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120-584: On February 4, 2014, in response to 38 recommendations by Canada's Chief Electoral Officer, the government of Stephen Harper introduced the Fair Elections Act. The provisions of the bill were opposed by all opposition parties and, in testimony, the Chief Electoral Officer criticized the bill as "[undermining] its stated purpose." Shortly thereafter, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau vowed to repeal

240-676: A Triple-E Senate . The Senate of Canada would become a democratically elected chamber (then and now, the Senate continues to be an appointed body, appointments are still made by the Governor General, but now following the list offered by the Prime Minister) and each province would have an equal number of seats, so that no province would have more power than another. A Triple-E Senate was highly popular in Western Canada, especially Alberta, where

360-452: A de facto elected Senate without changing the constitution. Harper's Senate appointments and reform proposals were criticized for failing to address the balance of seats among provinces, possibly being unconstitutional, and for running contrary to the spirit of his previous pledges for an elected senate. Harper argued that, without appointing senators, the Liberals would have continued to enjoy

480-403: 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

600-495: A Western-based political party to being a national party. However, it excluded candidates from Quebec, as there was little support from francophone Quebecers for Reform's opposition to distinct society for Quebec. However, Manning did not dispel the possibility of Reform naturally expanding into Quebec in the early 1990s, as in his 1992 book, The New Canada , Manning credits the populist reform tradition in Canada as not having begun in

720-459: A bigoted customer, and following Reform MP David Chatters ' remark that it would be acceptable for a school to prevent a homosexual person from teaching in school, a crisis erupted in the Reform Party caucus after Manning did not censure their comments. MPs Jan Brown and Jim Silye demanded that Manning reprimand Ringma and Chatters, threatening that they and other moderate Reformers would leave

840-471: A bilingual country had not worked and that language policy should be a provincial issue. Reformers criticized government-sponsored multiculturalism for creating a "hyphenated Canadian" identity, rather than a single Canadian identity . The party's platform called to an end to government initiatives to promote multiculturalism in Canada. The Reform Party differed greatly with other major federal political parties in regards to national unity, as it did not treat

960-773: 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

1080-600: A crucial 2005 Commons showdown. The suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice did not name Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion or MPs Ralph Goodale and Michael Ignatieff —whom Harper had also threatened to sue. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2009 with both parties not disclosing the terms of settlement. Dona Cadman said that prior to the May 2005 budget vote, Tom Flanagan and Doug Finley, two Conservative Party officials, offered her husband, Chuck Cadman,

1200-511: A fringe element, and none of its 72 candidates won election. However, the party ran second to the governing Tories in many Western ridings and earned 2.1% of the total national vote. The party clearly identified itself as a Western-based political party in 1988 with its slogan "The West Wants In". The party advocated controversial policies such as its opposition to official bilingualism and multiculturalism and its opposition for distinct society status for Quebec which all mainstream political parties at

1320-508: A larger minority government in 2008 and a majority government in 2011 . In the 2015 federal election , Harper's Conservatives lost power to a Liberal majority government under Justin Trudeau . From Canadian Confederation until the 1993 election , the Liberal Party 's control has been the rule of who was in power in Canada, with short-lived Conservative governments to break up their long stretches of governance. Stephen Harper, then

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1440-435: A letter to the constituency association which called for all candidates to accept the Reform Party's denouncement of racism and demanded that Collins accept this. Collins and his supporters refused, and he subsequently failed to win the nomination. In 1993, Manning was again confronted by an example of intolerance by a Reform Party candidate, John Beck, who made a series of anti-immigrant remarks in an interview with Excalibur,

1560-454: A majority in the senate despite lacking popular support, the senate would become less and less able to function, and all of his appointees agreed to resign and seek election to the senate should his reform proposals pass. Harper launched a lawsuit on March 13, 2008, against the Liberal Party of Canada over statements published on the party's website concerning the Chuck Cadman affair. This

1680-481: A member of Parliament, and political scientist Tom Flanagan described this as "a benign dictatorship, not under a strict one-party rule, but under a one-party-plus system beset by the factionalism, regionalism and cronyism that accompany any such system". In 1993, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced from a majority government to fifth place and two seats in the House of Commons. They were displaced by

1800-497: A message saying that Quebec politicians had dominated the federal government for too long and that Reform would end this favouritism towards Quebec. The other party leaders harshly criticized the advertisement and Manning was accused of being "intolerant" and a "bigot" for permitting the advertisement to be aired. Manning however has not held a public negative view of Quebec; in his 1992 book, The New Canada , he complimented Quebec for being open to populist third parties, mentioning

