The
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (
PC) (1942–2003) was a
CanadianCanada 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...
political partyA 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...
with a
centre-rightThe centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a
centristIn politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
stance on social issues.
The party began as the Conservative Party in 1867, became Canada's first governing party under Sir John A. Macdonald, and for years was either the governing party or the largest opposition party. The party changed its name to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in late 1942. In 2003, the party membership voted to dissolve the party and join the new
Conservative Party of CanadaThe 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...
being formed with the members of the
Canadian AllianceThe 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...
.
One member of the
Senate of CanadaThe 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...
who opposed the merger continues to sit as the sole member of the "Progressive Conservative" caucus, and the conservative parties in most Canadian provinces still use the
Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party refers to a group of Canadian political parties that are technically distinct, positioned on the centre-right of the political spectrum:-National:...
name. Some PC Party members formed the new
Progressive Canadian PartyThe Progressive Canadian Party is a minor federal political party in Canada. It is a centre/centre-right party that was officially registered with Elections Canada, the government's election agency, on March 29, 2004....
, which has attracted only marginal support.
History
Canada's first prime minister, Sir
John A. MacdonaldSir 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...
, was originally a member of the Conservative Party. But in advance of confederation in 1867, the Conservative Party took in a large number of members who defected from the Liberal Party who supported the establishment of a
Canadian confederationCanadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
.
Thereafter, the Conservative Party was the
"Liberal-Conservative" (in French, "Libéral-Conservateur") PartyThe 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...
until the turn of the twentieth century.
The federal Tories governed Canada for over forty of the country's first seventy years of existence. However, the party spent the majority of its history in opposition as the nation's number two federal party, behind the
LiberalsThe 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...
. From 1896 to 1993, the Tories only formed government five times—from 1911 to 1921, from 1930 to 1935, from 1957 to 1963, from 1979 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1993. The party did, however, have the distinction of being the only Canadian party to win more than 200 seats in an election—a feat it accomplished twice, in 1958 and 1984.
The party suffered a decade-long decline following the
1993 federal electionThe 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...
, and was formally dissolved on December 7, 2003, when it merged with the
Canadian AllianceThe 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...
to form the new
Conservative PartyThe 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 Progressive Conservative caucus last officially met in early 2004.
Between the party's founding in 1867, and its adoption of the "Progressive Conservative" name in 1942, the party changed its name several times. It was most commonly known as the
Conservative PartyThe 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...
.
Several loosely-associated provincial Progressive Conservative parties continue to exist in
AlbertaAlberta 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...
,
ManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
,
OntarioOntario 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....
,
New BrunswickNew 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...
,
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
,
Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
and
Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland 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...
. As well, a small
rump-Politics:*Rump cabinet*Rump legislature*Rump organization*Rump Parliament*Rump Senate*Rump state*Rump party- Technology :* Runnable Userspace Meta Programs, software run in userspace that offers kernel functionality ....
of Senators opposed to the merger continue to sit in
ParliamentThe 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...
as Progressive Conservatives. The
YukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
association of the party was renamed the
Yukon PartyThe Yukon Party , is a conservative political party in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It was previously known as the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party.-Declining fortunes:...
in 1990. The
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
Progressive Conservative Party changed its name back to the
British Columbia Conservative PartyThe British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
in 1991.
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
's Progressive Conservative Party effectively ceased to exist in 1997, when the
Saskatchewan PartyThe 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...
was formed primarily from former PC
Members of the Legislative AssemblyA Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
(MLAs) with a few Liberal Party MLAs joining them.
The party adopted the "Progressive Conservative" party name in 1942 when Manitoba
PremierIn Canada, a premier is the head of government of a province or territory. There are currently ten provincial premiers and three territorial premiers in Canada....
John BrackenJohn Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....
, a long-time leader of that province's
Progressive PartyThe 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...
, agreed to become leader of the Conservatives on condition that the party add
Progressive to its name. Despite the name change, most former Progressive supporters continued to support the
Liberal PartyThe 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...
or the
Co-operative Commonwealth FederationThe 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...
, and Bracken's leadership of the Conservative Party came to an end in 1948. Many Canadians still simply referred to the party as "the Conservatives".
