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Liberal Party of Canada
Parti libéral du Canada
Active Federal Party
Founded July 1, 1867
Leader Michael Ignatieff (Interim)
President Doug Ferguson
Headquarters 81 Metcalfe St, Suite 400
Ottawa ON
K1P 6M8
Political ideology Liberalism
Social liberalism
Third Way
International alignment Liberal International
Colours Red
Website http://www.liberal.ca

The Liberal Party of Canada (French: Parti libéral du Canada), colloquially known as the Grits (originally "Clear Grits"), is a major Canadian political party. The organization is located in the centre of the Canadian political spectrum, combining a liberal social policy with moderate economic policies. Every leader of the party except Edward Blake, Stephane Dion and interim leaders have served as Prime Minister of Canada. The party has formed the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada since February 2006. The Liberal Party is Canada's oldest functioning party at the federal level; the only party remaining from Confederation.1 The Liberal Party held power for nearly 69 years of the 20th Century, more than any other party in any developed Western country.citation needed

Effective December 10, 2008, Michael Ignatieff is the interim leader of the Liberal Party succeeding Stéphane Dion. He is expected to be ratified as permanent leader at the May 2009 Liberal leadership convention. Currently, a Liberal-led coalition has been seeking to defeat the Conservative government as part of the 2008 Canadian parliamentary dispute. A federal election may be called early in 2009 as a result.

Contents

History of leaders

Main article: History of the Liberal Party of Canada
Picture Name Term start Term end Notes
George Brown 1861 1867 First Leader
(Interim)
Edward Blake 1869 1870 (Interim)
Alexander Mackenzie 1873 1880 2nd Prime Minister
Edward Blake 1880 1887
Wilfrid Laurier 1887 1919 7th Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King 1919 1948 10th Prime Minister
Louis St. Laurent 1948 1958 12th Prime Minister
Lester B. Pearson 1958 1968 14th Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau 1968 1984 15th Prime MInister
John Turner 1984 1990 17th Prime Minister
Image: Herb gray jpg. Herb Gray 1990 1990 (Interim)
Jean Chrétien 1990 2003 20th Prime Minister
Paul Martin 2003 2006 21st Prime Minister
Bill Graham 2006 2006 (Interim)
Stéphane Dion 2006 2008
Michael Ignatieff 2008 Present Interim leader, but
expected to become
permanent following
the leadership
convention in May.2

Principles and policies

In the present times, the Liberal party has favoured a variety of policies from both right and left of the political spectrum. When it formed the government from 1993 to 2006, it was a strong champion of balanced budgets, and eliminated the deficit completely from the federal budget in 1995 by reducing spending on social programs or delegating them to the provinces. It also legalized same-sex marriage and the use of cannabis for medical purposes, and had proposed complete decriminalization of possession of small amounts of it. The party generally holds progressive views on various other social issues like abortion. In spite of this, a socially conservative wing does exist within the party. For example, when the Civil Marriage Act was passed in 2004 (which legalized same-sex marriage), 32 Liberal MPs voted against the act.3

During the 2006 election the Liberal party's platform included an

  • Introduction of a national childcare program
  • Immediately cut tax for low income earners by 1 point from 16% to 15%
  • Tougher firearm laws, including a ban on handguns and semi-automatic rifles
  • Reducing wait times for medical treatments
  • Increased support and opportunities for seniors, immigrants and the aboriginal populations
  • Increased spending on military
  • Additional investment in research and higher education.

In June 2008, the Liberal Party unveiled a new policy based on an ecotax called Green Shift.