1920-477: A million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government. Harper's government introduced 9 budgets. The 2011 budget was not passed prior to the calling of the 2011 general election , but was adopted soon afterward. Starting in 2008, each of his budgets ran a substantial deficit as a result of the 2008 global recession. Budgetary equilibrium returned in 2013, earlier than it

2040-416: A motion was passed saying that the Reform Party recognized the equality of every individual, but only after the delegates demanded that the words "without discrimination" be removed from the motion. The 1995 convention controversially called for the removal of group specification in all human rights legislation which was accepted in the convention by a 93 percent vote in favour. Another controversial motion in

2160-607: A number of issues were considered highly intolerant by onlookers. In 1991, Manning was humiliated at a Reform Party rally when a supporter praised him in racist terms, saying, "You're a fine white person. You know, we are letting in too many people from the Third World, the low blacks, the low Hispanics. They're going to take over the province." Later in the same rally, another supporter stood up and said, "Let them [Quebeckers] go. We don't need Quebec." Long-time Progressive Conservative member and political commentator Dalton Camp observed

2280-495: A package of proposed constitutional amendments, called the Meech Lake Accord , failed to meet the needs of Westerners and Canadian unity overall. The Reform Party was founded as a western-based populist party to promote reform of democratic institutions. However, shortly after the 1987 founding convention, social and fiscal conservatives became dominant within the party, moving it to the right . Their political aims were

2400-405: A policy pamphlet called Blue Sheet that was issued in mid-1991 stating that Reformers opposed "any immigration based on race or creed or designed to radically or suddenly alter the ethnic makeup of Canada". The statement was considered too controversial and subsequent Reform Party policy documents did not declare any similar concern for a radical alteration of the ethnic make-up of Canada. By 1993,

2520-481: A ready contractor in Winnipeg , Manitoba . To Reformers, these events served as evidence that Liberals and Progressive Conservatives consistently favoured Eastern Canada at the expense of Western Canada. The Reform Party called for a decentralized Canadian federation in which the provinces would have more authority and advocated that the Canadian federal government ensure provincial equality in Canada such as by creating

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2640-481: A reduction in government spending on social programs, and reductions in taxation. Though largely a fringe party in 1987, by 1990 the party had made huge inroads in public support as support for Mulroney's PC party dropped due to the unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST), high unemployment, and the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. In 1992, leader Preston Manning released a book called The New Canada explaining

2760-500: A revival of grassroots democratic populism is to be characteristic of the revitalization of Canadian federal politics of the 1990s, especially in Quebec and the West, it is of primary importance that its leaders be well versed in ways and means of preventing populism from developing racist or other extremist overtones. (This, of course, is also the number-one challenge facing those attempting to lead

2880-521: A series of high-profile scandals, all contributed to the implosion of the Progressive Conservative "grand coalition" in the 1993 election . The Progressive Conservatives suffered the worst defeat ever for a governing party at the federal level, falling from 151 to only two seats, while the Liberals under Jean Chrétien won a majority government. The Reform Party's success in 1993 was related to

3000-439: 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

3120-532: A two-tier private and public health insurance system. Preston Manning asserted however that the Reform Party was committed to ensuring that all Canadians would be able to access health insurance and health services. The Reform Party supported a classical liberal economic plan including support for free trade and the North American Free Trade Agreement . The Reform Party supported significant tax cuts for citizens and businesses and opposed

3240-405: Is destructive to the individual, and in the long run, society". The Reform Party advocated an immigration policy based solely on the economic needs of Canada and differed from the other main parties by calling for more restrictions on immigration and for an annual limit on migration into Canada. Reform's early policy proposals for immigration were seen as highly controversial in Canada including

3360-490: Is known formally as " Her Majesty's Government". The term Harperism was coined and used by some in the Canadian media to describe the Harper's policies and style during his premiership. The term has been used pejoratively to describe what some see as Harper's authoritarian approach to his cabinet and in the prorogation of the 40th Canadian parliament . The federal governments of Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper fulfilled

3480-479: Is not revolutionary and the government of Canada is behind compared to other nations and even some provinces." In 2011 Stephen Harper violated copyright when he sang the song " Imagine " without permission of the owner in a video that was later uploaded to YouTube . As a result, the video was removed by request of Yoko Ono ’s publishing company. Although Canada's 2012 Copyright Modernization Act permits non-profit performances of copyrighted songs like "Imagine", it

