The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a
centre-right federal political party in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From
Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the
original Conservative Party of Canada participated in numerous governments and had multiple names. In 1942, its name was changed to the Progressive Conservative Party under the request of
Manitoba Progressive Premier John Bracken
John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...
. In the
1957 federal election,
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...
carried the Tories to their first victory in 27 years.
The year after, he carried the PCs to the largest federal electoral landslide in history (in terms of proportion of seats). During his tenure, human rights initiatives were achieved, most notably the
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...
. In the
1963 federal election, the PCs lost power. The PCs would not gain power again until
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
, when
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
led the party to a
minority government victory. However, the party lost power only
nine months later. In 1983, Clark
lost his leadership role to
Brian Mulroney, who helped the PC Party gain popularity in
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 thirtee ...
. Mulroney won back-to-back
majority government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
s in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
and
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
, and during his tenure, major economic reforms such as the
North American Free Trade Agreement and the
goods and services tax (GST) were introduced.
The unpopularity of the GST, the government's failed attempts with the
Meech Lake and
Charlottetown accords, and the
early 1990s recession, caused the party to become heavily unpopular, and thus collapse in the
1993 federal election, winning just two seats.
Western Canadian PC support transferred to the more
right-wing Reform Party, whereas PC support from Quebec transferred to the
sovereigntist Bloc Québécois. Ultimately, the Progressive Conservatives did not recover in the subsequent
1997 and
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
federal elections. When it became clear that neither the Progressive Conservatives nor the Reform Party/
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...
(the latter being the successor of the Reform Party) could defeat the incumbent Liberals that governed since the 1993 election, an effort to
unite the right-of-centre parties emerged. In 2003, the party membership voted to dissolve the party and merge with the Canadian Alliance to form the modern-day
Conservative Party of Canada.
History
Canada's first
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
,
Sir John A. Macdonald, belonged to the
Liberal-Conservative Party (french: link=no, Libéral-Conservateur).
The federal Tories governed Canada for over 40 of the country's first 70 years of existence. However, the party spent the majority of its history in opposition as the nation's number-two federal party, behind the
Liberal Party of Canada. From 1896 to 1993, the Tories formed a government six times—from 1911 to 1921, briefly in 1926, from 1930 to 1935, from 1957 to 1963, from 1979 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1993. It stands as the only Canadian party to have won more than 200 seats in an election—a feat it accomplished twice: in
1958 and
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
.
The party suffered a decade-long decline following the
1993 federal election and formally dissolved on December 7, 2003, when it merged with the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...
to form the modern-day
Conservative Party of Canada. The last meeting of the Progressive Conservative federal caucus was held in early 2004. The
Conservative Party of Canada took power in 2006 and governed under the leadership of
Stephen Harper until 2015, when it was defeated by the Liberal Party under
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
.
Between the party's founding in 1867 and its adoption of the "Progressive Conservative" name in 1942, the party changed its name several times. It was most commonly known as the
Conservative Party.
Several loosely associated provincial Progressive Conservative parties continue to exist in
Manitoba,
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 C ...
,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
,
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
and
Newfoundland and Labrador. As well, a small
rump of Senators opposed the merger, and continued to sit in the
Parliament of Canada as Progressive Conservatives. The last one of them rescinded their party status in 2016. The
Yukon association of the party renamed itself as the
Yukon Party
The Yukon Party (french: Parti du Yukon) is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It is the successor to the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party.
Formation
With Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal go ...
in 1990. The
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
Progressive Conservative Party changed its name to the
British Columbia Conservative Party
The Conservative Party of British Columbia is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. In the early half of the 20th century, the Conservatives competed with the British Columbia Liberal Party for power in the province. Since ...
in 1991.
Saskatchewan's Progressive Conservative Party effectively ceased to exist in 1997, when the
Saskatchewan Party formed – primarily from former PC
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) with a few
Saskatchewan Liberal MLAs joining them.
