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Federal Parties: The Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberals are descended from the mid-19th century Reformers who agitated for responsible government throughout British North America. These included George Brown, Robert Baldwin, William Lyon Mackenzie and the Clear Grits in Upper Canada, Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia, and the Patriotes and Rouges in Lower Canada led by figures such as Louis-Joseph Papineau.

Confederation

At the time of the confederation of the former British colonies of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the radical Liberals were marginalized by the more pragmatic Conservative coalition assembled under Sir John A. Macdonald. In the 29 years after Canadian confederation, the Liberals were consigned to opposition, with the exception of one stint in government. Alexander Mackenzie was able to lead the party to power in 1873 after the Macdonald government lost a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons because of the Pacific Scandal. Mackenzie subsequently won the 1874 election. During these years, the Liberals carried out many reforms. Some of the more notable were the replacement of open voting by secret ballot, the confinement of elections to a single day, the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada, and the establishment of Hansard, the public record of the House of Commons Debates. Despite these reforms, the Liberal Party under Mackenzie was unable to achieve a solid popular base of support in any province except Ontario, and in 1878, the government was badly defeated in the general election. The Conservatives won 137 seats, the Liberals 69.

The Laurier Years

In their early history, the Liberals were the party of continentalism (free trade with the United States), and opposition to imperialism. The Liberals also became identified with the aspirations of Quebecers as a result of the growing hostility of French-Canadians to the Conservatives. The Conservatives lost the support of Quebecers because of the role of Conservative governments in the execution of Louis Riel, the suppression of the rights of French-Canadians outside of Quebec, and their role in the Conscription crisis of 1917.

It was not until Wilfrid Laurier became leader that the Liberal Party emerged as a modern party. Laurier was able to capitalize on the Tories' alienation of French Canada by offering the Liberals as a credible alternative. Laurier was able to overcome the party's reputation for anti-clericalism that offended the still-powerful Quebec Catholic Church. In English-speaking Canada, the Liberal Party's support for free trade made it popular among farmers, and helped cement the party's hold in the growing prairie provinces.

Laurier led the Liberals to power in the 1896 election, and oversaw a government that increased immigration in order to settle Western Canada. Laurier's government created of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta out of the North-West? Territories, and promoted the development of Canadian industry. The Liberals lost power in the 1911 election due to opposition to the party's policies on reciprocity (or free trade), and the creation of a Canadian navy.

The Conscription crisis divided the party as many Liberals in English Canada supported conscription and Sir Robert Borden's Unionist government. With numerous Liberal candidates running as Unionists or Liberal-Unionists with the support of provincial Liberal parties in a number of provinces, the Laurier Liberals were reduced to a largely Quebec-based rump. The long term impact of the Conscription crisis benefited the party as the issue only added to the animosity of French-Canadians toward the Conservatives, making that party virtually unelectable in Quebec for decades.

The Liberals and Canadian Sovereignty

Under Laurier, and his successor William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Liberals promoted Canadian sovereignty and greater independence from the British Empire. In Imperial Conferences held throughout the 1920s, Canadian Liberal governments often took the lead in arguing that Britain and the dominions should have equal status, and against proposals for an imperial parliament that would have subsumed Canadian independence. After the King-Byng Affair of 1926, the Liberals argued that the Governor General of Canada should no longer be appointed on the recommendation of the British government. The decisions of the Imperial Conferences were formalized in the Statute of Westminster, which was actually passed in 1931, the year after the Liberals lost power.

The Liberals also promoted the idea of Canada being responsible for its own foreign and defence policy. Initially, it was Britain which determined external affairs for the dominion. In 1905, Laurier created the Department of External Affairs, and in 1909 he appointed the first Secretary of State for External Affairs to Cabinet. It was also Laurier who first proposed the creation of a Canadian Navy in 1910. Mackenzie King appointed Vincent Massey the first Canadian ambassador to Washington in 1926, marking the Liberal government's insistence on having direct relations with the United States, rather than having Britain act on Canada's behalf.