3600-573: Is still not legal to upload recordings of such performances to the Internet. While Her Majesty's Governments of various political stripes have traditionally used the term "Government of Canada" to describe the government in its communications materials, the Harper government broke that tradition for two extended periods. From taking office in February 2006 until October 2007, the government was branded " Canada's New Government " and from late-2010 to mid-2011 it

3720-642: The 2006 federal election The scandal was known as the In and Out scandal . Parliamentary hearings into the issue led to a deadlocking of various committees, and then to the snap election in 2008 . On 6 March 2012, charges were dropped as part of a plea deal in which the Conservative Party of Canada and its fundraising arm pleaded guilty to exceeding election spending limits and submitting fraudulent election records, and agreed to repay $ 230,198.00 for its role in violating Canadian election spending laws. In February 2012,

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3840-825: The Bloc Populaire Canadien , the Ralliement créditiste du Québec , the Parti Québécois , and the Bloc Québécois as examples of populist third parties in the province. In May 1987, a conference called "A Western Assembly on Canada's Economic and Political Future" was held in Vancouver , British Columbia . This conference led to the formation of the Reform Party in Winnipeg in October of that year. The party's founding occurred as

3960-583: 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,

4080-724: The Canada Elections Act , and sentenced to nine months in prison. Although the majority of Conservative seats were from the Western provinces, the majority of names which Harper put forward to the Governor General for appointment as Cabinet Ministers were from Ontario and Quebec, in the interests of regional balance. The new Conservative Cabinet was substantially smaller than the prior Martin government because it initially did away with junior ministers (known as Ministers of State , and previously Secretaries of State). Several pundits in

4200-518: The Canadian Alliance (the successor party to the Reform Party) in 2002. In 2003, Harper and Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay agreed to merge their parties into the new Conservative Party of Canada. Harper was elected leader of the new party in 2004. In the 2004 election , the Liberals were reduced to a minority government due to a government spending scandal and the success of

4320-672: 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

4440-467: The Department of Indian Affairs and transferring its responsibilities directly to Aboriginal governing bodies to lessen Aboriginal peoples' dependence on the federal government. The Reform Party strongly opposed extending marriage rights to gays and lesbians . Many members of the Reform Party saw homosexuality as a moral wrong. Reform leader Preston Manning himself once publicly stated that "homosexuality

4560-564: The Francophone province of Quebec in a unique manner. Instead, it believed Quebec was just one province of Canada, all of which were equal and none having a special status. Unlike the other parties, Reform did not believe that Quebec secession should be sought to be avoided at all costs and by all means, because the party believed that this amounted to favouritism to Quebec. Reformers believed that Canada could continue to exist without Quebec, but hoped that offers of decentralization would satisfy

4680-475: The Goods and Services Tax (GST). In the 1993 federal election , Reform pledged to eliminate Canada's chronic budget deficit within a period of three years. However, the Liberals won a majority government and pledged to eliminate the deficit too, though with a more moderate approach. The Reform Party called for major changes in the federal government's relations with Aboriginal peoples, which included dismantling

4800-503: The National Energy Program of the 1980s, introduced by a federal Liberal government, involved major government intervention into Canada's energy markets to regulate prices, resulting in economic losses to Alberta and benefits to Eastern Canada. It also cited the 1986 decision by a federal Progressive Conservative government to contract the construction of CF-18 military aircraft to an unprepared contractor in Quebec rather than

4920-662: The Reform Party of Canada in Western Canada , the Bloc Québécois in Québec , and the Liberals throughout the country due to vote splitting . Harper was elected in 1993 as a Reform MP. He resigned before the 1997 election and became an advocate of the Unite the Right movement, which argued for a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Reform Parties. Harper went on to win the leadership of

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5040-628: The Robocall scandal emerged regarding attempts at voter suppression targeting non-Conservative voters in 200 ridings during the 2011 election. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Elections Canada investigated the calls but ultimately did not refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions . Michael Sona (a Conservative campaign worker in the riding of Guelph ) was later found guilty of one count of willfully preventing or endeavoring to prevent an elector from voting in an election, an offence under

5160-517: The Senate . 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 majority 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 regional base and broaden its platform to encompass ideas from Eastern Canada ,

