is explained by his having been named in honour of King George III....
. The party later became known simply as the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
after 1873. Like its historical predecessors and conservative parties in some other Commonwealth nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
(such as the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
), members of the present-day Conservative Party of Canada are sometimes referred to as "Tories". The modern Conservative Party of Canada is also legal heir to the heritage of the historical conservative parties by virtue of assuming the assets and liabilities of the former Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
upon the merger of 2003.
The first incarnations of the Conservative Party in Canada were quite different from the Conservative Party of today, especially on economic issues. The early Conservatives were known to espouse economic protectionism and British imperialism, by emphasizing Canada's ties to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
while vigorously opposing free trade with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; free trade being a policy which, at the time, had strong support from the ranks of the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. The Conservatives also sparred with the Liberal Party due to its connections with French Canadian nationalists including Henri Bourassa
Henri Bourassa
Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. He is seen by many as an ideological father of Canadian nationalism....
who wanted Canada to distance itself from Britain, and demanded that Canada recognize that it had two nations, English Canada
English Canada
English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...
and French Canada
French Canada
French Canada, also known as "Lower Canada", is a term to distinguish the French Canadian population of Canada from English Canada.-Definition:...
, connected together through a common history. The Conservatives would go on with a popular slogan "one nation, one flag, one leader".
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party's popular support waned (particularly in western Canada) during difficult economic times from the 1920s to 1940s, as it was seen by many in the west as an eastern establishment party which ignored the needs of the citizens of Western CanadaWestern Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
. Westerners of multiple political convictions including small-"c" conservatives saw the party as being uninterested in the economically unstable Prairie
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
regions of the west at the time and instead holding close ties with the business elite of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. As a result of western alienation both the dominant Conservative and Liberal parties were challenged in the west by the rise of a number of protest parties including the Progressive Party of Canada
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
(CCF), the Reconstruction Party of Canada
Reconstruction Party of Canada
The Reconstruction Party was a Canadian political party founded by Henry Herbert Stevens, a long-time Conservative Member of Parliament . Stevens served as Minister of Trade in the Arthur Meighen government of 1921, and as Minister of Trade and Commerce from 1930 to 1934 in the Depression-era...
and the Social Credit Party of Canada
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...
. The Progressives once outpaced the Conservatives, and, in 1920, became Official Opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
, though soon after, the Progressive Party folded. Its former leader John Bracken
John Bracken
John Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....
became leader of the Conservative Party in 1942 subject to several conditions, one of which was that the party be renamed the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
.
Meanwhile, many former supporters of the Progressive Conservative Party shifted their support to either the federal CCF or to the federal Liberals. The advancement of the provincially popular western-based conservative Social Credit Party in federal politics was stalled, in part by the strategic selection of leaders from the west by the Progressive Conservative Party. PC leaders such as John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
and Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
were seen by many westerners as viable challengers to the Liberals who traditionally had relied on the electorate in Quebec and Ontario for their power base. While none of the various protest parties ever succeeded in gaining significant power federally, they were damaging to the Progressive Conservative Party throughout its history, and allowed the federal Liberals to win election after election with strong urban support bases in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. This historical tendency earned the Liberals the unofficial title often given by some political pundits of being Canada's "natural governing party". Prior to 1984, Canada was seen as having a dominant-party system
Dominant-party system
A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a system where there is "a category of parties/political organizations that have successively won election victories and whose future defeat cannot be envisaged or is unlikely for the foreseeable future." A wide range of parties have been...
led by the Liberal Party while Progressive Conservative governments therefore were considered by many of these pundits as caretaker government
Caretaker government
Caretaker government is a type of government that rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government...
s, doomed to fall once the collective mood of the electorate shifted and the federal Liberal Party eventually came back to power.
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, an anglophone
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Quebecer and former president of the Iron Ore Company of Canada
Iron Ore Company of Canada
Iron Ore Company of Canada is a Canadian-based producer of iron ore. The company was founded in 1949 from a partnership of Canadian and American M.A. Hanna Company...
, who mustered a large coalition of westerners aggravated over the National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...
of the Liberal government and Quebeckers who were angered over Quebec not having distinct status in the Constitution of Canada
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
signed in 1982. This led to a huge landslide victory for the Progressive Conservative Party. Progressive Conservatives abandoned protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
which the party had held strongly to in the past and which had aggravated westerners and businesses and fully espoused free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
with the United States and integrating Canada into a globalized economy. This was accomplished with the signing of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
The Free Trade Agreement was a trade agreement signed by Canada and the United States on October 4, 1988. The agreement, finalized by October 1987, removed several trade restrictions in stages over a ten year period, and resulted in a great increase in cross-border trade...
(FTA) of 1989 and much of the key implementation process of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA), which added Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to the Canada-U.S. free trade zone.
Reform Party of Canada
In the late 1980s and 1990s, federal conservative politics became split by the creation of a new western-based protest party, the populist and social conservative Reform Party of CanadaReform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
created by Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
, son of Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
Social Credit Premier Ernest Manning
Ernest Manning
Ernest Charles Manning, , a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any premier in the province's history, and was the second longest serving provincial premier in Canadian history...