The party adopted the "Progressive Conservative" party name in 1942 when Manitoba
Premier John Bracken
John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...
, a long-time leader of that province's
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
, agreed to become leader of the federal Conservatives on condition that the party add ''Progressive'' to its name. Despite the name change, most former Progressive supporters continued to support the
Liberal Party of Canada or the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and Bracken's leadership of the Conservative Party came to an end in 1948. Many Canadians simply continued to refer to the party as "the Conservatives".
A major weakness of the party since 1885 was its inability to win support in
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 thirtee ...
, estranged significantly by that year's execution of
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
. The
Conscription Crisis of 1917 exacerbated the issue. Even though the
Conservative Party of Quebec dominated politics in that province for the first 30 years of Confederation at both the federal and provincial levels, in the 20th century the party was never able to become a force in provincial politics, losing power in 1897, and dissolving in 1935 into the
Union Nationale, which took power in 1936 under
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...
.
In 20th-century federal politics, the Conservatives were often seen as insensitive to French-Canadian ambitions and interests and seldom succeeded in winning more than a handful of seats in Quebec, with a few notable exceptions:
* the
1930 federal election, in which
Richard Bedford Bennett surprisingly led the party to a thin majority government victory by securing 24 seats in rural Quebec;
* the
1958 federal election, in which
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...
rode the backing of the right-leaning Union Nationale provincial government in Quebec to 50 of the province's 75 seats; and
* the federal elections of
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
and
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
, when party leader
Brian Mulroney, a fluently bilingual Quebecois, built an electoral coalition that included Quebec nationalists.
The party never fully recovered from the fragmentation of Mulroney's broad coalition in the late 1980s resulting in part from the failure of two provinces to ratify the
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...
. Immediately prior to its merger with the Canadian Alliance, it held only 15 of 301 seats in the
House of Commons of Canada. The party did not hold more than 20 seats in Parliament between 1993 and 2003.
The party pre-dates confederation in 1867, when it accepted many conservative-leaning former members of the Liberal Party into its ranks. At confederation, the
Liberal-Conservative Party of Canada became Canada's first governing party under
Sir John A. Macdonald, and for years was either the governing party of Canada or the largest opposition party. The party changed its name to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada following the election as leader of
Progressive Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM), an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I.
See also
* List of political parties in Canad ...
Premier
John Bracken
John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...
in December 1942, who insisted on the name change as a condition of becoming leader.
Ideology
The Progressive Conservative Party was generally on the
centre-right on the political spectrum. From 1867 on, the party was identified with
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and, in Quebec,
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
social values,
British imperialism
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
,
Canadian nationalism, and constitutional centralism. This was highly successful until 1920, and to that point in history, the party was the most successful federal party in the Dominion.
As such, Canadian conservatism historically initially more closely resembled that which was practised in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and, to an extent,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, than in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The "Tory" approach worked well for the party until 1917, when, as was common amongst 19th-century conservative movements, Canadian Tories opposed the rollback of government intervention in social and economic matters advocated by the
liberals of the era. In contrast to "American conservative" counterparts, however, they did not undertake as dramatic an ideological turnaround in the first half of the 20th century by continuing to follow
mercantilism and nascent notions of the
welfare state.
Like their federal Liberal rivals, the party defined itself as a "
big tent", welcoming a broad variety of members who supported relatively loosely defined goals. Unlike the Liberal Party, there was a long history of ongoing factionalism within this tent. This factionalism arose from the party's lack of electoral success, and because the party often reached out to particular political groups in order to garner enough support to topple the Liberals. These groups usually remained semi-autonomous blocs within the party, such as Quebec nationalists and western Canadian Reformers in the 1980s. In later years, observers generally grouped the PC Party's core membership into two camps, "
Red Tories
A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to favour ...
" and "
Blue Tories".