5280-473: The York University student paper. York students confronted Manning with the remarks, and within an hour, Beck was forced to withdraw his candidacy. Reform Members of Parliament (MP) such as Deborah Grey joined Manning in denouncing such intolerant people who joined the party. Reform MPs Jan Brown and Stephen Harper (who would later become Prime Minister) went against the majority of Reform delegates at

5400-425: The confidence of the House of Commons. The Harper government often relied on the official opposition Liberal caucus abstaining in whole or in part in order to allow confidence measures to pass. The government lost its first confidence vote on a Liberal sponsored censure motion on March 25, 2011, prompting Harper to seek dissolution and the calling of the 2011 general election. The principal motions of confidence in

5520-418: The right to strike from Canadian public service workers as purported solutions to the effects in Canada of the global economic crisis . Outraged opposition parties formed a coalition intending to call a vote of non-confidence that would have toppled the Harper government, but he avoided the impending vote of non-confidence by asking the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until January 26, 2009. Following

5640-505: The 1994 Reform convention in Ottawa and was personally disgusted with what he heard, saying, "The speechifying gives off acrid whiffs of xenophobia, homophobia, and paranoia—like an exhaust—in which it seems clear both orator and audience have been seized by some private terror: immigrants, lesbians, people out of work or from out of town and criminals." During the Reform Party policy convention in 1995, Manning urged members to avoid extremism, and

5760-401: The 1994 party convention by refusing to support a motion that called for the party to oppose the allowance of homosexual couples to be treated the same as heterosexual couples. In 1996, after Reform MP Bob Ringma stated in a newspaper interview that store owners should be free to move gays and "ethnics" "to the back of the shop," or even to fire them if the presence of that individual offended

5880-451: The 1995 convention called for tighter regulation of people infected with HIV, which was supported by 84 percent of the delegates. One Reformer delegate raised concern that such a policy on HIV would make the party look anti-homosexual, but another delegate responded to this by saying "I did not join the Reform Party to bow down at the altar of political correctness." The Reform Party was plagued by an influx of intolerant people who supported

6000-427: 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,

6120-582: The Canadian House of Commons are matters of supply (motions and bills concerning the budget and spending government monies) and the motion in reply to the Speech from the Throne . The government may also designate any vote to be a matter of confidence, and opposition parties may introduce motions that explicitly express a lack of confidence in the government. During this period of Harper's tenureship, he began to increase

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6240-421: The Chief Electoral Officer's delegation authority; eases administrative requirements to hiring of election officers, and towards information sharing within the government regarding non-citizens; allows the voter identification card received by electors prior to an election as valid id for voting; ends signature requirements for advance voting; reorganizes the office of Commissioner of Canada Elections, and gives them

6360-450: 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." Reformers seek

6480-422: The Harper government kept 85 percent of complete and partial pledges. When only completed, realized pledges were calculated, Harper's government, in their last year, kept 77 percent of promises while the Liberal government kept 53.5 percent. The book notes that Harper's pledges tended towards transactional pledges which target sub-populations while Trudeau's government's promises were transformative. Harper chose

6600-486: 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

6720-518: 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

6840-465: The Mulroney government made another attempt at amending Canada's constitution . The Charlottetown Accord was even more ambitious than the Meech Lake Accord , but it failed to win support in a nationwide referendum . The Reform Party was one of the few groups to oppose the accord. The constitutional debacle, unpopular initiatives such as the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST), together with

6960-565: The Mulroney government's tax increases and inability to reduce the budget deficit . In a 1989 by-election , Reform won its first-ever seat in the House of Commons before making a major electoral breakthrough in the 1993 federal election , when it supplanted the PCs as the largest conservative party in Canada. In opposition, the party advocated for spending restraint, tax cuts, reductions in immigration, and wider reform of Canada's political institutions such as

7080-554: The NDP tied with or surpassing the Conservatives and others show the Conservatives with a slim lead. In May 2012, the Tories dipped into second place behind the NDP, but the NDP quickly dropped again. In April 2013, the Conservatives dropped in second place in the polls behind the Liberals and their new leader Justin Trudeau . The Liberals would keep their lead until 2015. Upon the beginning of

7200-563: The Nadon appointment was invalid, and that the federal government could not unilaterally amend the Supreme Court Act . Harper subsequently nominated Clement Gascon to the position instead. Reform Party of Canada Provincial Provincial The Reform Party of Canada ( French : Parti réformiste du Canada ) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform

