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 movement that eventually became a populist conservative party, with strong Christian right influence and social conservative elements. It was initially motivated by the perceived need for democratic reforms and by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party).

Led by its founder Preston Manning throughout its existence, Reform was considered a populist movement that rapidly gained popularity and momentum in Western Canada. In 1989, the party won its first-ever seat in the House of Commons before making a major electoral breakthrough in the 1993 federal election, when it successfully supplanted the PCs as the largest conservative party in Canada. In opposition, the party advocated for spending restraint, tax cuts, restrictions on immigration, and wider reform of Canada's political institutions. The party also generated controversy for statements made by its members on immigration, LGBT issues and Quebec. In the 1997 federal election, the party attempted to make a national breakthrough by running candidates in all provinces and territories. Although they became the Official Opposition, a Liberal victory and disappointment with the lack of Eastern seats led many members to question the future direction of the party.

In an attempt to move beyond its Western Canadian regionalist base and broaden the party's platform in order to encompass ideas from Eastern Canada, the party changed its name to the Canadian Alliance in 2000, which merged with the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003 to form the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada.

Overview

The Reform Party was founded in 1987 as an effort to give a voice to Western Canadian interests. Preston Manning, the son of former Alberta Premier Ernest Manning, was elected the party's first leader.

With the collapse of the 1984–1993 PC electoral coalition of Westerners, rural Ontarians, and Quebec nationalists, the Reform Party's fortunes rose. It first entered Parliament in 1989, when Deborah Grey won a by-election in the rural Alberta riding of Beaver River, more than tripling her vote total from the 1988 general election.

The party achieved a major breakthrough in the 1993 federal election, when it jumped to 52 seats, just two behind the Bloc Québécois, which became the Official Opposition. Reform actually finished second to the Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, in the nationwide popular vote, due almost entirely to a strong showing in the West; virtually all PC support in Western Canada, particularly in rural areas, transferred to Reform. However, the Bloc's concentration of support in Quebec was slightly larger, allowing it to just nose out Reform for Official Opposition status. Nevertheless, the Liberals reckoned Reform as their main opposition on all other issues that were not specific to Quebec. Also, when Bloc leader Lucien Bouchard's position as Leader of the Opposition granted him a meeting with visiting US President Bill Clinton, Manning was also given a meeting with Clinton in order to defuse Bouchard's separatist leverage.

Reform's platform and policies emphasized the rights and responsibilities of the individual, Senate and other democratic reforms in addition to smaller, more fiscally responsible government. However, the party came under persistent partisan attack of being extremist and intolerant due to a number of statements by Reform MPs which were considered racist, homophobic, and sexist. In the 1997 election, Reform made only minor gains, but did manage to become the Official Opposition.

Nonetheless, the party still failed to present a true challenge to the Liberal government, since its agenda was seen as too extreme for the liking of Central and Atlantic Canada. A notable exception was rural Central Ontario, an area that was almost as socially conservative as Reform's Western heartland. However, due to massive vote splitting with the PCs, this support only translated into one seat in Ontario during Reform's 1993 breakthrough—the only seat that the party ever won east of Manitoba. That seat was lost in 1997.

Demand for unity by the right encouraged Manning to promote a new movement, the "United Alternative," to create a small-"c" conservative alternative to the Liberals. Manning blamed "conservative" vote splitting for keeping the Liberals in power, although some polls showed that the Liberals were the second choice of many PC voters (especially in Ontario). Manning's efforts created a strong debate in the Reform Party, and he would even write a letter to the effect that he did not want to lead Reform anymore, but would only lead the new party. Manning won a leadership review, with over 75% support quelling opposition to him.

In 2000, following the second of the two United Alternative conventions, the party voted to dissolve in favour of a new party, the "Canadian Conservative Reform Alliance" (commonly called the Canadian Alliance), a declaration of policy, and a new constitution. On April 2, 2000, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada granted the Reform Party's applications to change its name and logo (retroactive to March 27, 2000), over the objections of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Canadian Action Party. The newly-named party's platform was a mixture of the PC and Reform platforms. However, it was largely seen as merely a renamed and enlarged Reform Party. Former Reform members dominated the newly-named party, and the Reform caucus in the Commons essentially became the Alliance caucus (with a few exceptions). Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney called the party "Reform in pantyhose," and some opponents referred to the party as the "Reform Alliance" to reinforce this perception.

At the party's first leadership convention after being renamed, Manning was defeated in favour of the younger, more charismatic Stockwell Day, longtime treasurer of Alberta. One Progressive Conservative senator, Gerry St. Germain, joined the newly-named party in October 2000, becoming the Alliance's only member of the Senate.

In the fall of 2000, the Liberals called a snap election that caught the Alliance off-guard. Nonetheless, the party went into the election with great hopes, campaigning on tax cuts, an end to the federal gun registration program, and their vision of "family values." Day was expected to have greater appeal to Ontario voters. At one point, the Alliance was at 30.5% in the polls, and some thought they could win the election, or at least knock the Liberals down to a minority government. However, the Liberals responded by accusing the Alliance of having a "hidden agenda" (introducing two-tier health care, threatening gay rights and abortion rights) which the party denied.