The Depression and World War II

After the boom years of 1927 and 1928, the impact of the Great Depression in 1929 shook all of Canada and left the Liberal government uncertain as to how to survive the social and economic upheaval. In the summer of 1930, the Conservative Party under the leadership of R.B. Bennett defeated the Liberals. The Tories, however, were not capable of remedying the economic disturbance and were blamed by the people for failing to stop the disastrous decline in the standard of living and for the loss of confidence and hope which marked the years 1930-35. In the election of 1935, Mackenzie King was returned to power with 171 members.

After 1935, Mackenzie King and his colleagues were faced with the threat of another world war and the possibility that Canadian unity might again be in jeopardy. Liberals were divided about the best means of avoiding the catastrophe of war, but were united in the desire to prevent it.

The war affected the organization as well as the thinking of the Liberal Party. After the election of March 1940, the Party organization was dismantled until the summer of 1943, when victory in the war seemed assured. At this time, Mackenzie King concentrated activity on the preparation of a post-war program. Mackenzie King called upon the National Liberal Federation to arrange a meeting of its advisory council in 1943. This meeting considered and debated policies for Canada that Liberals felt would have to be adopted if the country were to continue to grow and prosper after the war.

The Liberal Party and Social Programs

The Liberals have often been accused of, or credited with, simply advancing whatever policies would get them elected. In the period just before and after the Second World War, the party became a champion of progressive social policy.

In the Speech from the Throne opening the session of Parliament in January 1944, the party introduced its post-war program. This included a new monetary policy, an extensive social security program, a generous and comprehensive re-establishment plan for the benefit of servicemen, the establishment of the Industrial Development Bank to provide credit for small business, and such measures as the National Housing Act and the Farm Improvement Loans Act. This was the program which, supported by the people of Canada, gave Mackenzie King his sixth victory at the polls in 1945. The electorate voted in 125 Liberals and 67 Progressive Conservatives.

One more element essential to this Liberal victory in a society obsessed by memories of the Great Depression was a promise of full employment. This Mackenzie King was reluctant to give until he was assured that it was a politically and economically feasible objective in peacetime. He recognized that full employment necessitated the expansion of trade. Although a post-war slump had been widely anticipated, it did not materialize. It became evident that a shortage of manpower was more likely to develop than a surplus. In 1947, the Liberal government embarked upon an immigration program that contributed to the greatest increase in Canada's population in any decade in our history.

The St. Laurent Years

Louis St. Laurent took over the leadership of the Liberal party in 1948, following Mackenzie King's decision to retire from politics. St. Laurent inherited the strongest party organization ever known in Canada. Under St. Laurent, Confederation was completed when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949. Canada became the world's third largest trading nation and took part in the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The social security system was improved with changes to the old age pension program, old age assistances, health grants, and other measures. The country's legal system gained complete autonomy with the Supreme Court of Canada replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom as the final court of appeal for Canadian cases.

Internationally, St. Laurent and Lester B. Pearson, the Secretary of State for External Affairs worked to secure national support for active Canadian participation in world affairs including the United Nations, the establishment of NATO, as a member of the International Advisory Commission in Indo-China, in the Korean conflict, etc. Pearson, of course, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in establishing the United Nations Emergency Force at the time of the Suez crisis.

However, the Liberals, after 22 years in power, lost the 1957 election to the Conservative party.

The Pearson Years

Lester B. Pearson took over the party's leadership in January 1958. Barely a month later, Parliament was dissolved and a new general election called. The Liberals suffered once of their greatest defeats - winning only 49 seats in only four provinces.

Pearson immediately committed himself to the dual task of providing an effective Opposition and to the rebuilding of the Liberal Party throughout Canada. Under his leadership, the Liberals achieved three broad objectives. They established a new direction for the Liberal Party. They brought in a new team of competent people, such as Judy LaMarsh, who was elected to the House of Commons in a 1961 by-election, Maurice Sauvé, Guy Favreau, Walter Gordon, Mitchell Sharp, Charles M. Drury, Jean-Luc Pépin and John Turner to aid the Party in the discussion and formulation of Liberal policy. And they provided responsible opposition in Parliament proposing constructive alternate courses of action.