Red Tories tend to be traditionally conservative, that is, "Tory" in the
Disraelian sense in social policy, placing a high value on the principles of ''
noblesse oblige
''Noblesse oblige'' (; ; literally “nobility obliges”) is a French expression from a time when French (more specifically, Anglo-Norman) was the language of the English nobility, and retains in English the meaning that nobility extends beyo ...
'',
communitarianism, and
One nation conservatism
One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democ ...
—and were thus seen as moderate (in the context of classical economic thought) in their economic policy. For most of their history they were trade
protectionists, engaging in free-trade economics in only a limited fashion, as in
Empire Free-Trade. Historically they comprised the largest bloc of the original Canadian Conservative party. Notable Red Tories include
John Farthing,
George Grant,
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...
,
E. Davie Fulton,
Robert Stanfield,
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a se ...
,
W. L. Morton,
William Davis,
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
and
Flora MacDonald.
Blue Tories, on the other hand, were originally members of the Tory elite drawn from the commercial classes in
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 ...
and
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 ...
. Prior to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, they were generally conservative in social policy, and
classically liberal in economic policy. From 1964 on, this cadre came to identify more with
neo-liberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
influences in the US
Republican Party, as espoused by
Barry Goldwater and
Ronald Reagan, and the
Thatcherite
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...
leadership in the British
Conservative Party, as represented by Sir
Keith Joseph and
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
. They have come to be termed—in the Canadian lexicon—as
neoconservatives
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and cou ...
. However, there are also Blue Tories who identify strongly with the
Monarchy in Canada and other traditional institutions. In Canada, Blue Tories include
Ralph Klein and
Mike Harris
Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...
.
From 1891 until the party's dissolution, Red Tories generally dominated the highest rungs of the party and its leadership. The emerging neoconservatives of the 1970s were significantly reduced in numbers in the party by the late 1980s, and many of the disaffected drifted towards
neoliberalism and parties with a
neoconservative
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and count ...
bent, such as the
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...
. When the PC party held power at the federal level, it never truly embraced
Reaganomics and its crusade against "big government" as vociferously as was done in the USA.
Canadian neoconservatives lean more towards
individualism and
economic liberalism. Support for the Canadian Alliance and its predecessor the Reform Party of Canada derived principally from this group, and that support carried forward into the new Conservative Party of Canada. The success of the neoconservative movement in using the label "Conservative" has brought into debate the very definition of
conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
in Canada today. Although adhering to economic philosophies similar to those originally advanced by 19th-century liberals (known confusingly as both
neoliberalism and
neoconservatism), the Canadian Alliance agreed to the name "Conservative Party of Canada" for the new party.
Progressive Conservative history
After a by-election defeat in 1942, a group of younger Conservatives from the
Conservative Party of Canada met in
Port Hope, Ontario
Port Hope is a municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Toronto and about west of Kingston. It is located at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in the west end of Northumberland County. ...
, to develop a new Conservative policy they hoped would bring them out of the political wilderness. The participants, known as the Port Hopefuls, developed a program including many Conservative goals such as support for free enterprise and conscription. Yet the charter also included more radical policies, such as full-employment,
low-cost housing,
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
rights, as well as a whole range of
social security measures, including a government financed medicare system.
[The Essentials of Canadian History: Pre-colonization to 1867-the Beginning ... – Terence Allan Crowley, Rae Murphy – Google Boeken](_blank)
Books.google.com. Retrieved on April 12, 2014.
Although many Conservatives rejected the charter, the charter still influenced party decisions. Delegates at the convention drafted
John Bracken
John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...
as leader, who was not even a member of the party. Bracken supported the Port Hope Charter and insisted the party register this policy shift by changing its name to the Progressive Conservative Party.
In the early days of
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 staunchly 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.
The Conservative Party dominated Canadian politics for the nation's first 30 years. In general, Canada's political history has consisted of Tories alternating power with the
Liberals, albeit often in minority governments supported by smaller parties.
