Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

History

In the early days of the Canadian confederation, the party supported a mercantilist approach to economic development: export-led growth with high import barriers to protect local industry. The party was stanchly monarchist and supported playing a large role within the British Empire. It was seen by some French Canadians as supporting a policy of cultural assimilation.

Related Topics:
Canadian confederation - Mercantilist - British Empire - French Canadian

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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 Liberals, albeit often in minority governments supported by smaller parties.

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After a long period of Liberal dominance, John Diefenbaker 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, Ontario, and La Macaza, Quebec. This split contributed to the Tory government's defeat at the hands of Lester Pearson's Liberals in the 1963 election.

Related Topics:
1958 - Union Nationale - Quebec - United States - Lester Pearson - 1963 election

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Diefenbaker remained Progressive Conservative leader until 1967, when increasing unease at his reactionary policies, authoritarian leadership, and perceived unelectability led to the 1967 leadership convention where Nova Scotia Premier Robert Stanfield was elected out of a field of eleven candidates that included Diefenbaker and Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin.

Related Topics:
1967 leadership convention - Robert Stanfield - Duff Roblin

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By the late 1960s, following Quebec's Quiet Revolution, the Progressive Conservatives recognized the need to increase their appeal to Canada's francophone population. At the same time, the Tories finally began their move away from mercantilism towards a neoliberal platform of free trade. Both movements culminated with Brian Mulroney becoming prime minister after the election of 1984.

Related Topics:
Quiet Revolution - Francophone - Neoliberal - Brian Mulroney - Election of 1984

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Mulroney had declared himself an opponent to free trade with the United States during the 1983 leadership campaign. 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.

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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 Liberals under Pierre Trudeau, the traditional positions of the two parties became reversed.

Related Topics:
Liberals - Pierre Trudeau

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It was with this background that Mulroney fought and won the 1988 election on the issue of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

Related Topics:
1988 election - Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

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A number of economic issues contributed to the fall of the Progressive Conservative party at the federal level in the 1993 federal election:

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• Canada suffered its worst recession since the Second World War,
• unemployment rose to the highest levels since the Great Depression,
• the federal government faced high and persistent deficits, and
• the Tories had introduced a much-hated new tax, the GST.

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 Lake and Charlottetown Constitutional Accords. Many Quebec Tories, including a number of MPs, left the party to form the Bloc Québécois with like-minded Liberals.

Related Topics:
Meech Lake - Charlottetown - Bloc Québécois

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The third major factor was the rise of western alienation 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 Canada and its successor, the Canadian Alliance.

Related Topics:
Reform Party of Canada - Canadian Alliance

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Following Mulroney's resignation, his successor as Tory leader and as prime minister was Kim Campbell, who led the party into the disastrous election of 1993. The steep decline in the party's popular support and the impact of the first past the post (FPTP) system used in Canada resulted in the collapse of the Conservative parliamentary caucus: the 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 status despite garnering 16% of the popular vote. The party regained official status under the leadership of Jean Charest in the 1997 election with roughly 20% of the support of the Canadian electorate, but the PCs never surpassed 20 seats in the House of Commons (FPTP) from 1994 to 2003.

Related Topics:
Kim Campbell - Election of 1993 - First past the post - Official party status - Jean Charest - The 1997 election

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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 split 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 Tory-influenced PC Party, pointing to surveys that indicated many Tory voters would rather select the Liberals as their second choice rather than the Alliance.

Related Topics:
Split - United Alternative - Red Tory

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Following the departure of Jean Charest to become leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Joe Clark returned to the party's leadership, and prevented the expected obliteration of the Progressive Conservatives in the 2000 election. The party won the 12 seats necessary to be treated as a party in the House of Commons, but no more. However in 2002, the caucus increased to 15 members, and fourth-place party status in the House, with two byelection wins and the admission to caucus of Democratic Representative Caucus MP Inky Mark.

Related Topics:
Liberal Party of Quebec - Joe Clark - 2000 election - Democratic Representative Caucus - Inky Mark

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Clark's successor, Peter MacKay negotiated a merger with the Canadian Alliance, that was announced on October 15, 2003. The two parties united to form a new party called the Conservative Party of Canada. The union was ratified on December 5 and December 6 by both parties, and the new Conservative Party was formally registered on December 8. On March 20, 2004, former Alliance leader Stephen Harper was elected leader of the new party.

Related Topics:
Peter MacKay - October 15 - 2003 - December 5 - December 6 - December 8 - March 20 - 2004 - Stephen Harper

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