In the 1962 campaign, Pearson emphasized unemployment, mismanagement in Ottawa and loss of international prestige, but more than any other single issue, the question of nuclear weapons became very important. The roots of the issue went back to 1957 when NATO decided to stockpile American nuclear weapons for the use of its forces (including Canadian troops) in Europe. In 1958, the Diefenbaker government decided to abandon the projected construction of the Avro Arrow aircraft and to replace it with the Bomarc B missile which was to be equipped with a nuclear warhead. A crisis of indecision arose when the time came to furnish the warheads without which the Bomarc was nothing but an expensive blank cartridge.

Badly split over the nuclear armament question, the Conservatives emerged from the 1962 election with their power considerably reduced; dropping from 208 seats to 116 seats. The Liberal Opposition, winning 99 seats, doubled their strength. The Social Credit and the NDP greatly increased their support with 30 and 19 seats respectively. Only the imbalance in rural representation allowed John Diefenbaker to carry on his government in a minority position for a few more months.

In 1962, Lester B. Pearson decided that Canada's commitment to NATO must be honoured, and took a stand in favour of nuclear warheads when and if necessary.

After a campaign based on the promise "Sixty Days of Decision," the Liberal Party emerged victorious from the April 1963 election but did not win a majority. This was, in part, due to the unexpected rise in popularity of Réal Caouette's Créditiste movement, which received considerable support in Quebec. The standings were: Liberals 129, Progressive Conservatives 95, NDP 17 and Social Credit 24.

Pearson never had a majority in the Canadian House of Commons, but he introduced important social programs (including universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans), and the Maple Leaf Flag. Pearson's government instituted much of the modern welfare state in Canada, due in part to support for his minority government in the House of Commons from the New Democratic Party, led by Tommy Douglas. His actions included instituting the 40-hour work week, 2 weeks vacation time, and a new minimum wage.

It should be noted that such policies did not prevent a strong economy. Pearson signed the Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in January of 1965, and unemployment fell to its lowest rate in over a decade.

While in office, Pearson resisted U.S. pressure to enter the Vietnam War. Pearson spoke at Temple University in Philadelphia on April 2, 1965, while visiting the United States, and voiced his support for a negotiated settlement to the Vietnam War. When he visited U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson hours later, Johnson strongly berated Pearson. According to Canadian legend, Johnson grabbed Pearson by the lapels, shook him, and shouted "You pissed on my rug!" Pearson later recounted that the meeting was acrimonious, but insisted the two parted cordially. After this incident, LBJ and Pearson did have two further official meetings together, both times in Canada.

Pearson also started a number of Royal Commissions, including one on the status of women and another on bilingualism. They instituted changes that helped create legal equality for women, and brought official bilingualism into being. After Pearson, French was made an official language, and the Canadian government would provide services in both.

Pearson was also remarkable for instituting the world's first race-free immigration system, throwing out previous ones that had discriminated against certain people, such as Jews and the Chinese. His points-based system encouraged immigration to Canada, and a similar system is still in place today.

Pearson also oversaw Canada's centennial celebrations in 1967 before retiring. The Canadian news agency, Canadian Press, named him "Newsmaker of the Year" that year, citing his leadership during the centennial celebrations, which brought the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill.

Also in 1967, the President of France, Charles de Gaulle made a visit to Quebec. During that visit, de Gaulle was a staunch advocate of Quebec separatism, even going so far as to say that his procession in Montreal reminded him of his return to Paris after it was freed from the Nazis during World War II. Given Canada's efforts in driving the Nazis out of France during the war, Pearson was enraged. He rebuked de Gaulle in a speech the following day, remarking that "Canadians do not need to be liberated", and making it clear that de Gaulle was no longer welcome in Canada. The French President returned to his home country, and would never visit Canada again.

Pearson's decision to give Canada a new flag was perhaps the most dramatic contribution he made to the country as Prime Minister. He was convinced of the need for a distinctive flag to assert Canadian identity. The long, difficult struggle over the flag issue immobilized Parliament for almost six months in 1964. However, on February 15, 1965, the red maple leaf on its red and white banner became the official flag of Canada.

The Trudeau Years

At the April 1968 Liberal leadership convention, Trudeau was elected leader of the party on the fourth ballot, defeating several prominent, long-serving Liberals including Paul Martin, Sr., Robert Winters and Paul Hellyer. Some wondered if he was too liberal and radical for the nation's top job, and his views led to some initial alienation from the party's conservative wing. However, he benefited from an unprecedented wave of personal popularity called "Trudeaumania" which saw Trudeau mobbed by throngs of youths.