A major weakness of the party since 1885 was its inability to win support in
QuebecQuebec 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....
, estranged significantly by that year's execution of
Louis RielLouis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....
. This problem was exacerbated in the
Conscription Crisis of 1917The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I.-Background:...
. Even though the Quebec Conservative Party dominated politics in that province for the first thirty years of Confederation at both the federal and provincial levels, in the 20th Century the party was never able to be a force in provincial politics, being out of power starting in 1897, and ultimately dissolved into the Union Nationale in 1935 which took power in 1936 under
Maurice DuplessisMaurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
.
In 20th century federal politics, the Conservatives were often seen as insensitive to French-Canadian ambitions and interests and were never able to win more than a handful of seats in Quebec with a few notable exceptions:
- the 1930 election
The Canadian federal election of 1930 was held on July 28, 1930 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Canada...
, in which Richard Bedford Bennett surprisingly led the party to a thin majority government victory by securing twenty-four seats in rural Quebec;
- the 1958 election
The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...
, in which John DiefenbakerJohn George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
rode the backing of the right-leaning Union NationaleUnion Nationale may refer to several political parties:*Union nationale , Canada*Union Nationale Rwandaise*National Union , Union nationale in French*Chadian National Union, Union Nationale Tchadienne, known as UNT...
provincial government in Quebec to 50 of the province's 75 seats; and
- the elections of 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
and 1988The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, when party leader Brian MulroneyMartin 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...
, a fluently bilingual Quebecker, built an electoral coalition that included Quebec nationalists.
It never fully recovered from the fragmentation of Mulroney's broad coalition in the late 1980s resulting from English Canada's failure to ratify the
Meech Lake AccordThe 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...
. Immediately prior to its merger with the Canadian Alliance, it held only 15 of 301 seats in the
Canadian House of CommonsThe 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...
and never held more than 20 seats in Parliament between 1993 and 2003.
Ideology
The Progressive Conservative Party was generally centre-right in its political ideology. From 1867 on, the party was identified with Protestant and, in Quebec, Roman Catholic social values,
British ImperialismThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
,
Canadian NationalismCanadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
, and constitutional centralism. This was highly successful up until 1920, and to that point in history, the party was the most successful federal party in the Dominion.
As such, Canadian conservatism has historically more closely resembled that which was practised in the
United KingdomThe 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...
and, to an extent,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, than in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The "Tory" approach worked well for the party up until 1917, when, as was common amongst 19th century conservative movements, Canadian Tories opposed the rollback of government intervention in social and economic matters advocated by the
liberalsLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
of the era. In contrast to so-called "American conservative" counterparts, however, they did not undertake as dramatic an ideological turnaround in the first half of the 20th century by continuing to follow
mercantilismMercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
and nascent notions of the
welfare stateA welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
.
Like their Liberal rivals, the party defined itself as a "big tent", welcoming a broad variety of members who supported relatively loosely-defined goals. Unlike the Liberal Party, there was a long history of ongoing factionalism within this tent. This factionalism arose from the party's lack of electoral success, and because the party often reached out to particular political groups in order to garner enough support to topple the Liberals. These groups usually remained semi-autonomous blocs within the party, such as Quebec nationalists and western Canadian Reformers in the 1980s. In later years, observers generally grouped the PC Party's core membership into two camps, "
Red ToriesA red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
" and "
Blue ToriesBlue Tories, also known as small 'c' conservatives, are, in Canadian politics, members of the former federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, current Conservative Party of Canada and provincial Progressive Conservative parties who are more economically right wing...
".
Red Tories tend to be traditionally conservative, that is, "Tory" in the Disraelian sense in social policy, placing a high value on the principles of
noblesse obligeNoblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "nobility obliges".The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus:# Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly....
,
communitarianismCommunitarianism is an ideology that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. That community may be the family unit, but it can also be understood in a far wider sense of personal interaction, of geographical location, or of shared history.-Terminology:Though the term...
, and
One Nation ConservatismOne nation, one nation conservatism, and Tory democracy are terms used in political debate in the United Kingdom to refer to a certain wing of the Conservative Party...
—and were thus seen as moderate (in the context of classical economic thought) in their economic policy. For most of their history they were trade
protectionistsProtectionism 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...