After a long period of Liberal dominance following the Tories ill-fated depression era mandate from 1930 to 35,
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...
won a sweeping 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 B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968.
Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...
's Liberals in the
1963 election.
Diefenbaker remained Progressive Conservative leader until 1967, when increasing unease at his erratic behaviour, authoritarian leadership, and perceived unelectability led party president
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a se ...
to call for and win a motion for a
leadership review which resulted in 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.
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
took the
leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1976. He came to power in the
1979 election, defeating the Liberal government of
Pierre Trudeau and ending sixteen years of continuous Liberal rule. Taking office the day before his 40th birthday, Clark is the youngest person to become Prime Minister. His tenure was brief as he only won a minority government, and it was defeated on a
motion of non-confidence
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 ...
pertaining to his
1979 budget. Clark's Progressive Conservative Party lost the
1980 election and Clark lost the
leadership of the party to
Brian Mulroney 1983.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, following Quebec's
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
, the Progressive Conservatives recognized the need to increase their appeal to Canada's
francophone population. At the same time, the Tories moved away from
economic nationalism towards a
neoliberal platform. Both movements culminated with Brian Mulroney becoming prime minister after the
election of 1984. He led the Tories to a record 211 seats, and a majority of seats in every province.
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.
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 Liberal Party under
Pierre Trudeau, the traditional positions of the two parties became reversed. It was with this background that Mulroney fought and won the
1988 election on the issue of the
Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement.
Mulroney also made a promise to
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 thirtee ...
ers, claiming that he would reform the constitution so that Quebec would be willing to endorse the Constitution, which it did not in 1982, unlike Canada's other provinces. To do this, Mulroney promised that he would give Quebec distinct society status and greater autonomy. This helped Mulroney garner substantial support from
Quebec nationalists including
Lucien Bouchard who joined the Conservatives claiming that providing Quebec with autonomy would be acceptable for Quebec to remain within Canada.
Although the Progressive Conservative Party switched to
neoliberalism, the party did retain its social progressive policies unlike other parties which advocated neoliberalism. Mulroney and the government pursued an aggressive environmental agenda under the aide of then-environmental policy advisor, present-day
Green Party leader
Elizabeth May
Elizabeth Evans May (born June 9, 1954) is a Canadian politician, environmentalist, author, activist, and lawyer who is serving as the leader of the Green Party of Canada since 2022, and previously served as the leader from 2006 to 2019. Sh ...
. Mulroney and members of the U.S. government sparred over action on
acid rain. In the end Mulroney managed to convince U.S. President
Ronald Reagan to sign an acid rain treaty, to reduce acid rain. Mulroney was recognized for his strong environmental stances recently, being named the Greenest Canadian Prime Minister by a study group.
A number of economic and governance issues contributed to the fall of the Progressive Conservative party at the federal level in the
1993 federal election:
* Canada suffered its worst recession since the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
,
* 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
Goods and Services Tax.
* Extensive government corruption and accusations of corruption and government mismanagement were in the news, such as the
Airbus affair and evidence showing Canadian peacekeepers maltreating
Somalis, which resulted in the
Somalia inquiry.
* During the election campaign the Tories used an
attack ad
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* ''Attack No. 1'', comic and ...
against Liberal leader
Jean Chrétien, which appeared to mock his odd facial expressions—which were the result of
Bell's palsy—and suggest he was unfit for the post of Prime Minister because of them.
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
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs), left the party to form the
Bloc Québécois with like-minded Liberals.
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
The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...
and later to its successor, the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...
.
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 Progressive 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
Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes re ...
despite garnering 16% of the popular vote. It was the worst defeat ever suffered for a governing party at the federal level; the 151-seat loss far exceeded the 95 seats lost by the Liberals in 1984. The party's western supporters transferred virtually ''en masse'' to Reform, most of its Quebec supporters split between the sovereigntist
Bloc Québécois and the Liberals, and most of its Ontario and Atlantic supporters bolted for the Liberals. Even though the Progressive Conservatives finished third in the popular vote (just percentage points behind Reform), their support was spread out across the entire country and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into more seats. By contrast, the Bloc managed to capture Official Opposition status with 54 seats despite running candidates only in Quebec, while Reform finished third in the seat count despite being virtually nonexistent east of Manitoba.