7320-492: The Reform Party as his father Ernest Manning had been when he purged anti-Semites from the Alberta Social Credit Party . He stated that during the 1988 election he was faced with just such an extremist, Doug Collins , who was seeking nomination as a Reform candidate. Many Reform supporters condemned Collins as being racist and said that they would leave the party if he were nominated. Manning responded by sending

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7440-529: The Reform Party drew large support. The Reform Party called for the privatization of various government services that the party believed could be better provided by the private sector. These government services included a number of state-owned corporations including Canada Post , the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , and Petro Canada . The Reform Party suggested that Canada's government-funded universal health insurance system be replaced by

7560-471: The Senate to seek election to the House of Commons. Harper had long been an advocate of an elected Senate and appointed four senators ( Bert Brown , Betty Unger , Doug Black , and Scott Tannas ) based on the result of Alberta Senate nominee elections . Harper introduced legislation to provide for elections to advise the prime minister on whom to recommend for appointment to the Senate and to cause appointed senators to serve fixed terms, to, in essence, create

7680-581: The Tories, and the scandal-plagued Jim Pankiw was rejected when he applied for readmission to the Alliance caucus. 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,

7800-616: The act, as did Thomas Mulcair , then leader of the official opposition and of the New Democratic Party . On October 19, 2015 , Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party were elected to form government in the 42nd Parliament of Canada, and proposed Bill C-33, which they would later substitute with C-76, to replace the Act. The Act imposed new spending caps on political and third parties in the period directly preceding an election (in addition to

7920-551: The appointment, citing the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 's belief that constitutional convention stipulates that a Newfoundlander should have been named to the court in the rotation of Atlantic Canadian Supreme Court representation. On October 3, 2013, Harper announced the nomination of supernumerary Federal Court of Appeals judge, Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Morris Fish . The appointment

8040-455: The authority to impose fines and file charges, and to subpoena with court approval; strengthens laws regarding foreign influence; and finally, it limits the calling of by-elections close to the general election, and makes rules for privacy against political parties/candidates. The Act directs Elections Canada to invest more to make participating in elections more accessible to people with disabilities . There are several initiatives, but perhaps

8160-469: The balance of his cabinet in order of precedence . Unlike previous Prime Ministers of Canada, Harper insisted that the Prime Minister's Office had the right to choose which reporters ask questions at press conferences, which, along with other steps aimed at limiting and controlling media access, created conflict with national media. It was reported that the Prime Minister's Office also "often [informed]

8280-496: The banner of the Reform Party of Alberta . In 1990, he became Reform's first (and only) federal Senator, remaining in office until his untimely death one year later. Waters' appointment, following his election victory, has led some to describe him as Canada's first elected Senator. In 1991 and 1992, support for Reform rose not only in Western Canada, but also in other parts of Canada as well, including Ontario . The party took note of this new support and changed its position from being

8400-547: The coalition of Western Prairie populists , Quebec nationalists , Ontario business leaders, and Atlantic Red Tories that made up Brian Mulroney 's Progressive Conservative Party began to fracture. The party was the brainchild of a group of discontented Western interest groups who were upset with the PC government and the lack of a voice for Western concerns at the national level. Leading figures in this movement included Ted Byfield , Stan Roberts , Francis Winspear , and Preston Manning . A major intellectual impetus at

8520-455: 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

8640-403: The contentious topic of western separation, which was not a serious concern as most of the delegates rejected the idea and Manning stated that he would refuse to lead a western separatist party and went on to say "We want to tell the rest of the country not that the West is leaving, but that the West is arriving." The party fought in the 1988 federal election , but was never considered more than

8760-661: The convention, Manning was unanimously named leader after Roberts left the convention in protest over the new party's finances. The party's delegates discussed a variety of topics to formulate policies such as calling for the party to endorse a Triple-E Senate amendment to be added to the Meech Lake Accord , advocating the addition of property rights into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms , and other issues such as "provincial resource rights, deficit reduction, free trade, economic diversification, welfare reform, and regional fairness in federal procurements." The convention briefly discussed

8880-416: The departure of Michel Bastarache . By and large Cromwell's nomination was well received, with many lauding the selection; however, dissent has been noted surrounding the nomination. First, Harper bypassed Parliament's Supreme Court selection panel, which was supposed to produce a list of three candidates for him to choose from. Second, Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy criticized