, engaging in free-trade economics in only a limited fashion, as in
Empire Free-TradeThe British Empire Economic Conference was a 1932 conference of British colonies and the autonomous dominions held to discuss the Great Depression. It was held between 21 July and 20 August in Ottawa.The conference saw the group admit the failure of the gold standard and abandon attempts to...
. Historically they comprised the largest bloc of the original Canadian Conservative party. Notable Red Tories include Sir
John A. MacdonaldSir 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...
, Sir
Robert BordenSir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
,
John FarthingJohn Colborne Farthing was a student, soldier, thinker, philosopher, economist, teacher, and author of the seminal tract Freedom Wears a Crown which became rather quickly an epistle of Red Toryism.-Early years:...
,
George GrantGeorge Parkin Grant, OC, FRSC was a Canadian philosopher, teacher and political commentator, whose popular appeal peaked in the late 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his nationalism, political conservatism, and his views on technology, pacifism, Christian faith, and abortion...
,
John DiefenbakerJohn George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
, E. Davie Fulton,
Robert StanfieldRobert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
,
Dalton CampDalton Kingsley Camp, PC, OC was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Despite having never been elected to a seat in the House of Commons, he was a prominent and influential politician and a popular...
,
W.L. MortonWilliam Lewis Morton, OC was a noted Canadian historian who specialized in the development of the Canadian west. He was born in Gladstone, Manitoba. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Oxford University where he studied history...
,
William DavisWilliam 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...
,
Joe ClarkCharles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
, and Flora MacDonald.
Blue Tories, on the other hand, were originally members of the Tory elite drawn from the commercial classes in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Prior to
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, they were generally conservative in social policy, and classically liberal in economic policy. From 1964 on, this cadre came to identify more with neo-liberal influences in US
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, as espoused by
Barry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
and
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and the Thatcherite leadership in the British
Conservative PartyThe 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...
, as represented by Sir
Keith JosephKeith St John Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH, PC , was a British barrister and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under three Prime Ministers , and is widely regarded to have been the "power behind the throne" in the creation of what came to be known as...
and
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. They have come to be termed – in the Canadian lexicon – as
neoconservativesNeoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
. However there are also Blue Tories who identify strongly with the
Monarchy in CanadaThe monarchy of Canada is the core of both Canada's federalism and its Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Canadian government and each provincial government...
and other traditional institutions.
From 1891 until the party's dissolution, Red Tories generally dominated the highest rungs of the party and its leadership. The emerging neoconservatives of the 1970s were significantly reduced in numbers in the party by the late 1980s, and many of the disaffected drifted towards neo-liberalism and single-issue parties with a neoconservative bent, such as the
Reform Party of CanadaThe 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....
. When the PC party held power at the federal level, it never truly embraced
ReaganomicsReaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, also known as supply-side economics and called trickle-down economics, particularly by critics...
and its crusade against "big government" as vociferously as was done in the USA.
Canadian neoconservatives lean more towards individualism and economic liberalism. Support for the Canadian Alliance and its predecessor the Reform Party of Canada derived principally from this group, and that support carried forward into the new Conservative Party of Canada. The success of the neoconservative movement in appropriating the label "Conservative" has brought into debate the very definition of
conservatismConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
in Canada today. Although adhering to economic philosophies similar to those originally advanced by 19th century liberals (known confusingly as both
neoliberalismNeoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
and
neoconservatismNeoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
), the Canadian Alliance agreed to the name "Conservative Party of Canada" for the new party in order to market themselves better to the electorate. They have also retained the appellation "Tory."
Progressive Conservative history
After an election defeat in 1942, a group of younger Conservatives from the
Conservative Party of CanadaThe 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...
decided to meet in
Port Hope, OntarioPort Hope is a municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, about east of Toronto and about west of Kingston. It is located at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in the west end of Northumberland County...
to develop a new Conservative policy they hoped would bring them out of the political "wilderness". The participants, known as the Port Hopefuls, developed a program including many Conservative dogmas such as support for free enterprise and conscription. Yet the charter also included more "radical" goals, such as full-employment,
low-cost housingLow-cost housing may refer to:*Affordable housing*Subsidized housing*Low cost housing in Pakistan...