Though disappointed with the election results in Ontario, the Alliance increased its presence to 66 MPs, including two MPs from Ontario, and remained the Official Opposition. Nationally, the party increased its popular vote to 25%. The Liberals increased their large majority mostly at the expense of the NDP, and the Tories under Joe Clark lost many seats and remained in fifth place, but Clark was elected in Calgary Centre in the middle of Alliance country, so the overall political landscape was not significantly changed.

However, the Alliance failure to win more than the two seats in Ontario, along with residual resentments from the Alliance leadership contest and questions about Day's competence, led to caucus infighting. In the spring of 2001, eleven MPs who either voluntarily resigned or were expelled from the party formed the "Independent Alliance Caucus." The group was led by Chuck Strahl and included Grey. Day offered the dissidents an amnesty at the end of the summer, but seven of them, including Grey and Strahl, turned it down and formed their own parliamentary grouping, the Democratic Representative Caucus. The DRC formed a coalition with Clark's Tories in the House, which was widely seen as an attempt by Clark to reunite the Canadian right on his terms. The split forced Day to call a new leadership convention, where, in April 2002, Stephen Harper defeated Day to become the new Alliance leader and Leader of the Official Opposition.

Once Harper assumed the leadership, most of the rebellious MPs rejoined the Alliance party. Two MPs did not rejoin, however: Inky Mark chose to remain outside of caucus, and eventually joined the Tories, and the scandal-plagued Jim Pankiw was rejected when he applied for readmission to the Alliance caucus.

Policies

A cornerstone of the Reform Party's agenda was the rejection of the belief that Canada is a divided country, with division existing between English and French Canada. Instead,_Preston_Manning_called_for_a_"New_Canada"_with_a_new_identity_that_would_solve_existing_problems,_stating_in_his_book_''The_New_Canada''_(1992):

The_leaders_of_Canada's_traditional_federal_parties_continue_to_think_of_our_country_as_"an_equal_partnership_between_two_founding_races,_the_English_and_French"—a_federation_of_founding_peoples_and_ethnic_groups_distinguished_by_official_bilingualism,_government-sponsored_multiculturalism,_and_government_enterprise._The_approach_to_national_unity_is_to_grant_special_status_to_those_Canadians_who_feel_constitutionally_or_otherwise_disadvantaged._This_is_Old_Canada—and_it_has_become_"a_house_divided_against_itself."Manning,_1992._Pviii.

Reformers_seek_a_New_Canada—a_Canada_which_may_be_defined_as_"a_balanced,_democratic_federation_of_provinces,_distinguished_by_the_sustainability_of_its_environment,_the_viability_of_its_economy,_the_acceptance_of_its_social_responsibilities,_and_the_recognition_of_the_equality_and_uniqueness_of_all_of_its_citizens_and_provinces."_New_Canada_must_include_a_new_deal_for_aboriginal_peoples_and_a_new_Senate_to_address_the_problem_of_regional_alienation._New_Canada_must_be_workable_without_Quebec,_but_it_must_be_open_and_attractive_enough_to_include_a_New_Quebec.

The_Reform_Party_saw_the_Canadian_federal_government_as_led_by_the_ Instead,_Preston_Manning_called_for_a_"New_Canada"_with_a_new_identity_that_would_solve_existing_problems,_stating_in_his_book_''The_New_Canada''_(1992):

The_leaders_of_Canada's_traditional_federal_parties_continue_to_think_of_our_country_as_"an_equal_partnership_between_two_founding_races,_the_English_and_French"—a_federation_of_founding_peoples_and_ethnic_groups_distinguished_by_official_bilingualism,_government-sponsored_multiculturalism,_and_government_enterprise._The_approach_to_national_unity_is_to_grant_special_status_to_those_Canadians_who_feel_constitutionally_or_otherwise_disadvantaged._This_is_Old_Canada—and_it_has_become_"a_house_divided_against_itself."Manning,_1992._Pviii.

Reformers_seek_a_New_Canada—a_Canada_which_may_be_defined_as_"a_balanced,_democratic_federation_of_provinces,_distinguished_by_the_sustainability_of_its_environment,_the_viability_of_its_economy,_the_acceptance_of_its_social_responsibilities,_and_the_recognition_of_the_equality_and_uniqueness_of_all_of_its_citizens_and_provinces."_New_Canada_must_include_a_new_deal_for_aboriginal_peoples_and_a_new_Senate_to_address_the_problem_of_regional_alienation._New_Canada_must_be_workable_without_Quebec,_but_it_must_be_open_and_attractive_enough_to_include_a_New_Quebec.

The_Reform_Party_saw_the_Canadian_federal_government_as_led_by_the_Liberal_Party_of_Canada">Liberal_
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