Liberal party (Canada)

Liberal party Canadian political party. Prior to confederation in 1867, reform parties advocating greater local participation in provincial governments, free trade, and increased separation of church and state existed in Canada West, Canada East, and the Maritime Provinces. After 1867 although the provincial reform parties dominated local politics in several provinces, they had problems establishing a viable national party. The only Liberal prime minister in the first three decades after Confederation was Alexander Mackenzie . The lack of a strong base in Quebec hampered national Liberal party efforts. However, opposition in Quebec to the execution of French-Canadian rebel Louis Riel, and the success of Wilfrid Laurier in moderating the traditional anticlericalism of the Quebec Liberal party, paved the way to national success. As prime minister at the turn of the century, Laurier provided the model for future Liberal party successes by forging a broad coalition based on an English-French alliance that appealed to middle-class interests. For most of the 20th cent., the Liberal party dominated Canadian politics. William Lyon Mackenzie King 's long tenure as Liberal prime minister during most of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s successfully encompassed the diverse and sometimes contradictory interests of a wide English and French constituency. Under King's Liberal successor, Louis St. Laurent , the party lost most of its base in the western provinces. Under Lester Pearson , the party slowly rebuilt its electoral base, although for much of his tenure as prime minister in the 1960s he headed a minority government. Bilingualism, constitutional questions, and the status of Quebec dominated the tenure of Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau , who was succeeded briefly as prime minister by John Turner in 1984. Turner remained leader of the Liberal party until 1990, when he was briefly replaced by Herb Grey; later that year Jean Chrétien became Liberal party leader. In 1993 dissatisfaction with the economy returned the Liberals to power; they remained in power against a divided opposition after the 1997 and 2000 elections. Paul Martin became party leader and prime minister in 2003 and, despite being hurt by scandals, the Liberals remained in office as a minority government after the 2004 elections. In the 2006 elections the Liberals were again hurt by scandal. The Conservatives won a plurality of the seats, and Martin resigned as Liberal leader; Stéphane Dion succeeded him in the post. The Liberals suffered further losses in the 2008 elections.

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