,
trade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
rights, as well as a whole range of
social securitySocial security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
measures, including a government financed medicare system.
Although many Conservatives rejected the charter, the charter still influenced party decisions. Delegates at the convention drafted
John BrackenJohn Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....
as leader, who was not even a member of the party. Bracken supported the Port Hope Charter and insisted the party register this policy shift by changing its name to the Progressive Conservative Party.
In the early days of the
Canadian confederationCanadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
, the party supported a
mercantilistMercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
approach to economic development: export-led growth with high import barriers to protect local industry. The party was staunchly monarchist and supported playing a large role within the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. It was seen by some
French CanadianFrench Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
s as supporting a policy of cultural assimilation.
The Conservative Party dominated Canadian politics for the nation's first 30 years of existence. In general, Canada's political history has consisted of Tories alternating power with the
LiberalsThe 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...
, albeit often in minority governments supported by smaller parties.
After a long period of Liberal dominance following the Tories ill-fated depression era mandate from 1930 to 35,
John DiefenbakerJohn George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
won a massive electoral victory for the Tories in 1958. Diefenbaker was able to win most of the parliamentary seats in Western Canada, much of those in Ontario, and, with the support of the Union Nationale provincial government, a large number in Quebec. Diefenbaker attempted to pursue a policy of distancing Canada from the United States. His cabinet split over Diefenbaker's refusal of American demands that Canada accept nuclear warheads for Bomarc missiles based in
North Bay, OntarioNorth Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
, and
La Macaza, QuebecLa Macaza is a municipality and village in the province of Quebec, Canada. The village is located in the Laurentian Mountains, in the Laurentian region, in Antoine-Labelle Regional County Municipality. In 2008 it had a population of 975....
. This split contributed to the Tory government's defeat at the hands of Lester Pearson's Liberals in the
1963 electionThe Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...
.
Diefenbaker remained Progressive Conservative leader until 1967, when increasing unease at his reactionary policies, authoritarian leadership, and perceived unelectability led to the
1967 leadership conventionThe 1967 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held to choose a leader for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The convention was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 4th and 9th, 1967...
where Nova Scotia Premier
Robert StanfieldRobert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
was elected out of a field of eleven candidates that included Diefenbaker and Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin.
By the late 1960s, following Quebec's
Quiet RevolutionThe Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
, the Progressive Conservatives recognized the need to increase their appeal to Canada's
francophoneThe adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
population. At the same time, the Tories finally began their move away from mercantilism towards a
neoliberalNeoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
platform. Both movements culminated with
Brian MulroneyMartin 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...
becoming prime minister after the
election of 1984The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
. He led the Tories to a record 211 seats, and a majority of seats in every province.
Mulroney had declared himself an opponent to free trade with the United States during the
1983 leadership campaignThe 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
. But a growing continentalist sentiment among Canadian business leaders and the impact of the "Reagan Revolution" on Canadian conservative thought led Mulroney to embrace free trade. His government endorsed the recommendation of the 1985 Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada that Canada pursue a free trade deal with the United States.
Traditionally, it had been the Liberal Party that held a continentalist position and the Conservatives who opposed free trade with the United States in favour of economic links with Britain. With the dissolution of the British Empire and the economic nationalism of the Liberal Party under
Pierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
, the traditional positions of the two parties became reversed. It was with this background that Mulroney fought and won the
1988 electionThe Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
on the issue of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
Mulroney also made a promise to Quebecers, claiming that he would reform the constitution so that Quebec would be willing to endorse the Constitution, which it did not in 1982, unlike Canada's other provinces. To do this, Mulroney promised that he would give Quebec distinct society status and greater autonomy. This helped Mulroney garner substantial support from
Quebec nationalistsQuebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
including
Lucien BouchardLucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
who joined the Conservatives claiming that providing Quebec with autonomy would be acceptable for Quebec to remain within Canada.