. It advocated deep decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
of government power, abolition of official bilingualism
Official bilingualism
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said languages...
and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, democratization of the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, and suggested a potential return to capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, and advocated significant privatization of public services. Westerners reportedly felt betrayed by the federal Progressive Conservative Party (PC), seeing it as catering to Quebec and urban Ontario interests over theirs. In 1989, Reform made headlines in the political scene when its first MP, Deborah Grey
Deborah Grey
Deborah Cleland Grey, OC, sometimes called Deb Grey is a former Canadian Member of Parliament from Alberta for the Reform Party of Canada, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party of Canada....
, was elected in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in Alberta, which was a shock to the PCs which had almost complete electoral dominance over the province for years. Another defining event for western conservatives was when Mulroney accepted the results of an unofficial Senate "election" held in Alberta, which resulted in the appointment of a Reformer, Stanley Waters
Stanley Waters
Lieutenant General Stanley Charles "Stan" Waters, CD was Canada's first Senator to be appointed to his Senate seat following a non-binding provincial Senate election.-Early life:...
, to the Senate.
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
(GST) in 1991, and the failed constitutional reforms of the Meech Lake
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
and Charlottetown
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
accords. In 1993, support for the Progressive Conservative Party collapsed, and the party's representation in the House of Commons dropped from an absolute majority of seats to only two seats. The 1993 results were the worst electoral disaster in Canadian history, and the Progressive Conservatives never fully recovered.
In 1993, federal politics became divided regionally. The Liberal Party took Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
and the territories
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
, the separatist Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
took Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, while the Reform Party took Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
and became the dominant conservative party in Canada. The problem of the split on the right was accentuated by Canada's single member plurality electoral system, which resulted in numerous seats being won by the Liberal Party, even when the total number of votes cast for PC and Reform Party candidates was substantially in excess of the total number of votes cast for the Liberal candidate. Although this was a constant problem on the political left as well with the Liberals and NDP.
Rationale for the merger
With the right-wing vote split, the Liberal Party won three successive majority governments. This led the Reform Party, and subsequently the Canadian Alliance, as well as elements of the Progressive Conservative Party, to advocate "uniting the right".Merger agreement
In 2003, the Canadian AllianceCanadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
(formerly the Reform Party) and Progressive Conservative parties agreed to merge into the present-day Conservative Party, with the Alliance faction conceding its populist ideals and some social conservative elements.
On 15 October 2003, after closed-door meetings were held by the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party, Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
(then the leader of the Canadian Alliance) and Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....
(then the leader of the Progressive Conservatives) announced the "'Conservative Party Agreement-in-Principle", thereby merging their parties to create the new Conservative Party of Canada. After several months of talks between two teams of "emissaries", consisting of Don Mazankowski
Don Mazankowski
Donald Frank "Don" Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE is a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Mulroney....
, Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
and Loyola Hearn
Loyola Hearn
Loyola Hearn, PC is the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland. He served as a Member of the Canadian House of Commons from 2000 to 2008, and as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from February 6, 2006 to October 30, 2008....
on behalf of the PCs and Ray Speaker Senator Gerry St. Germain
Gerry St. Germain
Gerry St. Germain, PC is a Canadian politician.St. Germain had various jobs prior to entering politics, working variously as a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, police officer , building contractor, businessman and poultry farmer. Born in Manitoba, he moved to British Columbia.A strong Tory...
and Scott Reid
Scott Reid (politician)
Scott Jeffrey Reid is a Canadian politician. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons since 2000, and currently represents the Ontario riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington as a member of the Conservative Party....
on behalf of the Alliance, the deal came to be.
On 5 December 2003 the Agreement-in-Principle was ratified by the membership of the Alliance by a margin of 96% to 4% in a national referendum conducted by postal ballot. On 6 December the PC Party held a series of regional conventions, at which delegates ratified the Agreement-in-Principle by a margin of 90% to 10%. On 7 December, the new party was officially registered with Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
. On 20 March 2004, Harper was elected leader
Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004
The 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election took place on March 20, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, and resulted in the election of Stephen Harper as the first leader of the new Canadian Conservative Party...
.
The merger was the culmination of the Canadian "Unite the Right
Unite the Right
The Unite the Right movement was a Canadian political movement which existed from around 1996 to 2003. The movement came into being when it became clear that neither of Canada's two main right-of-center political parties: the Reform Party of Canada or the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
" movement, driven by the desire to present an effective right-wing opposition to the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, to create a new party that would draw support from all parts of Canada and would not split the right-wing vote. The splitting
Vote splitting
Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate....
of the right-wing vote contributed to Liberal victories in the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
and the 2000 election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
.
Opposition to the merger/defections
The merger process was opposed by some elements in both parties. In the PCs in particular, the merger process resulted in organized opposition, and in a substantial number of prominent members refusing to join the new party. The opponents of the merger were not internally united as a single internal opposition movement, and they did not announce their opposition at the same moment. The reasons for dissent varied. David OrchardDavid Orchard
David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...
argued that his written agreement with Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....
, which had been signed a few months earlier at the 2003 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention, excluded any such merger. Orchard announced his opposition to the merger before negotiations with the Canadian Alliance had been completed. Over the course of the following year, Orchard led an unsuccessful legal challenge to the merger of the two parties.
In October and November, during the course of the PC party's process of ratifying the merger, four sitting Progressive Conservative MPs — André Bachand
André Bachand (Progressive Conservative MP)
André Bachand is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska as member of the Progressive Conservatives from 1997 to 2003....
