Preston Manning

Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942, in Edmonton, Alberta), is a Canadian politician. He was the first leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that merged into the Canadian Alliance. He sat in Parliament for this party until retirement, after which it in turn merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form today's Conservative Party of Canada.

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Manning came from a political background: he was the son of Ernest Manning, Social Credit Party Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968. In 1964, Preston Manning graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A. in Economics. He sought election to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1965 federal election as a candidate of the federal Social Credit Party, but was defeated.

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Manning formed the Reform Party in 1987. The Reform Party was a combination of fiscal conservatism and populism, though aspects of social-conservatism grew, branding the party as very right-wing. Manning was elected to the House of Commons in the 1993 federal election, when Reform had its first major electoral success, replacing the Progressive Conservative Party as Canada's dominant conservative party, with a base especially in Western Canada. In the 1997 election, the party became Canada's official opposition, with Manning becoming the Leader of the Opposition.

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With Reform's emergence, however, Manning fragmented the conservative vote into two parts - Reform and the weakened PC Party. With Canada's plurality voting system, the result was political domination by the Liberal Party. Consequently, Manning's new goal was to reunite the two conservative parties under his leadership, and he launched the United Alternative movement to examine ways for the parties to cooperate. The movement resulted in the formation of a new party, the Canadian Alliance, which as its full name (Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance) shows, was intended to supplant both parties. Most of the PC Party, however, refused to cooperate, and critics claimed the new party was little more than an image makeover for the Reform Party.

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With the formation of the new party, Manning opened the door for rival leadership bids in the Canadian Alliance leadership election.

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After a fiercely close campaign, Manning was succeeded as leader by the younger and more flamboyant Stockwell Day in 2000. In 2002, he withdrew from federal politics, though he has since become a respected and appreciated voice on issues of the national interest. He is now a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute and Massey College at the University of Toronto as well as a common speaker.

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Manning published his memoirs of political life, Think Big: My Life in Politics, in October 2003. He ends the book by promising to "scout" the future of Canada--he is therefore constantly writing about policy, especially policy that he feels will be detrimental to the future of Canada.

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Manning founded the Manning Centre for Building Democracy in 2005 to train democrats for active political life.

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June 10: June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining....

1942: This article is about the year. For the 1984 Capcom arcade game, see 1942 (video game)....

Edmonton, Alberta: :Edmonton redirects here. For other cities with the name Edmonton, see Edmonton (disambiguation)...

Preston Manning related Images and Photos (experimental)

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