Although the Progressive Conservative Party switched to
neoliberalismNeoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
, the party did retain its social progressive policies unlike other parties which advocated neoliberalism. Mulroney and the government pursued an aggressive environmental agenda under the aide of then-environmental policy advisor, present-day
Green PartyThe Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
leader
Elizabeth MayElizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
. Mulroney and members of the U.S. government sparred over action on acid rain. In the end Mulroney managed to convince U.S. President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to sign an acid rain treaty, to reduce acid rain. Mulroney was recognized for his strong environmental stances recently, being named the Greenest Canadian Prime Minister by a study group.
A number of economic issues contributed to the fall of the Progressive Conservative party at the federal level in the
1993 federal electionThe 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...
:
- Canada suffered its worst recession since the Second World War
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
- unemployment rose to the highest levels since the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
,
- the federal government faced high and persistent deficits, and
- the Tories had introduced a much-hated new tax, the Goods and Services Tax
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...
.
- extensive government corruption and accusations of corruption and government mismanagement such as the Airbus affair
The Airbus affair refers to allegations of secret commissions paid to members of the Government of Canada during the term of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in exchange for then-crown corporation Air Canada's purchase of a large number of Airbus jets...
and evidence showing Canadian peacekeapers maltreating Somalis, which resulted in the Somalia inquiry
The second major factor leading to the Mulroney government's demise was that the party's base in Quebec came from Quebec nationalists, who withdrew their support after the failure of the
Meech LakeThe 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
CharlottetownThe 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:...
Constitutional Accords. Many Quebec Tories, including a number of
Members of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, left the party to form the
Bloc QuébécoisThe 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...
with like-minded Liberals.
The third major factor was the rise of "
western alienationIn Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
" in the four provinces of western Canada as a result of attempts by both Tories and Liberals to woo Quebec. Western Canadians turned their support to the
Reform Party of CanadaThe 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....
and later to its successor, the
Canadian AllianceThe 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...
.
Following Mulroney's resignation, his successor as Tory leader and as prime minister was
Kim CampbellAvril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
, who led the party into the disastrous
election of 1993The 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...
. The Progressive Conservatives went from being the majority party to holding only two seats in the House of Commons, which was not enough to maintain
official party statusOfficial party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...
despite garnering 16% of the popular vote. It was the worst defeat ever suffered for a governing party at the federal level; the 151-seat loss far exceeded the 95-seats lost by the Liberals in 1984. The party's western supporters transferred virtually
en masse to Reform, most of its Quebec supporters split between the sovereigntist
Bloc QuébécoisThe 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...
and the Liberals, and most of its Ontario and Atlantic supporters bolted for the Liberals. Even though the Progressive Conservatives finished third in the popular vote (just percentage points behind Reform), their support was spread out across the entire country and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into more seats. By contrast, the Bloc managed to capture Official Opposition status with 54 seats despite running candidates only in Quebec, while Reform finished third in the seat count despite being virtually nonexistent east of Manitoba.
Campbell herself was defeated, as was every member of the Cabinet except
Jean CharestJohn James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
, whom Campbell had defeated in the election to succeed Mulroney. Campbell resigned as party leader in December, and Charest, as the only remaining member of the previous Cabinet, was quickly appointed interim leader and confirmed in the post in 1995. Charest led the party back to official party status in the
1997 electionThe 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...
winning 20 seats, with the exception of one seat in Ontario, the rest of the seats were all in the Maritimes and Quebec. However, the PCs never won more than 20 seats again, and only two west of Quebec (not counting by-elections and switches from other parties).
Merger with Alliance
The rise of the Canadian Alliance was doubtless damaging to the Tories, though there remains some debate as to the precise degree. Many observers argue that from 1993 to 2003 the "conservative" vote was
splitA split vote is normally used synonymously with "deadlocked", "hung", or "evenly split" vote. It indicates a vote in which no decision can be made, as neither side has the majority....
between the two parties, allowing Liberal candidates to win ridings formerly considered to be Tory strongholds. This assessment led to the growth of the United Alternative movements of the late 1990s. Others insisted that a legitimate ideological gulf existed between the more ideological Alliance and the more moderate
Red ToryA red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
-influenced PC Party, pointing to surveys that indicated many Tory voters would rather select the Liberals as their second choice rather than the Alliance. This seemed to be particularly born out in Ontario. The Liberals won all but one seat in that province in 1993 and 1997, and all but two in 2000—an era that was dominated by the provincial Tories. This was largely because many former bellwether ridings in suburban
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
(known as "the 905," after its area code) turned almost solidly Liberal for most of the 1990s at the federal level while supporting the Tories at the provincial level.