, John Herron
John Herron (New Brunswick politician)
John Herron is a former Canadian politician and Red Tory.Herron was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1997 federal election as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada . He was reelected in the 2000 election...
, former Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
leadership candidate Scott Brison
Scott Brison
Scott A. Brison, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. Brison has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Kings-Hants since the 1997 federal election. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003...
, and former Prime Minister Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
— announced their intention not to join the new Conservative Party caucus, as did retiring PC Party president Bruck Easton
Bruck Easton
Bruck Easton is a Windsor, Ontario lawyer and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. He is a former president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and was a candidate for the PCs in the 1988, 1997 and 2000 federal elections in the riding of Windsor—St. Clair.He was born in Windsor,...
. Clark and Brison argued that the party's merger with the Canadian Alliance drove it too far to the right, and away from its historical position in Canadian politics. Brison, at first, voted for and supported the ratification of the Alliance-Tory merger, then crossed the floor to the Liberals. Soon afterward, he was made a parliamentary secretary in Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
's Liberal government, and became a full cabinet minister after the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
. Herron also ran as a Liberal candidate in the election, but did not join the Liberal caucus prior to the election. He lost his seat to the new Conservative Party's candidate Rob Moore. Bachand and Clark sat as independent Progressive Conservatives until an election was called in the spring of 2004, and then retired from Parliament.
On 14 January 2004, former Alliance leadership candidate Keith Martin, left the party, and sat temporarily as an independent. He was reelected, running as a Liberal, in the 2004 election, and again in 2006 and 2008. In the 38th Parliament (2004–05), Martin served as parliamentary secretary
Parliamentary Secretary
A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...
to Bill Graham, Canada's minister of defence. Additionally, three senators
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, William Doody
C. William Doody
C. William Doody was a member of the Canadian Senate representing Newfoundland and Labrador. Doody was active in provincial politics and was first elected to the Newfoundland House of Assembly in 1971 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador...
, Norman Atkins, and Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray, PC is a former Canadian senator and long-time activist with the federal Progressive Conservative Party.-Education:...
, declined to join the new party and continue to sit in the upper house as a rump
Rump party
A Rump Party is a political party that is formed by the remaining body of supporters and leaders who do not support a breakaway group who merge with or form another new party.The rump party can have the name of the original party, or a new name.Examples:...
caucus of Progressive Conservatives.
In February 2005, Liberals attempted to exacerbate the split among Tory Senators by appointing two anti-merger Progressive Conservatives, Nancy Ruth
Nancy Ruth
Nancy Ruth, CM is a Canadian Senator from Ontario. She was appointed to the Senate by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the advice of Prime Minister Paul Martin, on March 24, 2005. While initially appointed as a Progressive Conservative, on March 28, 2006 she joined the Conservative caucus...
and Elaine McCoy
Elaine McCoy
Elaine McCoy, QC, BA, LL.B is a Canadian senator from Alberta. She has been the last remaining member of the Canadian Senate to sit as a Progressive Conservative since the retirement of Senator Lowell Murray on September 26, 2011.-Senate of Canada:Senator McCoy was appointed to the Senate by...
, to the Senate. Both joined the rump PC Senate caucus. However, this gambit was not entirely successful: in March 2006, Senator Ruth joined the new Conservative Party and switched caucuses. In the early months following the merger, MP Rick Borotsik
Rick Borotsik
Rick Borotsik is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as Mayor of Brandon from 1989 to 1997, was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2004, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in 2007...
, who had been elected as Manitoba's only PC, became openly critical of the new party's leadership. Borotsik chose not to run in the 2004 general election. Finally, following the 2004 federal election, Conservative Senator Jean-Claude Rivest
Jean-Claude Rivest
Jean-Claude Rivest is a Canadian lawyer, politician and Senator.Born in L'Assomption, Quebec, the son of Victor Rivest and Yvette Lafortune, he studied law at the Université de Montréal. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1966. He practiced law from 1966 to 1967, until he started working for Jean...
left the party to sit as an independent (choosing not to join Senators Doody, Atkins and Murray in their rump Progressive Conservative caucus). Senator Rivest cited, as his reason for this action, his concern that the new party was too right-wing and that it was insensitive to the needs and interests of Quebec.
Leadership election, 2004
In the immediate aftermath of the merger announcement, some Conservative activists hoped to recruit former Ontario Premier Mike HarrisMike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
for the leadership. Harris declined the invitation, as did New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
Premier Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord, ONB, QC, is a Canadian politician and lobbyist. Lord served as the 30th Premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
Premier Ralph Klein. Outgoing Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....
also announced he would not seek the leadership, as did former Democratic Representative Caucus
Democratic Representative Caucus
The Democratic Representative Caucus was a group of Canadian Members of Parliament who left the Canadian Alliance in 2001 in protest against the leadership of Stockwell Day...
leader Chuck Strahl
Chuck Strahl
Charles Strahl, PC, MP was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. He was a Member of Parliament in the governing Conservative Party of Canada.-Before politics:...
. Jim Prentice
Jim Prentice
James "Jim" Prentice, PC, QC is a Canadian lawyer, and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada...
, who had been a candidate in the 2003 PC leadership contest, entered the Conservative leadership race in mid-December but dropped out in mid-January due to an inability to raise funds so soon after his earlier leadership bid.