Campbell herself was defeated, as was every member of the Cabinet except
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...
, whom Campbell had defeated in the
election to succeed Mulroney. Campbell resigned as party leader in December, and Charest, as the only remaining member of the previous Cabinet, was quickly appointed interim leader and confirmed in the post in 1995. Charest led the party back to official party status in the
1997 election, winning 20 seats. With the exception of one seat each in Ontario and Manitoba, the rest of the seats were all in the Maritimes and Quebec. However, the PCs never won more than 20 seats again, and only two west of Quebec (not counting by-elections and switches from other parties).
Merger with Alliance
The rise of the Reform Party/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
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
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
A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to fa ...
-influenced PC Party, pointing to surveys that indicated many Tory voters would rather select the Liberals as their second choice rather than the Alliance. This seemed to be particularly born out in Ontario. The Liberals won all but one seat in that province in 1993 and 1997, and all but two in 2000—an era that was dominated by the provincial Tories. This was largely because many former bellwether ridings in suburban
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 ...
(known as "the 905", after its
area code) turned almost solidly Liberal for most of the 1990s at the federal level while supporting the Tories at the provincial level.
Charest stepped down from the leadership in 1998 to become leader of the
Quebec Liberal Party. Former leader Joe Clark returned to the post in a vote in which all party members were eligible to cast ballots, instead of a traditional leadership convention. A point system allocated each riding 100 points to be distributed among the candidates by proportional representation according to votes cast by party members in the riding. (This same system was used by the Conservative Party of Canada in 2004.) In the
2000 election Clark was able to garner the 12 seats necessary for official party status, but no more.
Clark realized that as long as the centre-right vote was divided, there was no chance of dislodging the Liberals. However, he wanted a merger on his terms. He got his chance in 2001, when several dissident Alliance MPs, the most prominent one being Alliance deputy leader and party matriarch
Deborah Grey, left the Alliance caucus. The dissidents felt that Alliance leader
Stockwell Day hadn't learned from mistakes made in the last election. While some of them rejoined the Alliance later, seven of them, led by
Chuck Strahl
Charles Richard "Chuck" Strahl (born February 25, 1957) is a Canadian businessman and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2011. First elected for the Reform Party, he was the leader of the Democratic Representative Caucus tha ...
of British Columbia and including Grey, refused and formed the
Democratic Representative Caucus. The DRC quickly entered a coalition with the Progressive Conservatives, which lasted until 2002 when
Stephen Harper ousted Day as Alliance leader. Harper wanted a closer union with the PCs, but Clark turned the offer down, and all but two of the DRC members rejoined the Alliance. One of the two,
Inky Mark, eventually joined the PCs. Two by-election victories later in 2002 increased the PC caucus to 15 members and fourth place in the Commons. However, Clark was unable to gain any ground in Ontario and resigned on August 6, 2002.
On May 31, 2003,
Peter MacKay won the party leadership after securing the endorsement of controversial fellow leadership candidate
David Orchard
David Orchard (born June 28, 1950) is a Canadian author and political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal ...
, an outspoken opponent of free trade who wanted to return the party to its traditional economic nationalist roots. Orchard's endorsement of MacKay was predicated on four bullet points laid out in the Orchard-MacKay agreement, one of which expressly forbade the merger of the PC Party of Canada with the Canadian Alliance. After only a few months as party leader though, MacKay reneged on his promise and proceeded to negotiate a merger with the Alliance, which he announced had occurred on October 15, 2003. The two parties, it seemed, united to form a new party called the Conservative Party of Canada. The union was ratified on December 5 and 6 in a process conducted by each of the parties, and the new Conservative Party was formally registered on December 7. The merger prompted Clark to remark, "Some equate it to a death in the family. I regard it rather as a death of the family." On March 20, 2004, former Alliance leader Harper was elected leader of the new party and appointed MacKay as his deputy.