Charest stepped down from the leadership in 1998 to become leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. Former leader Joe Clark returned to the post in a vote in which all party members were eligible to cast ballots, instead of a traditional leadership convention. A point system allocated each riding 100 points to be distributed among the candidates by proportional representation according to votes cast by party members in the riding. (This same system was used by the Conservative Party of Canada in 2004.) In the
2000 electionThe 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....
Clark was able to garner the 12 seats necessary for official party status, but no more.
Clark realized that as long as the centre-right vote was divided, there was no chance of dislodging the Liberals. However, he wanted a merger on his terms. He got his chance in 2001, when several dissident Alliance MPs, the most prominent one being Alliance deputy leader and party matriarch
Deborah GreyDeborah 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....
, left the Alliance caucus. The dissidents felt that Alliance leader
Stockwell DayStockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...
hadn't learned from mistakes made in the last election. While some of them rejoined the Alliance later, seven of them, led by
Chuck StrahlCharles 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:...
of British Columbia and including Grey, refused and formed the
Democratic Representative CaucusThe 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...
The DRC quickly entered a coalition with the Progressive Conservatives, which lasted until 2002 when
Stephen HarperStephen 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...
ousted Day as Alliance leader. Harper wanted a closer union with the PCs, but Clark turned the offer down, and all but two of the DRC members rejoined the Alliance. One of the two,
Inky MarkInky Mark is a Canadian politician and a former member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the Manitoba riding of Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette. Mark is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
, eventually joined the PCs. Two by-election victories later in 2002 increased the PC caucus to 15 members and fourth place in the Commons. However, Clark was unable to gain any ground in Ontario and resigned on August 6, 2002.
On May 31, 2003,
Peter MacKayPeter 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....
won the party leadership after securing the endorsement of fellow leadership candidate
David OrchardDavid 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...
. Orchard's endorsement of MacKay was predicated on four bullet points laid out in the Orchard-MacKay agreement, one of which expressly forbid the merger of the PC Party of Canada with the Canadian Alliance. However, after only a few short months as party leader, MacKay renegged on his promise and proceeded to negotiate a merger with the Alliance, which he announced had occurred on October 15, 2003. The two parties, so it seemed, united to form a new party called the Conservative Party of Canada. The union was ratified on December 5 and December 6 in a process conducted by each of the parties, and the new Conservative Party was formally registered on December 7. The merger prompted Clark to remark: "Some equate it to a death in the family. I regard it rather as a death of the family." On March 20, 2004, former Alliance leader Harper was elected leader of the new party and appointed MacKay as his deputy.
Rump PC caucus
Following the merger, a rump Progressive Conservative caucus remained in Parliament, consisting of individuals who declined to join the new Conservative Party. In the
House of CommonsThe 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...
,
Joe ClarkCharles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
,
André BachandAndré Bachand is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska as member of the Progressive Conservatives from 1997 to 2003....
and
John HerronJohn 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...
sat as PC members.
In the
2004 electionThe 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...
, Bachand and Clark did not run for re-election, and Herron ran as a Liberal, losing to Rob Moore in his riding of Fundy—Royal.
Scott BrisonScott 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...
, who had joined the Liberal caucus immediately upon departing the Conservative Party, was reelected as a Liberal in the 2004 election.
In the
SenateThe 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 DoodyC. 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...
,
Lowell MurrayLowell Murray, PC is a former Canadian senator and long-time activist with the federal Progressive Conservative Party.-Education:...
and
Norman Atkins also declined to join the new party, and continued to sit as Progressive Conservative senators. On March 24, 2005, Prime Minister
Paul MartinPaul 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....
appointed nine new senators, two of whom,
Nancy RuthNancy 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 McCoyElaine 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...
