I.

Introduction

Conservative Party, Canadian political party formed in 2003 from the merger of two older parties, the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance. The new party’s members and supporters are known as Conservatives or Tories. The Conservative Party took power in Canada after parliamentary elections in early 2006. (For information on the history of the Canadian Alliance, see the article with that title.)

II.

Formation of the Party

The Progressive Conservative Party developed in largely French-speaking Canada East (now Québec) and English-speaking Canada West (now Ontario) in the 1850s when both were part of the British colony of Canada. From the beginning the party was defined by cautious loyalty to traditional authorities and interests, and in particular to the monarchy of Britain and the traditions of British Toryism.

In 1854 the more moderate members of a reform movement in Canada East joined with English-speaking Conservatives to form a coalition government for the province of Canada, which was a union of Canada East and Canada West. The new group was called the Liberal-Conservative Party, a name that can be confusing because the labels liberal and conservative typically stand for opposite poles of political thinking. In many countries each of these poles is represented by a major party. Eventually this would be true in Canada: the Liberal-Conservatives gradually dropped Liberal from their name, seldom using it after the 1870s, and a new Liberal Party formed to oppose them. In 1942 the Conservatives added Progressive to their name in an effort to appeal to reformist sentiments among voters.

Throughout Canadian history, the Progressive Conservative Party tended to stress national economic development, economic protectionism, and central management of the Canadian state. However, like their primary rivals the Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives demonstrated few consistent positions in national affairs. Rather, the party’s positions were fluid over time, directed more by opportunism than by principle.

III.

John A. Macdonald

At the time of Confederation, when the Dominion of Canada came into existence, the party was headed by John A. Macdonald. Macdonald became the first prime minister of the dominion on July 1, 1867. Under his leadership the Conservatives were the dominant Canadian political party for the remainder of the 19th century. In cooperation with business, the party dedicated itself to the economic development of a largely unpopulated country. It was guided by Macdonald’s National Policy, which imposed high tariffs (taxes on imported goods) to protect the developing industries of central Canada. Government revenues were used to support a transcontinental railroad to link Canada from sea to sea. As the party of Confederation and national union, the Conservatives were able to build support in the Maritime provinces and the Canadian west. The party also used patronage, the spreading of political favors, to build support.

Macdonald remained the dominant figure in Canadian politics until his death in 1891 despite mixed economic results from the high tariffs, and scandals, one of which caused his government to lose power in 1873. After an interlude of Liberal government, he was reelected in 1878 and held the prime minister’s office for the remainder of his life. In this second Macdonald government, the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, tying the nation together across the breadth of the continent.

The Conservative government outlasted Macdonald by five years, but in 1896 the Liberals gained the prime ministership. By the beginning of the 20th century, the fortunes of the Conservative Party had declined from the status and influence it had enjoyed in the first decades after Confederation.

IV.

Sir Robert Borden

The Conservative Party did not come back into power until 1911, when Sir Robert Borden became prime minister. Borden continued to work on reforming the civil service, which the Liberals had begun, by expanding the scheme of advancement based on merit rather than tenure. However, Borden differed from the Liberals on naval policy and made no attempt to implement their Naval Service Act, which would have created a Canadian navy. The Conservative position was adapted to win the support of French Canadian nationalists who opposed military support for Britain.

Midway through World War I (1914-1918), Borden decided that Canada could fight the war better with a united federal government. The Conservatives and some Liberals formed a coalition, the Union Government of 1917 to 1920, which led Canada through the remainder of the war. During the war, Borden imposed nationwide conscription (drafting men to be soldiers) and direct federal taxation to support the war effort. He also nationalized some debt-plagued railroads. After the war, Borden led the Canadian delegation to the peace conference in 1919, where he was largely responsible for gaining increased international recognition of Canada’s autonomy. He retired from office in 1920.

V.

The Liberal Era, 1921-1957

After the war, the Conservative Party lost support among Canadian voters. The conscription issue had angered many French Canadians, who believed the war was a result of British ambition for world power. Relatively weak support from French Canadians was a problem that the party struggled to overcome ever since. The party also suffered from its policies favoring nationalization of railroads and high tariffs, which alienated western Canada. The Liberal Party ran the federal government for most of the next 40 years. Even though a Liberal government introduced conscription in World War II (1939-1945), the Conservatives were perceived in Québec as being the most enthusiastic supporters of that policy. As a result, the party was unable to gain support among French Canadians.

VI.