Rump PC caucus
House of Commons
Following the merger, a rump Progressive Conservative caucus remained in Parliament, consisting of individuals who declined to join the new Conservative Party. In the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
,
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
,
André Bachand and
John Herron sat as PC members. In the
2004 election, Bachand and Clark did not run for re-election, and Herron ran as a Liberal, losing to
Rob Moore in his riding of
Fundy—Royal.
Scott Brison, who had joined the Liberal caucus immediately upon departing the Conservative Party, was reelected as a Liberal in the 2004 election. After being expelled from the Conservative Party caucus in June 2007, Nova Scotia MP
Bill Casey designated himself as an "Independent Progressive Conservative".
Senate
In the
Senate,
William Doody,
Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray, (born 26 September 1936) is a former Canadian senator and long-time activist with the federal Progressive Conservative Party.
Education
Murray graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 1955. He met 16-year-old Brian Mu ...
and
Norman Atkins also declined to join the new party, and continued to sit as Progressive Conservative senators. On March 24, 2005, Prime Minister
Paul Martin appointed nine new senators, two of whom,
Nancy Ruth and
Elaine McCoy, were designated as Progressive Conservatives. Ruth subsequently left to sit with the Conservative Party. The death of Senator Doody on December 27, 2005, and the mandatory retirement of Norman Atkins on June 27, 2009, and Lowell Murray on September 26, 2011, left McCoy, the youngest of the five, as the sole Progressive Conservative in the Senate and the last sitting PC in either chamber of Parliament until February 11, 2013, when she chose to change her designation to "Independent Progressive Conservative". McCoy changed her designation to "Independent" on February 17, 2016, thus bringing to an end the presence of Progressive Conservatives in the Parliament of Canada.
Progressive Canadian Party
On January 9, 2004, a group claiming to be loyal to the Progressive Conservative Party and opposed to the merger, which they characterized as an Alliance takeover, filed application with the Chief Electoral Officer to register a party called the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The application was refused on the grounds that the name could no longer be utilized. The group resubmitted with the name
Progressive Canadian Party, and a new "PC Party" was recognized by
Elections Canada
Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...
on March 26. It secured sufficient backing to be registered as an official party on May 29. It was led by former Progressive Conservative MP
Joe Hueglin
Joseph Fred Hueglin (February 7, 1937 – July 5, 2022) was a Canadian politician who was a Member of Parliament and a founder of the Progressive Canadian Party.
Born in Stratford, Ontario, Hueglin was elected to Parliament in 1972 in the r ...
of Ontario.
The Progressive Canadian party aimed to be perceived as the successor party to the Progressive Conservatives. However, it did not enjoy broad support among former Progressive Conservatives. In particular, no prominent anti-merger Progressive Conservatives such as Joe Clark or
David Orchard
David Orchard (born June 28, 1950) is a Canadian author and political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal ...
were associated with the Progressive Canadian Party, nor were any sitting MPs or senators. The most prominent members to join were two 1970s and 1980s era politicians: former cabinet minister
Sinclair Stevens
Sinclair McKnight Stevens, (February 11, 1927 – November 30, 2016) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman and cabinet minister.
Early life
He was born in Esquesing Township (today part of Halton Hills, Ontario), the third child of Northern Irish ...
and former junior cabinet minister,
Heward Grafftey
William Heward Grafftey, (August 5, 1928 – February 11, 2010) was a Canadian politician and businessman.
Early life
Born in Montreal, Quebec, to a wealthy family, he was a nephew of artist Prudence Heward of the Beaver Hall Group, and wrot ...