, were designated as Progressive Conservatives. Thus there may be a Progressive Conservative senator until 2021 when McCoy, the youngest of the five, attains the
mandatory retirement ageMandatory retirement is the age at which persons who hold certain jobs or offices are required by industry custom or by law to leave their employment, or retire. Typically, mandatory retirement is justified by the argument that certain occupations are either too dangerous or require high levels of...
of 75, or later if subsequent senators designate themselves Progressive Conservatives. Nancy Ruth has since left to sit with the Conservative Party. Adding the death of Senator Doody on December 27, 2005, and the mandatory retirement of Norman Atkins on June 27, 2009, and Lowell Murray on September 26, 2011, left McCoy as the sole Progressive Conservative in the Senate and the last sitting PC in either chamber of Parliament.
After being expelled from the Conservative Party caucus in June 2007, Nova Scotia MP
Bill CaseyWilliam D. "Bill" Casey is a Canadian politician. He is a former Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons.-Life and career:...
designated himself as an "independent progressive conservative".
Progressive Canadian Party
On January 9, 2004, a group claiming to be loyal to the Progressive Conservative Party and opposed to the merger, which they characterized as an Alliance takeover, filed application with the Chief Electoral Officer to register a party called the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The application was refused on the grounds that the name could no longer be utilized. The group resubmitted with the name
Progressive Canadian PartyThe Progressive Canadian Party is a minor federal political party in Canada. It is a centre/centre-right party that was officially registered with Elections Canada, the government's election agency, on March 29, 2004....
, and a new "PC Party" was recognized by
Elections CanadaElections 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 March 26. It secured sufficient backing to be registered as an official party on May 29. It is led by former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister
Sinclair StevensSinclair McKnight Stevens, PC is a Canadian lawyer, businessman and former parliamentarian.-Early life:He was born in Esquesing Township , the third child of Northern Irish immigrants Robert Murray Stevens and Anna Bailey McKnight...
of Ontario.
The Progressive Canadian party aims to be perceived as the successor party to the Progressive Conservatives. However, it is not clear how broad its support is among former Progressive Conservatives. In particular, no prominent anti-merger Progressive Conservatives such as Joe Clark or
David OrchardDavid 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...
are associated with the Progressive Canadian party, nor are any sitting MPs or senators. The most prominent member to join is former MP and junior cabinet minister,
Heward GraffteyWilliam Heward Grafftey, PC, QC was a Canadian politician and businessman.-Early life:Born in Montreal, Quebec, to a prosperous family, he was a cousin of artist Prudence Heward, and wrote "Chapter Four: Prudence Heward" in the 1996 book Portraits of a Life..His father, Major Arthur Grafftey, was...
, who polled near or below
Craig ChandlerCraig B. Chandler is a Canadian businessman, pundit, and political and religious activist. He is a co-founder and executive director of the Progressive Group for Independent Business...
in the final PC Party leadership race.
Party leaders
| Picture |
Name |
Term start |
Term end |
Riding as leader |
 |
John BrackenJohn Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....
|
December 11, 1942 |
July 20, 1948 |
Neepawa Neepawa was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1949.This riding was created in 1914 from parts of Dauphin and Portage La Prairie ridings....
|
| |
George Drew |
October 2, 1948 |
November 29, 1956 |
Carleton Carleton was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1987...
|
| |
John DiefenbakerJohn George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
|
December 14, 1956 |
September 9, 1967 |
Prince Albert Prince Albert is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1908 to 1988, and since 1997.-Geography:...
|
 |
Robert StanfieldRobert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
|
September 9, 1967 |
February 22, 1976 |
Halifax Halifax is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1867.Since October 14, 2008, its Member of the Parliament has been Megan Leslie of the New Democratic Party....
|
 |
Joe ClarkCharles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
|
February 22, 1976 |
February 19, 1983 |
Rocky Mountain Rocky Mountainwas a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979.This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Bow River, Jasper—Edson, Lethbridge and Macleod ridings....
, YellowheadYellowhead is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979. The district is in west-central Alberta, and represents the counties of Yellowhead, Woodlands, Lac Ste. Anne, Barrhead, the improvement districts No. 9 and No...
|
| |
Erik Nielsen Erik Hersholt Nielsen, PC, DFC, QC was a Canadian politician, and longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon....
|
February 19, 1983 (Interim) |
June 11, 1983 |
YukonYukon is the only federal electoral district in Yukon Territory, Canada. It has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1902 to 1949 and since 1953....
|
 |
Brian MulroneyMartin 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...
|
June 11, 1983 |
June 13, 1993 |
Central Nova Central Nova is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997 and since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 73,722....