9000-424: The desire of the Quebec government for greater autonomy while still being equitable to all the provinces. Manning denied that he and most Reformers based their policies on intolerant views, but admitted that the party's populism had an inadvertent effect of drawing in some intolerant people whom Manning claimed he had always sought to keep out. Manning claimed that he was just as committed to purging extremists from

9120-408: The election campaign in summer 2015, the three main federal parties were neck and neck with about 30% each in most polls. The Liberals ended up edging out the other parties during the campaign, and won the 2015 Canadian federal election . For most of Harper's tenure as prime minister, he led a minority government meaning he relied on the support (or abstention) of other parties in order to maintain

9240-483: The election in October 2008, the Conservative led in all polls. The Conservatives led in every public opinion poll released from March 2010 to the election. From January to September 2009 and again from January to February 2010 several polls showed the Liberals tied with or slightly leading Harper's Conservatives. The Conservatives continued to maintain 37–39% support after the election. In March 2012, some polls showed

9360-431: The existing limitations in election periods), and required reporting by such third parties on partisan activities, advertising, and election surveying, as well as disclosure on advertising in such pre-election period; it also requires third parties maintain a separate account for aforementioned. Furthermore, the act also reduced barriers to the political process by: Finally, the act caps election periods to 50 days; limits

9480-511: 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

9600-494: The first Cabinet headed by Stephen Harper was sworn in by Governor General Michaelle Jean . Harper was invited to form the 28th Canadian Ministry and become Prime Minister of Canada following the 2006 federal election , where Harper led his Conservative Party to win a plurality of seats in the House of Commons of Canada , defeating the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin . Harper led his Conservatives to win

9720-508: The following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by the governor general: In keeping with Harper's election promise to change the appointment process , Rothstein's appointment involved a review by a parliamentary committee, following his nomination by the prime minister. Rothstein had already been short-listed, with two other candidates, by a committee convened by Paul Martin's previous Liberal government, and he

9840-423: 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,

9960-628: The majority of their campaign promises and scored highest on fulfilling their campaign promises compared to any other "Canadian government over the last 35 years", according to an August 30, 2019 publication based on research at Laval University . The 237-page publication, Assessing Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government. 353 promises and a mandate for change, includes the work of "two dozen Canadian academics". They found that Justin Trudeau's Liberal government kept 92 percent of pledges, when complete and partial pledges were added together, while

10080-579: The media about Harper's trips at such short notice that [it was] impossible for Ottawa journalists to attend the events." Before the 2011 election, the Canadian Association of Journalists wrote a letter to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics strongly criticizing the Canadian government for severely restricting access to documents that should be made available to Canadian citizens. The CAJ stated, "Open government

10200-475: The media described Harper's Cabinet as moderate, and a tempering of the Conservative Party's roots in the Canadian Alliance and Reform. Unlike his recent predecessors, Harper did not name one of his colleagues to the largely honorific post of Deputy Prime Minister . Harper did, however, name an order of succession to act on his behalf in certain circumstances, starting with Cannon, then Jim Prentice , then

10320-404: The mobilization of people who were opposed to the welfare state, but this represents only one dimension of the party's appeal. Jenkins (2002) examines the effect of issues on Reform support during the campaign and considers the actual process by which issues affected party support. Although candidates can prime or stress certain issues for voters, the priming label is sometimes misused. Jenkins makes

10440-474: The most visible was direction in 18.1 (3) for the Chief Electoral Officer to acquire and evaluate improved voting technology for use by electors with a disability. The bulk of the act came into force on June 13, 2019, but Elections Canada sped up the coming-into-force of several provisions; first on January 19, again on April 1, and finally on May 11 . Premiership of Stephen Harper The premiership of Stephen Harper began on February 6, 2006, when

10560-400: The newly united right-of-centre opposition party. Harper went on to lead the Conservatives to win a plurality of seats in the 2006 election and formed the smallest minority government in Canadian history. The Conservatives won 124 (or 40.3% of the total) seats in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2006 election while receiving 36.3% of the popular vote , and won 143 seats (or 46.4% of

10680-638: The original Blue Sheet pamphlet and controversial opinions expressed by individuals within Reform raised the question over whether Reform was intolerant to non-white people and whether the party harboured racist members. Subsequent repeated accounts of xenophobic and racist statements by individual Reform party supporters and members spread this concern, though the party itself continuously denied that it supported such views. The Reform Party declared its opposition to existing government-funded bilingualism and multiculturalism . Reformers claimed that efforts to create