In the end, there were three candidates in the party’s first leadership election
Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004
The 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election took place on March 20, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, and resulted in the election of Stephen Harper as the first leader of the new Canadian Conservative Party...
: former Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
leader Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
, former Magna International
Magna International
Magna International Inc. , is an automotive supplier headquartered in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's largest automobile parts manufacturer, and one of the country's largest companies. It owns the Magna Steyr automobile production company of Austria....
CEO Belinda Stronach
Belinda Stronach
Belinda Caroline Stronach, PC is a Canadian businessperson, philanthropist and former politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the floor to join the Liberals...
, and former Ontario provincial PC
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
Cabinet minister Tony Clement
Tony Clement
Tony Peter Clement, PC, MP is a Canadian federal politician, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario and member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
. Voting took place on 20 March 2004. A total of 97,397 ballots were cast. Harper won on the first ballot with a commanding 68.9% of the vote (67,143 votes). Stronach received 22.9% (22,286 votes), and Clement received 8.2% (7,968 votes).
The vote was conducted using a weighted voting system in which all of Canada’s 308 ridings
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
were given 100 points, regardless of the number of votes cast by party members in that riding (for a total of 30,800 points, with 15,401 points required to win). Each candidate would be awarded a number of points equivalent to the percentage of the votes they had won in that riding. For example, a candidate winning 50 votes in a riding in which the total number of votes cast was 100 would receive 50 points. A candidate would also receive 50 points for winning 500 votes in a riding where 1,000 votes were cast. In practice, there were wide differences in the number of votes cast in each riding across the country. More than 1,000 voters participated in each of the fifteen ridings with the highest voter turnout. By contrast, only eight votes were cast in each of the two ridings with the lowest levels of participation.) As a result, individual votes in the ridings where the greatest numbers of votes were cast were worth less than one percent as much as votes from the ridings where the fewest votes were cast.
The equal-weighting system gave Stronach a substantial advantage, because of the fact that her support was strongest in the parts of the country where the party had the fewest members, while Harper tended to win a higher percentage of the vote in ridings with larger membership numbers. Thus, the official count, which was based on points rather than on votes, gave her a much better result. Of 30,800 available points, Harper won 17,296, or 56.2%. Stronach won 10,613 points, or 34.5%. Clement won 2,887 points, or 9.4%.
The actual vote totals remained confidential when the leadership election results were announced; only the point totals were made public at the time, giving the impression of a race that was much closer than was actually the case. Three years later, Harper’s former campaign manager, Tom Flanagan
Tom Flanagan (political scientist)
Thomas Eugene Flanagan is an American-born political science professor at the University of Calgary, author, and conservative political activist. He also served as an advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper until 2004. Flanagan's scholarship has focused on Native and Metis rights in...
, published the actual vote totals, noting that, among other distortions caused by the equal-weighting system, “a vote cast in Quebec was worth 19.6 times as much as a vote cast in Alberta.”
2004 general election
Two months after Harper's election as national Tory leader, Liberal Party of CanadaLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
leader and Prime Minister Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
called a general election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
for 28 June 2004. However, in the interim between the formation of the new party and the selection of its new leader, factional infighting and investigations into the Sponsorship Scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
significantly reduced the popularity of the governing Liberal Party.
This allowed the Conservatives to be more prepared for the race, unlike the 2000 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
when few predicted the early election call
Snap election
A snap election is an election called earlier than expected. Generally it refers to an election in a parliamentary system called when not required , usually to capitalize on a unique electoral opportunity or to decide a pressing issue...
. For the first time since the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, a Liberal government would have to deal with a united conservative front. The Liberals attempted to counter this with an early election call, as this would give the Conservatives less time to consolidate their merger. During the first half of the campaign, polls showed a rise in support for the new party, leading some pollsters to predict the election of a minority
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
Conservative government. An unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
hurt the federal Liberals' numbers in Ontario, as did a weak performance from Martin in the leaders' debates. The Liberals managed to narrow the gap and eventually regain momentum by targeting the Conservatives' credibility and motives, hurting their efforts to present a reasonable, responsible and moderate alternative to the governing Liberals.
Several controversial comments were made by Conservative MPs during the campaign. Early on in the campaign, Ontario MP Scott Reid
Scott Reid (politician)
Scott Jeffrey Reid is a Canadian politician. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons since 2000, and currently represents the Ontario riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington as a member of the Conservative Party....
indicated his feelings as Tory language critic that the policy of official bilingualism
Official bilingualism
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said languages...
was unrealistic and needed to be reformed. Alberta MP Rob Merrifield
Rob Merrifield
Robert "Rob" Merrifield, PC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Yellowhead, and was the Minister of State for Transport from October 2008 to May 2011....
suggested as Tory health critic that women ought to have mandatory family counseling before they choose to have an abortion. BC MP Randy White
Randy White (politician)
Randy White is an accountant and former Canadian politician.White was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as theReform Party Member of Parliament for...
indicated his willingness near the end of the campaign to use the notwithstanding clause
Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause , or as the override power, and it allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to override certain portions of the Charter...
of the Canadian Constitution to override the Charter of Rights on the issue of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, and Cheryl Gallant
Cheryl Gallant
Cheryl Gallant, MP is a Conservative Canadian politician representing the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.-Personal life:...