, ManicouaganManicouagan is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.The riding was created in 1966 from parts of Charlevoix and Saguenay ridings....
, CharlevoixCharlevoix was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917 and from 1949 to 2004....
|
| |
Kim Campbell Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
|
June 13, 1993 |
December 14, 1993 |
Vancouver Centre Vancouver Centre is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.-Geography:...
|
| |
Jean CharestJohn James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
|
December 14, 1993 |
April 2, 1998 |
Sherbrooke Sherbrooke is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1925.-Geography:This riding in the south of the province is located in the Quebec region of Estrie...
|
| |
Elsie Wayne Elsie Eleanore Wayne is a Canadian politician, and a former Progressive Conservative MP for Saint John.-Political career:In 1977, she was elected to the Saint John municipal council...
|
April 2, 1998 (Interim) |
November 14, 1998 |
Saint John Saint John is a federal electoral district in southern New Brunswick, Canada. With its predecessor ridings, St. John—Albert and Saint John—Lancaster, the area has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917...
|
| |
Joe ClarkCharles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
|
November 14, 1998 |
May 31, 2003 |
Kings—Hants Kings—Hants is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968...
, Calgary CentreCalgary Centre is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968. It is an 42 km² riding in the city of Calgary with 124,197 people. The riding consists of many young adults who have a relatively high average household income...
|
| |
Peter MacKayPeter 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....
|
May 31, 2003 |
December 8, 2003 |
Central Nova Central Nova is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997 and since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 73,722....
|
Election results 1945–2000
| Election |
# of candidates nominated |
# of seats won |
# of total votes |
% of popular vote |
1945The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...
|
203 |
65 |
1,448,744 |
27.62% |
1949The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
|
249 |
41 |
1,734,261 |
29.62% |
1953The Canadian federal election of 1953 was held on August 10 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St...
|
248 |
50 |
1,749,579 |
31.01% |
1957The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. In one of the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party , led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the...
|
256 |
109 |
2,564,732 |
38.81% |
1958The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...
|
265 |
208 |
3,908,633 |
53.56% |
1962The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...
|
265 |
114 |
2,865,542 |
37.22% |
1963The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...
|
265 |
93 |
2,582,322 |
32.72% |
1965The Canadian federal election of 1965 was held on November 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House...
|
265 |
95 |
2,500,113 |
32.41% |
1968The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...
|
262 |
72 |
2,548,949 |
31.36% |
1972The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...
|
265 |
107 |
3,388,980 |
35.02% |
1974The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
|
264 |
95 |
3,371,319 |
35.46% |
1979The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
|
282 |
136 |
4,111,606 |
35.89% |
1980The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
|
282 |
103 |
3,552,994 |
32.49% |
1984The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
|
282 |
211 |
6,278,818 |
50.03% |
1988The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
|
295 |
169 |
5,667,543 |
43.02% |
1993The 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...
|
295 |
2 |
2,178,303 |
16.04% |
1997The 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...
|
301 |
20 |
2,446,705 |
18.84% |
2000The 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....
|
291 |
12 |
1,566,994 |
12.19% |
See also
- Progressive Conservative Party candidates, 2000 Canadian federal election
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada elected twelve candidates in the 2000 federal election, and emerged as the fifth-largest party in the Canadian House of Commons...
- Progressive Conservative Party candidates, 1997 Canadian federal election
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of candidates in the 1997 federal election, and won 20 seats out of 301 to emerge as the fifth largest party in the Canadian House of Commons...
- Progressive Conservative Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The governing Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of 298 candidates in the 1993 federal election, and lost official party status in the Canadian House of Commons by winning only two seats...
- Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. Prior to then the party's leader was chosen by caucus....
- 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...
- Conservative Party of Canada
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...
- Conservative parties in Canada
This is a list of conservative parties in Canada. There are a number of conservative parties in Canada, a country that has traditionally been dominated by two political parties, one liberal and one conservative.-Progressive Conservatives:...
- List of political parties in Canada
- 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...
- Prime Ministers of Canada
- 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...