Electoral history

Liberal Party Federal Electoral Results
Year
 Seats
in House
 Liberal
candidates
 Seats
won
 Seat
Change
 Popular
vote
  % of
popular
vote
 Result
 Liberal
leader
1867 180 65 62 +62 60,818 22.7% Cons. majority Brown
1872 200 111 95 +33 110,556 34.7% Cons. majority Blake
1874 206 140 133 +38 128,059 39.5% Majority gov't Mackenzie
1878 206 121 63 -70 180,074 33.1% Cons. majority Mackenzie
1882 211 112 73 +10 160,547 31.1% Cons. majority Blake
1887 215 184 80 +7 312,736 43.1% Cons. majority Blake
1891 215 194 90 +10 350,512 45.2% Cons. majority Laurier
1896 213 190 118 +28 401,425 41.4% Majority gov't Laurier
1900 213 209 132 +14 477,758 50.3% Majority gov't Laurier
1904 214 208 139 +7 521,041 50.9% Majority gov't Laurier
1908 221 213 133 -6 570,311 48.9% Majority gov't Laurier
1911 221 214 85 -48 596,871 45.8% Cons. majority Laurier
1917* 235 213 82 -3 729,756 38.8% Coalition gov't Laurier
1921 235 204 118 +36 1,285,998 41.2% Majority gov't King
1925 245 216 100 -18 1,252,684 39.7% minority gov't King
1926 245 189 116 +16 1,294,072 42.7% Majority gov't King
1930 245 226 90 -26 1,716,798 44.0% Cons. majority King
1935 245 245 173 +83 1,967,839 44.7% Majority gov't King
1940 245 242 181 +8 2,365,979 51.3% Majority gov't King
1945 245 236 125 -56 2,086,545 39.8% Majority gov't King
1949 262 259 190 +65 2,878,097 49.2% Majority gov't St. Laurent
1953 265 263 171 -19 2,743,013 48.6% Majority gov't St. Laurent
1957 265 265 105 -66 2,703,687 40.9% PC minority St. Laurent
1958 265 265 49 -56 2,444,909 33.5% PC majority Pearson
1962 265 264 100 +51 2,862,001 37.2% PC minority Pearson
1963 265 265 128 +28 3,276,995 41.5% minority gov't Pearson
1965 265 265 131 +3 3,099,521 40.2% minority gov't Pearson
1968 264 263 155 +24 3,686,801 47.5% Majority gov't Trudeau
1972 264 263 109 -46 3,717,804 38.4% minority gov't Trudeau
1974 264 264 141 +32 4,102,853 43.2% Majority gov't Trudeau
1979 282 282 114 -27 4,595,319 40.1% PC minority Trudeau
1980 282 282 147 +33 4,855,425 44.4% Majority gov't Trudeau
1984 282 282 40 -107 3,516,486 28.0% PC majority Turner
1988 295 294 83 +43 4,205,072 31.9% PC majority Turner
1993 295 295 177 +94 5,598,775 41.2% Majority gov't Chrétien
1997 301 301 155 -22 4,994,377 38.5% Majority gov't Chrétien
2000 301 301 172 +17 5,251,961 40.9% Majority gov't Chrétien
2004 308 308 135 -37 4,951,107 36.7% minority gov't Martin
2006 308 308 103 -32 4,477,217 30.1% Cons. minority Martin
2008 308 308 77 -26 3,629,990 26.2% Cons. minority Dion
Source=Elections Canada 4

* In 1917, some Liberals ran under the Unionist banner, figures only count those who ran as "Laurier Liberals"

* 1949-1968 includes one Liberal-Labour MP who sat with Liberal caucus.

Regional Liberal parties

Each province and one territory in Canada has its own Liberal Party.

Current governments and premiers:

Current official oppositions and leaders:

Third party status and leaders:

Not represented provincially and leader:

The relationship between the federal and provincial Liberal parties in Canada varies across Canada. In the four largest provinces (BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec) the parties are informally linked to varying degrees. In the case of BC and Quebec, the provincial party tends to maintain neutrality in federal politics. In the 6 other provinces and one territory, the provincial parties are direct organizational affiliates with their federal counterpart.

The Quebec Liberal Party was long affiliated with the federal Liberals since Confederation. In the 1940s, the party's fortunes were aided and hindered by close association with the federal Grits over the issue of conscription, winning the 1939 election but losing in 1944. The provincial party, serving a long spell in opposition, partially due to the conscription fallout, formally severed ties in 1955. Since then, relations have been tense between the federal and provincial parties, as examplified by Pierre Trudeau and Robert Bourassa's bickering over nationalism.

Some in the Alberta Liberal Party feel it has suffered as a result of federal Liberal policies unpopular in Western Canada, such as the National Energy Program and official bilingualism. The British Columbia Liberal Party ended its own ties with the federal party in 1987.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut have non-partisan legislatures. Historically the Northwest Territories had political parties between 1898 and 1905. In 1905 the bulk of the populated parts were formed into the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. the Northwest Territories Liberal Party formed the opposition for two elections before 1905.

2009 Election?

Once parliament was closed until January 27, 2009, the Liberal leader, Stephane Dion resigned as Liberal leader. Because all of the remaining competitors from the Liberal leadership race quit (all except for Micheal Ignatieff), Micheal Ignatieff became a interim leader for the Liberal party. He is also expected to stay leader after the leadership convention in May. The Liberal party is expected to win more seats with Michael Ignatieff during the next election, which may be in 2009.

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ "Political Parties". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved on 2008-11-25.
  2. ^ "Newly named Liberal Leader Ignatieff ready to form coalition", CBC News (2008-12-10). Retrieved on 10 December 2008. 
  3. ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Bills_ls.asp?Parl=38&Ses=1&ls=c38
  4. ^ "The Electoral System of Canada". Elections Canada. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.

External links

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