, another Ontario MP, compared abortion to terrorism. The party was also criticized for issuing press releases accusing both Paul Martin and Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
of supporting child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, although both releases were recalled within a few hours.
Harper's new Conservatives emerged from the election with a larger parliamentary caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
of 99 MPs while the Liberals were reduced to a minority government of 135 MPs, requiring the Liberals to obtain support from at least twenty-three opposition MPs in order to guarantee the passage of Liberal government legislation. The Conservatives' popular vote, however, was actually lower than the combined Alliance and PC popular vote in the 2000 federal election.
Founding convention: March 2005
In 2005, some political analysts such as former Progressive Conservative pollster Allan GreggAllan Gregg
Allan Gregg is a Canadian pollster, political advisor, and pundit.-Early life:Gregg was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the eldest child in his family which consisted of four boys and one girl. Gregg graduated from Harry Ainley High School at the second top of his class with honors...
and Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
columnist Chantal Hébert
Chantal Hébert
Chantal Hébert is a Canadian columnist and political commentator.-Life and career:Hébert was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She is the eldest of 5 children. In 1966 her family moved to Toronto where the 12-year-old was enrolled in École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-de-Charbonnel...
suggested that the then-subsequent election could result in a Conservative government if the public were to perceive the Tories as emerging from the party's founding convention (then scheduled for March 2005) with clearly defined, moderate policies with which to challenge the Liberals. The convention provided the public with an opportunity to see the Conservative Party in a new light, appearing to have reduced the focus on its controversial social conservative agenda (although most Conservatives continue to oppose same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
). It retained its populist appeal by espousing tax cuts, smaller government, a grassroots-oriented democratic reform, and more decentralization by giving the provinces more taxing powers and decision-making authority in joint federal-provincial programs. The party's law and order package was an effort to address the perception of rising homicide rates, which had gone up 12% in 2004.
2006 general election
On 17 May 2005, MP Belinda StronachBelinda Stronach
Belinda Caroline Stronach, PC is a Canadian businessperson, philanthropist and former politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the floor to join the Liberals...
unexpectedly crossed the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
from the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Party. In late August and early September 2005, the Tories released ads through Ontario's major television broadcasters that highlighted their policies towards health care, education and child support. The ads each featured Stephen Harper discussing policy with prominent members of his Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
. Some analysts suggested at the time that the Tories would use similar ads in the expected 2006 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
, instead of focusing their attacks on allegations of corruption in the Liberal government as they did earlier on.
An Ipsos-Reid Poll conducted after the fallout from the first report of the Gomery Commission
Gomery Commission
The Gomery Commission, formally the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, was a federal Canadian Royal Commission headed by the retired Justice John Gomery for the purpose of investigating the sponsorship scandal, which involved allegations of corruption...
on the sponsorship scandal showed the Tories practically tied for public support with the governing Liberal Party, and a poll from the Strategic Counsel suggested that the Conservatives were actually in the lead. However, polling two days later showed the Liberals had regained an 8-point lead. On 24 November 2005, Opposition leader Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
introduced a motion of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
which was passed on 28 November 2005. With the confirmed backing of the other two opposition parties, this resulted in an election on 23 January 2006, following a campaign spanning the Christmas season.
The Conservatives started off the first month of the campaign by making a series of policy-per-day announcements, which included a Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
reduction and a child-care allowance. This strategy was a surprise to many in the news media, as they believed the party would focus on the sponsorship scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
; instead, the Conservative strategy was to let that issue ruminate with voters. The Liberals opted to hold their major announcements after the Christmas holidays; as a result, Harper dominated media coverage for the first few weeks of the campaign and was able "to define himself, rather than to let the Liberals define him". The Conservatives' announcements played to Harper's strengths as a policy wonk, as opposed to the 2004 election and summer 2005 where he tried to overcome the perception that he was cool and aloof. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal approval numbers, which had always trailed his party's significantly, began to rise relatively rapidly.
On 27 December 2005, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
announced it was investigating Liberal Finance Minister
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
Ralph Goodale
Ralph Goodale
Ralph Edward Goodale, PC, MP was Canada's Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006 and continues to be a Liberal Member of Parliament...
's office for potentially engaging in insider trading
Insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
before making an important announcement on the taxation of income trust
Income trust
An income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. The trust can receive interest, royalty or lease payments from an operating entity carrying on a business, as well as dividends and a return of capital.The main attraction of income...
s. The revelation of the criminal investigation and Goodale's refusal to step aside dominated news coverage for the following week, and it gained further attention when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
announced they would also launch a probe. The income trust scandal distracted public attention from the Liberals' key policy announcements and allowed the Conservatives to refocus on their previous attacks on corruption within the Liberal party. The Tories were leading in the polls by early January 2006, and made a major breakthrough in Quebec where they displaced the Liberals as the second place party (after the Bloc Québécois).
In response to the growing Conservative lead, the Liberals launched negative ads suggesting that Harper had a "hidden agenda", similar to the attacks made in the 2004 election. The Liberal ads did not have the same effect this time as the Conservatives had much more momentum, at one stage holding a ten-point lead. Harper's personal numbers continued to rise and polls found he was considered not only more trustworthy, but also a better potential Prime Minister than Paul Martin. In addition to the Conservatives being more disciplined, media coverage of the Conservatives
Newspaper endorsements in the Canadian federal election, 2006
This is a tally of newspaper and magazine endorsements in the 2006 Canadian federal election:This is a tally of newspaper and magazine endorsements in the 2006 Canadian federal election:...
was also more positive than in 2004. By contrast, the Liberals found themselves increasingly criticized for running a poor campaign and making numerous gaffes.