As prime minister, Trudeau espoused participatory democracy as a means of making Canada a "Just Society". His desire for greater citizen involvement in government appears to have been frustrated by lack of support within his party, and he later opposed greater involvement for citizens in representative democracy. He vigorously defended the newly implemented universal health care and regional development programs as means of making society more just.

During the October Crisis of 1970, when Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorists kidnapped Quebec Labour Minister, Pierre Laporte (who was later murdered) and British Trade Consul James Cross, Trudeau responded by invoking the War Measures Act, which put the nation under temporary martial law. Although this response is still controversial and was opposed as excessive by figures like Tommy Douglas, it was met with only limited objections from the public. Trudeau presented a determined public stance during the crisis, answering the question of how far he would go to stop the terrorists with "Just watch me!" Five of the FLQ terrorists were flown to Cuba in 1970 as part of a deal in exchange for James Cross' life, but all members were eventually arrested. The five flown to Cuba were arrested after they returned to Canada years later.

The Trudeau Liberals became the champions of official bilingualism, passing the Official Languages Act, which gave the French and English languages equal status in Canada. Trudeau hoped that the promotion of bilingualism would cement Quebec's place in confederation, and counter growing calls for an independent Quebec. This policy aimed to transform Canada into a country where English and French-Canadians could live together in comfort, and could move to any part of the country without having to lose their language. While this has not occurred, official bilingualism has helped to halt the decline of the French language outside of Quebec, and has also ensured that all federal government services (as well as radio and television services provided by the government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada) are available in both languages throughout the country.

The Trudeau Liberals are also credited with support for official multiculturalism as a means of integrating immigrants into Canadian society without forcing them to shed their culture. As a result of this and a more sympathetic attitude by Liberals towards immigration policy, the party has built a base of support among recent immigrants and their children.

Other accomplishments during Trudeau's first term in office include the recognition of the People's Republic of China, improving relations with the USSR, Trudeau's leadership at the 1971 Commonwealth Conference in preventing the breakup of that body, and the extension of jurisdiction over the Arctic to control pollution.

In the election of 1972, Trudeau's Liberal Party won with a minority government, with the New Democratic Party holding the balance of power. In the election of 1974, Trudeau was re-elected with a majority government. Trudeau's government policy of official bilingualism was one of several issues in both elections.

The minority Liberal government was defeated in 1974 and in the ensuing general election, the Trudeau Liberals were returned with a solid majority. The first two years were dominated by the battle against inflation by establishing price and income guidelines, creating the Anti-Inflation? Board and increasing the supply of goods and services. The government set out to help protect those particularly hard hit by inflation, and this involved wider participation in the Canada Pension Plan, introduction of the spouse's allowance under the Old Age Security Act, increased and extended benefits to veterans and their families, and the new Registered Retirement Savings Plan.

A new Human Rights Act afforded Canadians greater protection against discrimination. Under this legislation, a Human Rights Commission was established and a Privacy Commissioner appointed to perform an ombudsman-type role with wide powers of investigation. Capital punishment was abolished, and a new Immigration Act was introduced which eliminated discrimination and promoted national economic, social and cultural goals. A significant development in the participation of the public in government took place in the 30th Parliament: the televising of all the proceedings of the House of Commons. A first in the world, the Canadian experiment has been highly successful in increasing awareness of and interest in the public affairs of the country.

During this period, energy supply and prices became a concern of all Canadians. In 1975, the Trudeau government created Canada's national oil company, Petro Canada, to give each and every Canadian a stake in their energy future. Energy conservation was given a high priority with the introduction of such measures as the Canadian Home Insulation Program. The Trudeau government was also responsible for legislation creating the Northern Pipeline Agency, and the groundwork was laid for a massive gas pipeline.

The seventies were a time of serious economic problems including escalating costs for energy, the massive shift of financial resources to the oil-producing countries, the instability and wild fluctuation of currencies, the emergence of newly industrialized countries in the Third World, the changes in the pattern of population growth and structure of the work force, all contributed to unstable global economic conditions. These conditions were generally characterized by spiraling inflation, coupled with economic stagnation and high unemployment.

