Canadian Alliance

Canadian Alliance, Canadian political party that espoused populist conservative positions, including a low rate of taxation, limited immigration, and increased control of government programs by the provinces. It was formed in 2000 by the merger of the Reform Party and several smaller conservative groups. In 2003 the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

Founded in 1987 by Preston Manning, the Reform Party leaped to prominence in the 1993 parliamentary election, gaining 52 seats in the Canadian House of Commons. Reform candidates ran well in western Canada, winning in a majority of districts in British Columbia and Alberta. Nationally, the party received about 18 percent of the popular vote. Most of its victories came at the expense of the Progressive Conservative Party, which lost 151 seats and was displaced as the governing party by the Liberals.

The Reform Party continued to gain a following. In the 1997 parliamentary election it won 60 seats in the House of Commons, becoming the official opposition party to the Liberal Party. As the new opposition, the Reform Party supported tax cuts, increased funding for health care, and national unity—it opposed any move by Québec to secede from Canada.

In an attempt to strengthen its national presence and its chances of winning control of the federal government, the Reform Party voted in March 2000 to fold into a new political party, the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, more commonly called the Canadian Alliance. In July Stockwell Day, a former preacher, was elected to lead the party. In the 2000 parliamentary election the Canadian Alliance won 66 seats in the House of Commons. The party gained additional seats in the western provinces, solidifying its position as the official opposition. However, the party failed to establish a national presence, winning few votes from the eastern provinces.

By merging with the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003, members of the Canadian Alliance hoped to establish the newly formed Conservative Party as a national political force. In March 2004 the Conservative Party elected Stephen Harper, a former activist in the Reform Party, as its leader.

At the same time the Liberal Party government, led by Prime Minister Paul Martin, continued to struggle with a corruption scandal that preceded Martin’s government. In November 2005 Martin’s government lost a confidence vote, forcing new elections. Two months later, the Conservatives captured 124 seats in Parliament to defeat the Liberals (who won 103 seats). The Conservative Party subsequently formed a minority government, with Harper as the country’s new prime minister.