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The Blue Party (french: Parti bleu) was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the
Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...
. The Blue Party was ideologically located on the
political right Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, auth ...
, and was defined by its support for the Catholic Church, and later for supporting confederation. The party was formed in 1854 by conservative members of the former
Reform movement A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary mo ...
, following in the tradition of
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governmen ...
and
Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Bar ...
. The first leader of the Blue Party,
George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained ...
, was the Premier of Canada East. The Blue Party held majorities in Canada East uninterrupted from 1854 to 1867, and often formed coalition governments with the English-speaking Conservatives from Canada East, and the Liberal-Conservative Party from Canada West. Their main electoral challenge came from the Red Party, a secularist left-wing party. After
confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
in 1867, the party was dissolved, and members became part of the
Conservative Party of Quebec The Conservative Party of Quebec (CPQ; french: Parti conservateur du Québec (PCQ)) is a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was authorized on 25 March 2009 by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec. The CPQ has gradually run more c ...
at the provincial level, and the
Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
federally.


History

The Reform Party was a broad movement, organized around achieving responsible government in the Province of Canada. Because responsible government was required to enact any form of self-government, it was supported by both liberals and conservatives who could not achieve their own policy aims without it. The Reform Party was thus able to draw in members from across the ideological spectrum. After 1848, when responsible government was introduced by the
Imperial Government The name imperial government (german: Reichsregiment) denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the em ...
, the unifying policy of the movement had been achieved and the movement began to break down. By 1853, the government was unable to secure majorities on core legislation. By the time of election in 1854, the party had broken down into factions based on their ideological positions. The French-Canadian conservatives initially called themselves Ministerialists, in recognition of their support of the government and opposition of the Rouges and Liberals. By 1856, the Ministerialist faction had changed their name to Bleu. The Ministerialists experienced electoral success in the Canadian general election, 1854. They won 35 seats in Canada East, forming the largest group out of the Eastern members. Their strong electoral performance allowed them to form a coalition government with the Canada West Conservatives lead by Allan MacNab. Sir
Étienne-Paschal Taché Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (5 September 1795 – 30 July 1865) was a Canadian doctor, politician, and Father of Confederation. Life Born in St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795, the third son of Charles Taché and Geneviève Michon, Tachà ...
was the first leader of the Ministerialist group, but was replaced by George-Étienne Cartier as the Blue Party was formed. The coalition between the Canada West Conservatives and Blue Party began the Liberal-Conservative tradition of government in the province. After the 1858 election, the Blue Party and Eastern-Canadian Conservatives became the largest group in the Legislative Assembly, and formed a coalition government with the Canada West Conservatives as the larger partner. Canada West had returned a majority of Liberal members, but the large majority commanded by the Blue Party and Conservatives in Canada East prevented the Liberals from taking power. The number of factions in the legislature made it difficult to secure majorities on government legislation, forcing the Blue-Conservative coalition out for a four-day period in 1858 after losing a
non-confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
. However, the new Liberal-Rouge government was unable to secure a majority in the Legislative Assembly, and the Blue Party reformed a ministry with the Conservatives.


Ideology

The Blue Party was ideologically moderate, established from the former reformers in Canada East. The party supported
Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
, the role of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in Canadian society, and the dismantling of the
seigneurial system Seigneurial system may refer to: * Manorialism - the socio-economic system of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period * Seigneurial system of New France The manorial system of New France, known as the seigneurial system (french: Régime seigneu ...
. The Blue Party was opposed to the anti-clerical and republican positions of the
Parti rouge The Red Party (french: Parti rouge, or french: Parti démocratique) was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the Province of Canada. It was formed around 1847 by radical French-Canadians inspired by the ideas of L ...
.


Leaders


Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:250 PlotArea = top:40 bottom:80 right:130 left:40 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1854 till:1867 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:3 start:1855 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:Bleu value:rgb(0,0.28,0.67) legend:Bleu Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:40 columnwidth:150 TextData = pos:(20,40) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = bar:ept bar:gec bar:nfb PlotData= width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:ept from:27/01/1855 till:02/08/1858 color:Bleu text:" Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché" from:30/05/1864 till:30/07/1865 color:Bleu text:" Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché" bar:gec from:26/11/1857 till:26/11/1857 color:Bleu text:"
Sir George-Étienne Cartier ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
" from:06/08/1858 till:24/05/1865 color:Bleu text:"
Sir George-Étienne Cartier ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
" bar:nfb from:30/07/1865 till:30/07/1867 color:Bleu text:" Sir Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau"


References


See also

*
List of political parties in Canada This article lists political parties in Canada. Federal parties In contrast with the political party systems of many nations, Canadian parties at the federal level are often only loosely connected with parties at the provincial level, despite ha ...
{{Quebec provincial political parties Political parties in Lower Canada Catholic political parties Political parties established in 1854 1854 establishments in Canada Conservative parties in Canada