, who polled near or below
Craig Chandler
Craig B. Chandler is a Canadian businessman, lobbyist, and political activist. He is co-founder and CEO of the Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB). He was a candidate at the federal 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership conventi ...
in the final PC Party leadership race. It was deregistered by Elections Canada in late 2019.
Party leaders
Progressive Conservative leaders in the Senate
Party presidents
*
James Macdonnell (1946–1950)
*
George Nowlan
George Clyde Nowlan, (14 August 1898 – 31 May 1965) was a Canadian Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, he served from 9 August 1962–21 April 1963 as the Minister of Fi ...
(1950–1954)
*
George Hees
George Harris Hees (June 17, 1910 – June 11, 1996) was a Canadian politician and businessman.
Background
Born in Toronto, Hees earned a playboy image during his youth (nicknamed Gorgeous George), but then became a stalwart member of the Prog ...
(1954–1956)
*
Allister Grosart
Allister Grosart, (December 13, 1906 – February 8, 1984) was a Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative politician, Senate of Canada, Senator, journalist and businessman in Canada.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, his moth ...
(1956–1963)
*
Egan Chambers
Egan Chambers (March 22, 1921 – May 5, 1994) was a Canadian politician.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, he was educated at Selwyn House School and Bishop's College School. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1958 federal ele ...
(1963–1964)
*
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a se ...
(1964–1969)
*
Frank Moores
Frank Duff Moores (February 18, 1933 – July 10, 2005) served as the second premier of Newfoundland. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservatives from 1972 until his retirement in 1979. Moores was also a successful businessman in bo ...
(1969–1970)
*
Nathan Nurgitz (1970–1971)
*
Donald J. Matthews (1971–1974)
*
Michael Meighen
Michael Arthur Meighen, (born March 25, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, cultural patron, and former senator. He practised as a litigation and commercial lawyer in Montreal and Toronto. He is a grandson of Arthur Meighen, the ninth Prime Minister o ...
(1974–1977)
*
Robert C. Coates (1977–1978)
*
Peter Elzinga (1983–1986)
*
William H. Jarvis
William Herbert Jarvis (August 15, 1930 – April 26, 2016) was a Canadian politician.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Jarvis attended the London Central Collegiate Institute and the University of Western Ontario where he was a member of The Kapp ...
(1986–1989)
*
Gerry St. Germain
Gerry St. Germain (born November 6, 1937) is a former Canadian politician. St. Germain served as a Conservative senator for British Columbia and previously served as a Member of Parliament.
Early life and career
Born in Manitoba of Metis ...
(1989–1995)
*
Peter Van Loan
Peter Van Loan (born April 18, 1963) is a former Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the electoral district of York—Simcoe from 2004 to 2018. He was the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons from 2007 to ...
(1999–2000)
Election results 1945–2000
See also
*
Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. Prior to then the party's leader was chosen by the caucus or in several cases by the Governor General of Cana ...
*
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
*
Conservative Party of Canada
*
Conservative parties in Canada
This is a list of conservative parties in Canada. There are a number of conservative parties in Canada, a country that has traditionally been dominated by two political parties, one liberal and one conservative. The span between the 2015 Newfoun ...
*
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 ...
*
Politics of Canada
The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. In pr ...
*
Prime Ministers of Canada
*
Official Opposition (Canada)
Majesty's Loyal Opposition (french: L'Opposition Loyale de Sa Majesté), or simply the Official Opposition (french: L'Opposition officielle, links=no), is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons, either on its ...
References
Further reading
* Perlin, George C. ''The Tory Syndrome: Leadership Politics in the Progressive Conservative Party''. Montréal, Qué.: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1980.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Progressive Conservative Party Of Canada
1942 establishments in Canada
2003 disestablishments in Canada
Political parties established in 1867
Political parties disestablished in 2003
Defunct political parties in Canada
Organizations based in Ottawa
Progressive conservatism