10800-440: The origins of the new party and its policies, explaining his personal life and convictions, and defending some of the controversial elements of Reform's policies. The Reform Party was founded as a Western -based political party in a convention in October 1987 in Winnipeg , Manitoba led by three principal organizers including Preston Manning, former Liberal Party member Stan Roberts , and Robert Muir . On November 1, 1987, at

10920-720: The party began to soften its image as intolerant of minorities and ahead of the 1997 election sought to both recruit candidates and appeal to voters from ethnic minority backgrounds. In an updated version of the party's policy platform released as the Blue Book in 1996, Reform supported the acceptance and integration of immigrants and refugees that met the requirements of the UN 1951 Refugee Convention "regardless of race, language or culture" while calling for limits on family migration, barring non-citizens from claiming state unemployment welfare and stricter penalties against illegal immigration. However,

11040-484: The party changed its name to the Canadian Alliance in 2000. That same year, the Alliance lost an election to a third Liberal majority. In 2003, the Unite the Right movement culminated in the Alliance merging with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada . Reform's impact on the Conservative Party's leaders and policies has been significant; three of its four permanent leaders were once Reform Party members. The Reform Party

11160-501: 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

11280-462: The party if no reprimand was taken. Manning proceeded to suspend Ringma and Chatters for several months but also reprimanded Brown and Silye for speaking out against the party. Brown and Silye both subsequently left the Reform Party and later ran as Progressive Conservative candidates. In spite of official objections to intolerance by the party leadership and some Reformer MPs, comments and decisions made at party conventions by Reform Party supporters on

11400-458: 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

11520-401: 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

11640-445: The party's opposition to government-funded multicultural programs and bilingual programs. Some have claimed that the large problem of intolerance in the Reform Party was not a mere coincidence of its policies of opposing government-sponsored multicultural programs, but a deliberate effort by the party to rally such intolerant people and to push an intolerant agenda. The media focused on Reform's troubles involving intolerant people within

11760-414: The party, which made the party appear to support such intolerance. On the issue of episodes of racism and extremism within the Reform Party, Manning himself recognized the serious dangers that the political ideology of populism (which the Reform Party supported) posed should racists and extremists infiltrate it and spoke of the serious need for the party to repel such racism and extremism, saying that: If

11880-486: The popular vote in 1997 . The Conservatives have previously come very close to a majority with 37.7% of the popular vote (12 seats short) in 2008 and with 35.9% of the vote (6 seats short) in 1979. Harper led the government through the longest lasting federal minority government in Canadian history, which ended when he achieved a majority victory in 2011. From December 2006 to August 2008, the Conservatives and Liberals exchanged leads in opinion polls. From September through

12000-426: The popular vote outside of Quebec. This was only the second time in Canadian history that a federal government was formed without a substantial number of seats from Quebec. Media speculation was the Conservatives would need to win in excess of 40% of the popular vote to form a majority government , the stated goal of Harper in the 2011 election . However, the Liberal Party was able to win a majority with only 38.5% of

12120-410: 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 and Progressive Conservative parties as being consistently indifferent to Western Canada while focusing too much attention on Eastern Canada (especially Quebec ). It noted that

12240-575: The reform movements of eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.)" By 1997, the Reform Party attempted to combat distaste for its views on immigration and minority rights by selecting multiple members of ethnic minority groups as candidates in that year's federal election. As a result, multiple minorities became Reform MPs, including Rahim Jaffer (who became Canada's first Muslim Member of Parliament), Gurmant Grewal (an Indo-Canadian Sikh who had immigrated to Canada six years earlier), Deepak Obhrai (who

12360-400: The resumption of parliament, Harper introduced a new budget which was allowed to pass when members of the Liberal caucus abstained from the vote. As prime minister, Harper recommended the appointment of 38 persons to the Senate of Canada . All of these senators were members of Harper's Conservative Party. Three ( Michael Fortier , Fabian Manning , and Larry Smith ) subsequently resigned from

12480-421: The scope of what bills of the government could be considered confidence measures, reflecting the increasing willingness of the government to trigger an election based on favourable polling conditions. Harper precipitated a national controversy, which threatened to overturn his government, by fielding a spending bill in the fall of 2008 which would have stripped taxpayer funding from political parties and taken away

12600-490: 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

12720-500: The time supported. In 1989, following the sudden death of John Dahmer , PC MP for Beaver River in Alberta, the Reform Party gained its first MP when Deborah Grey won the resulting by-election . Grey had finished fourth in the 1988 election. As the party's first MP, she became Reform's deputy leader, a position she held for the remainder of the party's history. Also in 1989, Stanley Waters won Alberta's first senatorial election under