John Diefenbaker

It was not until 1958 that the party—now called the Progressive Conservative Party—again succeeded in developing broad-based national support. In the 1957 election, the party won more seats than any other party in the House of Commons, and John Diefenbaker of Saskatchewan became prime minister. He led his party to an unprecedented victory in the 1958 elections, when it won 208 seats in the House of Commons. Diefenbaker was able to expand the party’s electoral base in the west as well as in Québec.

Diefenbaker’s policies were not fully coherent, but he possessed great rhetorical gifts and was able to appeal successfully to Canadian nationalism. Diefenbaker demonstrated moral leadership in his efforts to guarantee certain rights for all Canadians. His federal Bill of Rights was introduced to Parliament in 1958 and was passed into law in 1960. He also secured the federal vote for Canada’s indigenous peoples. Internationally, he was a leader in condemning racial segregation in South Africa. The economy suffered setbacks, however, and this contributed to an electoral defeat in 1963 that put the Progressive Conservatives out of power almost continuously until 1984. Their widespread support in the west nevertheless continued until 1993.

VII.

Brian Mulroney

In 1984 the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney were elected to power with a record majority in the House of Commons, due largely to the unpopularity of the long-standing Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau. Mulroney himself was initially a popular leader. He expanded the party’s electoral base in Québec, where his home was, and reassured the party’s western and right-wing elements.

In 1987 Mulroney orchestrated the Meech Lake Accord, a series of constitutional amendments designed to satisfy Québec’s demand for recognition as a unique nationality within Canada. It contained concessions to Québec that were also extended to the other provincial governments to secure their approval. It also contained a clause identifying Québec as a “distinct society.” Although this term was undefined, it offended many English Canadians because it seemed to grant Québec a special status over the other provinces. Because of this and other objections to the accord, it was not ratified by the provinces. This failure led to another attempt, the Charlottetown Accord, which failed a national referendum in October 1992.

Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives were reelected in 1988 on the promise of free trade with the United States. He went on to achieve the most comprehensive Canadian-American free trade agreement yet concluded, the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1992. In his second term, however, Mulroney increasingly came to be viewed by many voters as an opportunist without any core political principles. He resigned in 1993.

VIII.

Kim Campbell

Mulroney turned the party over to Kim Campbell, who became, albeit briefly, Canada’s first female prime minister. In the general election of 1993, the Progressive Conservative Party was defeated dramatically, winning only two seats in Canada’s House of Commons. Voters appeared to be reacting against a number of Progressive Conservative policies. Prime among these were the party’s introduction of an unpopular national sales tax and its support of the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. Campbell had supported the distinct society concept for Québec during the 1993 campaign.

IX.

Conservative Unification

After an electoral defeat of such magnitude, virtually unparalleled in developed industrial democracies, the future of the Progressive Conservative Party was in doubt. Many of the party’s constituencies appeared to have permanently shifted their support to other parties, most notably the Canadian Alliance, a populist conservative party based in Canada’s western provinces.

Jean Charest, one of the two Progressive Conservatives elected in 1993, became party leader after the election. Under Charest’s leadership, the Progressive Conservatives showed a recovery in the 1997 election, winning 20 seats. However, these seats were largely confined to the Atlantic provinces. Charest resigned his seat in the Canadian House of Commons in March 1998 to become leader of the Québec Liberal Party after Daniel Johnson resigned as leader of that party. After Charest’s departure, Joe Clark, a former Progressive Conservative prime minister who served briefly from 1979 to 1980, was elected leader of the party.

In the November 2000 elections the Progressive Conservatives won just 12 seats in Parliament, the minimum required for the party to retain representation in the House of Commons. At the same time, the Canadian Alliance solidified its position as the leading party of the right in Canada.

In 2003 the Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party, unifying the most powerful conservative groups in Canadian politics. Led by Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party became the official opposition in Parliament. A small group of former Progressive Conservatives rejected the merger, however, and formed the breakaway Progressive Canadian party.

X.

Taking Power

In 2004 the party began attacking Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal Party government, criticizing the Liberals for a financial scandal dating to the government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in the late 1990s. Amid mounting pressure, Martin’s government lost a confidence vote in November 2005, forcing new parliamentary elections. In the January 2006 elections the Conservatives won 124 seats in Parliament compared to 103 for the Liberal Party (out of 308 total seats in the House of Commons). Harper replaced Martin as prime minister, ending 12 years of Liberal governance in Canada.

The rise of the Conservative Party is a significant development in Canadian politics, but it is unclear how much of a legislative mandate the party can claim. During his campaign Harper pledged to lower taxes, implement tougher gun laws, and improve government efficiency and accountability. Harper also spoke out against recently passed legislation that legalized gay marriage in Canada. Lacking a majority in Parliament, however, Harper and the Conservatives may have a difficult time achieving all of their goals while remaining popular enough to stay in power.