On 23 January 2006, the Conservatives won 124 seats, compared to 103 for the Liberals. The results made the Conservatives the largest party in the 308-member House of Commons, enabling them to form a minority government. On 6 February, Harper was sworn in as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, along with his Cabinet.
First Harper Government (2006–08)
The Federal Accountability ActFederal Accountability Act
The Federal Accountability Act is a statute introduced as Bill C-2 in the first session of the 39th Canadian Parliament on April 11, 2006, by the President of the Treasury Board, John Baird...
in response to the sponsorship scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
, President of the Treasury Board
President of the Treasury Board (Canada)
The position of President of the Treasury Board was created as a ministerial position in the Canadian Cabinet in 1966 when the Treasury Board became a full-fledged department. From 1867 to 1966 the Treasury Board had been part of the Department of Finance....
, the Honourable John Baird
John Baird (Canadian politician)
John Russell Baird, PC, MP is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper....
introduced the bill to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
on 11 April 2006. The bill was passed in the House of Commons on 22 June 2006, and was granted royal assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
on 13 December 2006.
The 2006 Canadian federal budget
2006 Canadian federal budget
The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 2006-2007 was presented to the Canadian House of Commons by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on May 2, 2006...
was presented to the House of Commons by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
Jim Flaherty
James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...
on 2 May 2006. The government announced that the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
would be lowered from 7% to 6% (and eventually to 5%); income tax
Income taxes in Canada
Income taxes in Canada constitute the majority of the annual revenues of the Government of Canada, and of the governments of the Provinces of Canada...
cuts for middle-income earners, and $1,200-per-child childcare
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
payment (the "Universal Child Care Benefit") for Canadian parents. On 6 June 2006, the budget was introduced for third reading in the House of Commons and was declared passed by unanimous consent as the result of procedural confusion. (The Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
had previously indicated that it would support the budget, and its passage was never in doubt.)
On 31 October 2006, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
Jim Flaherty
James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...
announced that the government would begin taxing income trusts in 2011, which went against one of their campaign promises, causing much consternation among supporters. On 22 November 2006, Harper introduced his own motion to recognize the Québécois as forming a "nation within a united Canada". Five days later, Harper's motion passed, with a margin of 266–16; all federalist parties, as well as the Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
, were formally behind it.
During three by-elections held on 17 September 2007, mayor Denis Lebel
Denis Lebel
Denis Lebel, PC, MP is a Canadian federal politician and former mayor of Roberval, Quebec.Lebel was elected to the Canadian House of Commons on September 17, 2007, in the Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean by-election, 2007...
captured the seat of Roberval for the Conservatives, taking it from the Bloc, while Bernard Barre ran a close second in Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot. This raised the Conservative total in the House of Commons to 126 members.Some believe these results indicate that the Conservatives have consolidated their position as the main federalist option in Quebec, outside of Montreal.
The RCMP searched Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa on 15 April 2008 at the request of Elections Canada. Elections commissioner William Corbett requested the assistance of the Mounties. Elections Canada is probing Conservative party spending for advertisements during the 2006 parliamentary election campaign.
The Conservative Party of Canada, having reached the $18.3 million advertising spending limit set out under the Canada Elections Act, transferred cash to 66 local campaign offices. The local campaigns sent the money back to national party headquarters to buy local television and radio advertisements for their candidates. Financial agents for at least 35 of those Conservative candidates later asked to be reimbursed for those expenses. Candidates who get 10% of the votes in their riding get a portion of their election expenses returned from Elections Canada. Elections Canada refused, saying the party paid for the ads, not the candidates. The Conservatives maintain they didn't break any rules.
On 26 May 2008, the Conservative Party recognized in a private-members bill the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide. The famine, orchestrated by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, has been recognized as genocide by a dozen countries — although some historians disagree.
2008 general election
On 7 September 2008 Stephen Harper asked the Governor General of Canada to dissolve parliament. The election took place on October 14Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
. The Conservative Party returned to government with 143 seats, up from the 127 seats they held at dissolution, but short of the 155 necessary for a majority government. This is the third minority parliament in a row in Canada, and the second for Harper. The Conservative Party pitched the election as a choice between Harper and the Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
' Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...
, whom they portrayed as a weak and ineffective leader. The election, however, was rocked midway through by the emerging global financial crisis and this became the central issue through to the end of the campaign. Harper has been criticised for appearing unresponsive and unsympathetic to the uncertainty Canadians were feeling during the period of financial turmoil, but he countered that the Conservatives were the best party to navigate Canada through the financial crisis, and portrayed the Liberal "Green Shift" plan as reckless and detrimental to Canada's economic well-being. The Conservative Party released its platform on October 7. The platform states that it will re-introduce a bill similar to C-61
Bill C-61 (39th Canadian Parliament, 2nd Session)
Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, was a bill tabled in 2008 during the second session of the 39th Canadian Parliament by Minister of Industry Jim Prentice. The bill died on the order paper when the 39th Parliament was dissolved prematurely and an election was called by the Governor...