In July 1978, Mr. Trudeau met with other Western leaders at the Bonn Summit in West Germany to work out solutions to mutual economic problems. To meet the commitments made at Bonn and to answer Canada's immediate problems, the Liberal government introduced an eight-point program designed to get Canada's economy growing, and to deal with high unemployment and inflation. Three important measures were: a $20 a month per household increase in the old age pension supplement, a $200 child tax credit, and increased resources for industrial development.

In November 1976, the province of Quebec elected its first separatist government. The Prime Minister established a Task Force on Canadian Unity to hear Canadians' views, to encourage public efforts to foster unity, and to advise the government on national unity issues. In September 1977, Mr. Trudeau created a new Ministry of Federal-Provincial Relations. In November and December 1977, he travelled across Canada to discuss national unity and constitutional change with all the provincial premiers.

In the election of 1979, Trudeau's government was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives, led by Joe Clark, who formed a minority government. Trudeau announced his intention to resign as Liberal Party leader; however, before a leadership convention could be held, Clark's government was defeated in the Canadian House of Commons by a motion of non confidence. The Liberal Party persuaded Trudeau to stay on as leader and fight the election. Trudeau defeated Clark in the February 1980 election, and won a majority government.

Two very significant events for Canada occurred during Trudeau's final term in office. The first was the defeat of the 1980 Quebec referendum proposal on Quebec independence, called by Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque. Secondly, Trudeau's likely most enduring legacy, was the successful 1982 patriation of the Constitution of Canada and the additional Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Quebec refusal to agree to the new constitution is the source of continued acrimony between the federal and Quebec governments. On February 29, 1984, after a famous "long walk in the snow", Trudeau decided to step down as prime minister, ending his 16-year rule of Canada.

The Post-Trudeau Era

Under the party's new leader, John Turner, the Liberals lost power in the 1984 election, and were reduced to only 40 seats in the House of Commons. The Liberals began a long process of reconstruction.

The 1988 election was notable for John Turner's strong opposition to the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiated by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Although most Canadians voted for parties opposed to free trade, the Tories were returned with a majority government, and implemented the deal.

Turner resigned in 1990 due to growing discontent within the party with his leadership, and was replaced by bitter rival Jean Chrétien. Chrétien's Liberals campaigned in the 1993 election on the promise of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and of repealing the Goods and Services Tax (GST). But when Chrétien took power, his government implemented only minor changes to NAFTA, embraced the free trade concept, and broke his promise to eliminate the GST.

While the Chrétien Liberals campaigned from the left, their time in power is most marked by the cuts made to many programs in order to balance the federal budget. Chrétien continued the Trudeau Liberal approach to federalism, and opposed making major concessions to Quebec and other provincialist factions.

After a proposal for Quebec independence was narrowly defeated in the 1995 Quebec referendum, the Liberals passed the "Clarity Act" which outlines the federal government's preconditions for negotiating provincial independence. In Chrétien's final days, he supported same-sex marriage in Canada as well as decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of marijuana.

Paul Martin succeeded Chrétien in 2003. Despite the personal rivalry between the two, Martin was the architect of the Liberals' economic policies as Chrétien's Minister of Finance during the 1990s. He is expected to continue these policies, although there is speculation that he will be more flexible on the issue of federalism and possible constitutional concessions to the provinces. There is also a belief that he will formalize the role of Canada's major cities in confederation.

In the June 28th, 2004 federal election, the Martin Liberals were returned to government, despite stronger competition from the newly-united Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper. The Liberal Party was reduced from a majority to a minority government due, in part, to a Chrétien-era scandal in which advertising agencies supporting the Liberal Party received grossly inflated commissions for their services. This scandal, well-known in Canada as the sponsorship scandal, proved to be further damaging to the Liberals as it was ultimately defeated by the Conservative Party, under Stephen Harper, in the election of January 23rd, 2006. Paul Martin announced that he was stepping down as leader.

The Liberal Party chose Stéphane Dion as leader to replace Paul Martin at a convention in Montreal on December 2, 2006.

Biography of Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion?.