The first three leaders of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia' ...

were not chosen at a

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

. Alexander Mackenzie (March 1873 – April 1880) and

Edward Blake Dominick Edward Blake (October 13, 1833 – March 1, 1912), known as Edward Blake, was the second premier of Ontario, from 1871 to 1872 and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1880 to 1887. He is one of only three federal permanent Lib ...

(May 1880 – June 1887) were chosen by the party

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime mini ...

(June 1887 – February 1919) was also chosen by caucus members with the party convention of 1893 ratifying his leadership. The most recent leadership election was held in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

. The first Liberal leadership convention was held on August 7, 1919. Balloting continued until one candidate won a majority of votes. After the 1919 convention, a system was adopted where the candidate with the fewest votes on a given ballot is automatically dropped. More recently, any candidate with less than 5% of the vote on the first ballot is also automatically dropped. Since 1919, time has also been given between ballots for candidates to announce if they wish to withdraw and throw their support to another candidate. The

2009 Liberal leadership election The 2009 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election was prompted by Stéphane Dion's announcement that he would not lead the Liberal Party of Canada into another election, following his party's defeat in the 2008 federal election in Canada. T ...

was the last one in which the leader was chosen by delegates. Future leadership elections were to be conducted according to a weighted

one member, one vote In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives ...

system in which all party members could cast ballots but in which they would be counted so that each riding had equal weight. This system, however, has been modified in the 2012 Biennial Convention in Ottawa. In addition to the card-carrying membership, registered supporters, a newly created category of Liberal sympathisers, given the right to vote in their

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

1919 leadership convention results

The 1919 leadership convention was held in

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Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on August 7, 1919. Graham withdrew while voting for the third ballot was underway. McKenzie withdrew while voting for the fourth ballot was in process. Votes were not counted for either one, and the convention proceeded directly to the fifth ballot.

1948 leadership convention results

The 1948 leadership convention was held in Ottawa on August 7, 1948.

1958 leadership convention results

The 1958 leadership convention was held in Ottawa on January 16, 1958.

1968 leadership convention results

The 1968 leadership convention was held in

Ottawa Civic Centre TD Place Arena, originally the Ottawa Civic Centre, is an indoor arena located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, seating 9,500. With temporary seating and standing room it can hold 10,585. Opened in December 1967, it is used primarily for sports, inc ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

on April 6, 1968. : MacEachen announced after the first ballot that he was withdrawing and would support Trudeau, but he missed the deadline to remove his name from the ballot.

1980 leadership convention

A leadership convention was scheduled for late March 1980, in Winnipeg, Manitoba but was cancelled due to the fall of the Progressive Conservative government on December 13, 1979 and the calling of the February 18, 1980 federal election. As a result of the

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

call, the Liberal caucus and party executive persuaded

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

to rescind his resignation as party leader and lead the Liberals into the election.

1984 leadership convention results

The 1984 leadership convention was held in Ottawa on June 16, 1984.

1990 leadership convention results

The 1990 leadership convention was held in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

on June 23, 1990.

2003 leadership convention results

The 2003 leadership convention was held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

on November 14, 2003. ''Source
Parliament of Canada website
'

2006 leadership convention results

The 2006 leadership convention was held at the

Palais des congrès de Montréal The Palais des congrès de Montréal is a convention centre in Montreal's Quartier international at the north end of Old Montreal. Its borough is Ville-Marie. Construction began in 1977 and completed in 1983; the Palais opened on 21 May 1983 ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

on December 2–3, 2006. : = Eliminated from next round : = Withdrew nomination : = Winner

2009 leadership convention results

The 2009 leadership convention was held at the

Vancouver Convention Centre The Vancouver Convention Centre (formerly known as the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, or VCEC) is a convention centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; it is one of Canada's largest convention centres. With the opening of the ne ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia from April 30-May 3, 2009. Due to the selection of

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...

as interim leader as a result of the

2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute The 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute, during the 40th Canadian Parliament, was triggered by the expressed intention of the opposition parties (who together held a majority of seats in the House of Commons) to defeat the Conservative m ...

and an agreement by other candidates to withdraw in favour of Ignatieff, the 2009 convention served to ratify Ignatieff's leadership and was not a contested leadership vote.

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of th ...

and

Dominic LeBlanc Dominic A. LeBlanc (born December 14, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the minister of intergovernmental affairs since 2020 and also became the minister of infrastructure and communities in 2021. A member of the Lib ...

withdrew in December 2008 (five months prior to the convention) allowing Ignatieff to become leader by default.

2013 leadership election

The leadership election was held on April 14, 2013.

References

{{Liberal Party of Canada Lists of elections in Canada