.
Second Harper Government (2008–11)
Some changes to Harper's cabinet were made on 30 October 2008. On 4 December 2008, Harper asked Governor GeneralGovernor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Michaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation, from 2005 to 2010....
to prorogue Parliament in order to avoid a coalition of the Liberals and New Democratic Party taking power months after the 2008 election. The request was granted by Jean, and the prorogation lasted until 26 January 2009.
Policy convention: November 2008
The party’s second convention was held in Winnipeg in November 2008. This was the party's first convention since taking power in 2006, and media coverage concentrated on the fact that this time, the convention was not very policy-oriented, and showed the party to be becoming an establishment party. However, the results of voting at the convention reveal that the party’s populist side still had some life. A resolution that would have allowed the party president a director of the party’s fund was defeated because it also permitted the twelve directors of the fund to become unelected “ex-officio” delegates. Some politically incorrect policy resolutions were debated, including one to encourage provinces to utilize “both the public and private health sectors”, but most of these were defeated.Prorogation of Parliament 2008
After the Conservative Party released their economic statement on 27 November 2008, there was much criticism from Liberal Party, the NDP, and the Bloc Québécois. The opposition parties were against the cuts in public funding for political parties, reductions in pay equity, and reductions to the rights of public sector unions to strike, and they alleged that the Conservatives were not doing enough, and had no plan, to stimulate the weakening economy when the Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, insisted that the government would "stay the course" and deliver a surplus budget in the coming year. As a result, these parties formed a coalition and planned to bring down the Conservative government through a non confidence vote. Prime Minister Harper asked the Governor General, Michaëlle JeanMichaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation, from 2005 to 2010....
, to prorogue parliament to prevent the coming confidence vote. The Governor General granted this request 4 December; Parliament was prorogued until 26 January 2009. The subsequent backlash against the coalition temporarily propelled the Conservative polling numbers to majority territory, and resulted in the resignation of the Liberal leader Stephane Dion, the installation of Michael Ignatieff as interim-leader, and the Liberals backing away from support of a coalition.
Prorogation of Parliament 2009/2010
In a phone call to the Governor General on 30 December 2009, the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper requested the prorogation of parliament for the second time in slightly over a year, to last until March 2010. The request was granted. In announcing prorogation to the public, the Prime Minister suggested that by suspending government operations, the country would be better able to enjoy the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Opposition parties disagreed, saying Harper sought the prorogation to avoid mounting pressure on his government over the Canadian Afghan detainee issue.Conservatives become largest party in the Senate
Prime Minister Harper filled five vacancies in the Senate of Canada with appointments of new Conservative senators on 29 January 2010. The appointments filled vacancies in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, and two vacancies in Ontario. The new senators were Pierre-Hugues BoisvenuPierre-Hugues Boisvenu
Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu is a Canadian politician and victim's rights activist, who was appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 29, 2010....
of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Bob Runciman
Bob Runciman
Robert William "Bob" Runciman is a veteran Canadian politician and former provincial Leader of the Opposition in the Ontario Legislature. First elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1981, he held the seat continuously for Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario for the next 29 years...
of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Vim Kochhar
Vim Kochhar
Vim Kochhar is a Canadian businessman and former Senator, the first person of Indo-Canadian heritage appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 29, 2010. Vim Kochhar obtained an engineering degree from the University of Texas and came to Canada in 1967. He acquired Canadian citizenship in 1974...
of Ontario, Elizabeth Marshall
Elizabeth Marshall
Elizabeth Marshall is a Canadian politician and member of the Senate.From 2003 to 2010, she represented the riding of Topsail in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador...
of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, and Rose-May Poirier
Rose-May Poirier
Rose-May Poirier is a Canadian politician from New Brunswick. She has been a member of the Senate of Canada since February 28, 2010. Previously, she served as member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick for Rogersville-Kouchibouguac from 1999 to 2010. She is renowned for having pulled...
of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. Throughout his time as Prime Minister, Harper has appointed a total of 38 Senators, all of which exclusively represent The Conservative Party of Canada.
This changed the party standings in the Senate, which had been dominated by Liberals, to 51 Conservatives, 49 Liberals, and five others. A Globe and Mail article has suggested Harper may invoke Section 26 of the Constitution, as his predecessor Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
did during the GST debate, to have an extra eight senators appointed, for a total of 113, thus granting Tories an absolute majority in the Red Chamber. With the 29 November 2010 retirement of former Liberal Senator Peter Stollery
Peter Stollery
Peter Alan Stollery is a former Canadian politician and businessman.-Background:An old Yorkville family, the Stollerys owned a famous furnishings store named Stollery’s, which opened in 1901 in downtown Toronto...
, Harper was in a position to appoint another Conservative Senator, bringing the Conservatives an absolute Senate majority with 53 of 105 seats. By the end of 2011 an additional four Liberals, a Progressive Conservative (not aligned with the Conservative Government), and one Conservative will reach the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Conservatives found in contempt of Parliament 2011
The Conservative government was defeated in a non-confidence vote on 25 March 2011, after being found in contempt of parliamentContempt of Parliament
In some countries, contempt of parliament is the offence of obstructing the legislature in the carrying out of its functions, or of hindering any legislator in the performance of his or her duties. The offence is known by various other names in jurisdictions in which the legislature is not called...
