Liberal Party, Canada Emerging from the earlier Reformers with the creation of the Canadian Confederation (1867), its initial support was based on a coalition between Ontario Nonconformists and Quebec
anticlericals. Following the example of the British
Liberal Party under Gladstone, it demanded equal treatment of all denominations and the end of state interference in religious matters. The Liberals were anti-imperialists and hence tended to be more critical of the Canadian relationship with Britain than their Conservative rivals (
Progressive Conservative Party). This greater commitment to Canadian
nationalism conflicted and oscillated with their preference for free trade, whose effect was to reduce Canadian independence from the already dominant US market even further. This programme proved too narrow and divisive to create and sustain national support, so until 1896 the party was in government only once, 1874–8. Under the pragmatic leadership of
Laurier, the party built up a strong presence at the grass roots. It created a broad coalition of interests, toning down its most radical demands. For example, through de-emphasizing its anticlericalism the party was able to win the support of most voters in Quebec, a support which remained crucial for its success in becoming the principal party of government of the twentieth century. It was Laurier's return to one of the divisive issues of the Liberal programme, the liberalization of trade with the USA, that brought down the government in 1911. During World War I, the party almost split when Laurier's carefully constructed union between English- and French-speaking support broke down over the issue of compulsory military service overseas. In 1917, some left the party to join
Borden in a Unionist government.
Party strength and unity were restored during the leadership of
Mackenzie King, whose understanding, manipulation, and control of the political system ensured he became Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister, 1921–6, 1926–30, 1935–48. He created a rhetoric of change without legislating change. He articulated specific political concerns while actually blurring them. He also maintained the ideological high ground while being a conciliatory pragmatist. He thus managed to keep the national support of mutually conflicting interests, such as western free traders and eastern protectionists, employers and employees.
This great coalition of interests gradually began to show signs of strain under Mackenzie King's successor,
St Laurent. Increasingly losing its electoral base in the western provinces, it took
Pearson until 1963 to regain power for the Liberals. Pearson was succeeded by the more flamboyant
Trudeau in 1968, who was in office from 1968 to 1979, and again from 1980 to 1984. Despite his best efforts to accommodate Quebec nationalists, for which he was much criticized, the vital Liberal support in that province began to erode at the hands of the
Parti Québecois under
Lévesque. Trudeau's charismatic but autocratic leadership style produced deep divisions, and after his departure the party struggled to become an effective alternative to
Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government from 1984. Headed by
Chrétien, it returned to power with a large majority in 1993, and continued to win an absolute majority of seats in 1997 and 2000. Its political predominance was largely due to the regionalization of its opposition, which turned the Liberal Party into Canada's only popular national party. In 2003, Chrétien made way as Leader and Prime Minister for Paul Martin. Martin faced a new challenge from a revived opposition, as the PC and the
Canadian Alliance merged to form a single, national Conservative party.
http://www.liberal.ca