12840-425: The time was provided by Peter Brimelow 's 1986 book, The Patriot Game . They believed the West needed its own party if it was to be heard. Their main complaints against the Mulroney government were its alleged favouritism towards Quebec, lack of fiscal responsibility, and a failure to support a program of institutional reform (for example, of the Senate ). The roots of this discontent lay mainly in their belief that

12960-568: The total) in the 2008 election while receiving 37.7% of the popular vote. In the 2011 election, the Conservatives won 166 seats (54% of the total) with 39.6% of the popular vote. Conventional wisdom before the 2011 election previously held that winning a federal majority without significant support in the province of Quebec would be near impossible. The Conservatives disproved this, winning an eleven-seat majority with only five seats in Quebec. The Conservatives won considerably more popular support outside of Quebec than they did elsewhere, carrying 48% of

13080-472: The west, and mentions its early roots in the 19th century reform parties of Upper Canada (Ontario) Lower Canada (Quebec), and Nova Scotia that fought against colonial elites such as the Family Compact and Château Clique and sought to replace them with responsible governments. In addition, Manning complimented Quebec for being open to populist politics and populist third party politics. In 1992,

13200-403: Was Harper's choice. Harper then had Rothstein appear before an ad hoc non-partisan committee of 12 members of Parliament . This committee was not empowered to block the appointment, though, as had been called for by some members of Harper's Conservative Party. On September 5, 2008, Harper nominated Thomas Cromwell of Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by

13320-525: Was also a major foreign policy issue for the Harper government, who withdrew Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2011. As a result of economic sanctions against officials of the Russian government stemming from the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation , Harper had to contend with a sharp reduction in trade with Russia. Harper's Conservatives gained criticism for improper election spending during

13440-511: Was born in Tanzania), and Inky Mark (a Chinese-Canadian). However, these attempts to refurbish the party's image were damaged during the 1997 campaign, when Reform released a controversial television advertisement in which the faces of four Quebec politicians (Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe , Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest , and separatist Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard ) were crossed out, followed by

13560-417: Was branded the "Harper Government". The former was the subject of ridicule by other parties and some media commentators, while the latter was criticized by some academics and former civil servants as a partisan misuse of government resources. This is "political marketing", as constitutionally, any Government of Canada administered by a Canadian Ministry—Harper's premiership being the 28th Canadian Ministry —

13680-543: Was challenged by both Ontario lawyer Rocco Galati and the Government of Quebec as being contrary to the appointment criteria of section 6 of the Supreme Court Act . In response, Harper referred the criteria issue to the Supreme Court, as well as the question of whether the government's amendments to the criteria were constitutional. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled in Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 that

13800-462: Was considered a populist movement that rapidly gained popularity and momentum in Western Canada during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to attracting social conservatives, the party was popular among Western Canadians who were disillusioned with Mulroney's perceived prioritization of Quebec (during his attempts to reform the Constitution ) as well as fiscal conservatives who were critical of

13920-478: Was founded as a Western Canada -based protest movement that eventually became a populist conservative party, with strong social conservative and fiscal conservative elements. It was initially motivated by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) government of Brian Mulroney . Led by its founder Preston Manning throughout its existence, Reform

14040-524: 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. Ernest Manning had led the Alberta Social Credit Party . Although the Reform Party never adopted the historical monetary reform ideas of the Canadian social credit movement , both movements appealed to economically and socially conservative Western Canadian populists. With

14160-449: 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

14280-614: Was originally predicted. Harper's economic policy included a multitude of new spending and reduced government revenue revenues due to reductions to the Goods and Services Tax and corporate income taxes. Harper campaigned on a pledge to increase defense spending and has cut it in real terms. As with any Canadian government, the principal foreign relations issue is the relationship with the United States , Canada's closest neighbour and largest trading partner. The ongoing War in Afghanistan

14400-595: Was the first time a sitting prime minister had sued the opposition for libel. The $ 2.5-million suit named "The Liberal Party, the Federal Liberal Agency of Canada, and the unnamed author or authors of the statements published on the Liberal website". The articles at the centre of the lawsuit were headlined "Harper knew of Conservative bribery" and "Harper must come clean about allegations of Conservative Bribery". Those articles questioned Harper's alleged involvement in financial offers made to Cadman to sway his vote in

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