, thus triggering a general election. This was the first occurrence in Commonwealth history of a government in the Westminster parliamentary tradition losing the confidence of the House of Commons on the grounds of contempt of Parliament. The non-confidence motion was carried with a vote of 156 in favour of the motion, and 145 against.
Third Harper Government (2011–present)
The Conservative party was elected with a majority government (166 seats) on 2 May 2011, the first time any party had won a majority since the Liberals in 2000 and the first time that a conservative party had a majority since the PC's in 1988.Party leaders
| Picture | Name | Term start | Term end | Riding while leader | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Lynch-Staunton John Lynch-Staunton John George Lynch-Staunton is a former Canadian senator and was the first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He represented the Senate division of Grandville, Quebec.-Personal background:... |
8 December 2003 | 20 March 2004 | Senate division of Grandville, Quebec Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.... |
Interim leader | |
| Stephen Harper Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election... |
20 March 2004 | Calgary Southwest Calgary Southwest Calgary Southwest is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988. The district is in the southwest part of the City of Calgary, south of Glenmore Trail, and west of the Canadian Pacific railway.The seat is held by Prime... |
22nd Prime Minister of Canada Prime Minister of Canada The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution... |
Electoral results
| Year |
Seats in House |
Conservative candidates |
Seats won |
Seat Change |
Popular vote |
% of popular vote |
Result |
Conservative leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 Canadian federal election, 2004 The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections... |
308 | 308 | 99 | +99 | 3,994,682 | 29.62% | Lib. minority government | Harper |
| 2006 Canadian federal election, 2006 The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:... |
308 | 308 | 124 | +25 | 5,374,071 | 36.34% | minority government | Harper |
| 2008 Canadian federal election, 2008 The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008... |
308 | 307 | 143 | +19 | 5,205,334 | 37.6% | minority government | Harper |
| 2011 | 308 | 307 | 166 | +23 | 5,832,401 | 39.62% | Majority government | Harper |
Provincial parties
The Conservative Party, while officially having no current provincial wings, largely works with the former federal Progressive Conservative Party's provincial affiliates. There have been calls to change the names of the provincial parties from "Progressive Conservative" to "Conservative". However, there are other small "c" conservative parties with which the federal Conservative Party has close ties, such as the Saskatchewan PartySaskatchewan Party
The Saskatchewan Party is a conservative liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was established in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative and Liberal party members and supporters who sought to remove the Saskatchewan New Democratic...
, the Action démocratique du Québec
Action démocratique du Québec
The Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists....
(ADQ), and the British Columbia Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
(not related to the federal Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
). The federal Conservative party has the support of many of the provincial Conservative leaders. In Ontario, successive provincial PC Party leaders John Tory
John Tory
John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...
, Bob Runciman
Bob Runciman
Robert William "Bob" Runciman is a veteran Canadian politician and former provincial Leader of the Opposition in the Ontario Legislature. First elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1981, he held the seat continuously for Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario for the next 29 years...
and Tim Hudak
Tim Hudak
Timothy Patrick "Tim" Hudak is a politician in Ontario, Canada, and the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario . He also serves as member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook.-Background:Tim Hudak was born in Fort Erie, Ontario...
have expressed open support for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada, with former Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
cabinet members Jim Flaherty
Jim Flaherty
James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...
, Tony Clement
Tony Clement
Tony Peter Clement, PC, MP is a Canadian federal politician, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario and member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
, and John Baird
John Baird (Canadian politician)
John Russell Baird, PC, MP is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper....
now ministers in Harper's government.
Support between federal and provincial Conservatives is more tenuous in some other provinces. In Alberta, relations have been strained between the federal Conservative Party and the Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
. Part of the federal Tories' loss in the 2004 election was often blamed on then Premier Klein's public musings on health care late in the campaign. Klein had also called for a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
. With the impending 2006 election, Klein predicted another Liberal minority, though this time the federal Conservatives won a minority government. Klein's successor Ed Stelmach
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael "Ed" Stelmach, MLA is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and speaks fluent Ukrainian. He spent his entire pre-political adult life as a...
has generally tried to avoid causing similar controversies, however Harper's surprise pledge to restrict bitumen exports drew a sharp rebuke from the Albertan government, who warned such restrictions would violate both the Constitution of Canada
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
and the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
. After the 2007 budget was announced the two conservative governments in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador accused the federal Conservatives of breaching the terms of the Atlantic Accord
Atlantic Accord
The Atlantic Accord is an agreement signed in 1985 between the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to manage offshore oil and gas resources adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador....
.
As a result relations have worsened between the two provincial governments, leading Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams
Danny Williams (politician)
Daniel E. "Danny" Williams, QC, MHA is a Canadian politician, businessman and lawyer who served as the ninth Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador between November 6, 2003, and December 3, 2010. Williams was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador...
to publicly denounce the federal Conservatives, which has given rise to his ABC (Anything But Conservative
Anything But Conservative
Anything But Conservative , also known as the ABC campaign, was a political campaign in the 2008 Canadian federal election encouraging voters to support any party other than the federal Conservative Party...
) campaign in the 2008 election. While officially separate, federal Conservative Party documents, such as membership applications, can be picked up from most provincial Progressive Conservative Party offices. Several of the provincial parties also contain open links to the federal Conservative website on their respective websites.