In a country as vast and as culturally diverse
as Canada, many different political opinions can be found stretched across the
country. From the affluent
neighbourhoods of West Vancouver to the small fishing towns located on the east
coast of Newfoundland, political opinions and affiliations range from the left
wing to the right wing. To represent
these varying political views, Canada has four official national political
parties to choose from: the Liberals (who are currently in power), the
Progressive Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the Reform Party. What is particularly interesting is that none
of the latter three parties compose Her Majesty's Official Opposition in the
House of Commons. The Bloc Quebecois, a
Quebec
separatist party who only ran candidates in the province of Quebec in
the last federal election in 1993, won 54 seats in that province, and claimed
the title of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition over the Reform Party, who garnered
only 52 seats. Because the Bloc ran
candidates only in Quebec, it would be difficult to think of them being a
national political party, even though they hold a significant number of seats
in the national legislature. This paper
will examine the significant early history of Canada's four main national political
parties, and then will analyse their current state, referring to recent major political victories/disasters,
and the comparison of major economic
policy standpoints, which will ultimately lead to a prediction of which party
will win the next federal election in Canada.
Starting on the far left, there is the New
Democratic Party of Canada. Today's
modern New Democratic Party was originally called the Co-operative Commonwealth
Federation (CCF), and was founded in 1932.
Originally led by a man by the name of James Shaver Woodsworth, the CCF
was formed by several radical farming groups who found out that they had more
similarities with each other than just their destitution. The 1920's had been a dark period for
radicals and unions within Canada; poverty and significantly lower wages for
workers were prevalent, and apathy regarding these issues was rampant. When the depression wove its destructive web
across Canada in the 1930s, proponents of capitalism were staggered, but their
left-wing opponents were too busy coming to the aid of the victims of the
depression, and could not deal with the capitalists effectively. When the CCF was officially formed in
Calgary, they adopted the principle policy of being "a co-operative
commonwealth, in which the basic principle regulating production, distribution
and exchange will be the supplying of human needs instead of the making of
profits." (Morton, p.12, 1986) Meanwhile, in Eastern Canada, a group of
scholars formed the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR), and gave the
Canadian left a version of socialism that was related in some respects to the
current social and economic situation in Canada. In 1933, the CCF had its first major
convention in Regina, Saskatchewan, and the original policy platform first
proposed by the CCF was replaced by a manifesto prepared by an LSR committee
and originally drafted by a Toronto scholar, Frank Underhill. The Regina Manifesto, as it is known as
today, put emphasis on "economic planning, nationalisation of financial
institutions, public utilities and natural resources, security of tenure for
farmers, a national labour code, socialised health services and greatly
increased economic powers for the central government." (Morton, p.12, 1986) As a supplement to the feverish mood created
by the convention, the Regina convention concluded by saying "no CCF
Government will rest content until it has eradicated capitalism and put into
operation the full programme of socialised planning which will lead to the
establishment in Canada of the Co-operative Commonwealth." (Morton, p.12, 1986). The CCF tried to garner more popular support
later down the road, and after calling itself the New Party in 1960, it changed
its name officially to the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1962. Over the years, the NDP has become a large
force in Canadian politics, becoming an alternative to the Conservatives and
Liberals. (Morton, pgs.12-27, 1986)
Even to the casual Canadian political observer,
the NDP is generally regarded as the party at the bottom of the political
barrel at the federal level. In the last
Canadian federal election in 1993 under the leadership of Audrey McLoughlin,
the NDP went from holding 43 seats in the House of Commons to only 9. McLoughlin resigned, paving the way for the
election of the former leader of the Nova Scotia NDP to the federal post, Alexa
McDonough in 1994. On the provincial
level, however, the NDP has experienced some success of late. Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba and
Saskatchewan have had (or currently have) an NDP provincial mandate. (Guy, p.384, 1995)
On the policy front, the NDP seem to be most
concerned with a plan for "fair taxes now." (fairtaxnow.html,
1997) According to the NDP, "it's
time banks and big corporations paid their fair share -- so we can better
afford health care, education and other services for middle class and working
families." (fairtaxnow.html,
1997) Some of the key points of the
NDP's "fair taxes now" campaign include "a minimum corporate
tax, a minimum wealth tax, an end to tax breaks for profitable corporations
that lay people off, an end to corporate deductions for meals and
entertainment, and increased federal auditing and enforcement of existing
corporate taxes," (fairtaxnow.html, 1997) to name a few. Of course, these recommendations for taxation
reform reflect the typical left-wing, socialistic standpoints that the NDP has
stood for ever since its inception.
Moving further towards the centre of the
political scale, the current federal
governing party in Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, is found. Liberals in an independent form started to be
elected to the various legislatures around the country in the middle of the
1800s, with a formal party being created in the late 1800s. The purpose of forming a formal party was a
response to the increasing popularity of the Conservatives in Canada;
"...the rural Clear Grits of Upper Canada, the anti-clerical rouges, and
the reform element in the Maritimes came together gradually as the Liberal
Party." (McMenemy, pg.10, 1976) In its early years, the Liberal Party
reflected the various demographics of religion and geography among the voting
public in Canada. With widespread
support in Canada's rural areas several years after Confederation, "the
Liberal Party opposed protectionism and supported commercial reciprocity with
the United States. It also opposed
MacDonald's program of railway construction.
Led by Sir Wilfred Laurier, the Liberals supported unrestricted
reciprocity and suffered for it in the election of 1891." (McMenemy, pg.12, 1976) The Liberals' policy on trade annoyed
industrialists, who were intimidated by the prospect of unlimited trade. British Loyalists regarded the trade reciprocity
as being anti-British. In the latter
part of the 1890s, however, Laurier adjusted the party's policy on trade
reciprocity. "In the budget of
1897, the Liberals neatly undercut the Conservatives by introducing the
principle of a minimum and a maximum tariff.
A chief result of this Liberal protectionism was to give British goods a
preference in Canada." (McMenemy,
pg.12, 1976) Another significant move
made by the Liberals was in 1903, when Prime Minister Laurier announced the
construction of a second transcontinental railroad. Laurier's minister of railways dissented on the
idea and in turn was sacked by the Prime Minister. "By the election of 1904, the Liberals
had acquired MacDonald's railway and tariff policy and could therefore wear the
previously Conservative mantle of 'party of national
development.'"(McMenemy, pg.12, 1976)
The
Liberal Party of Canada currently forms the federal government of Canada. Their current leader, Jean Chretien, was
elected to succeed John Turner in 1990.
Around the time Chretien was elected leader, questions within and
outside the party were raised regarding the political "baggage" that
Chretien carried from previous Liberal governments. Despite the controversy, Chretien won his
party's leadership quite comfortably, and returned his party to prominence once
again in 1993 by forming a federal government with a large majority in the
House of Commons. Looking back, this
current Liberal mandate has weathered relatively little criticism until
recently. One of Chretien's campaign
promises in 1993 was to scrap the Goods and Services Tax (GST) if the Liberals
were to form a government. To complement
that promise by Chretien, Sheila Copps, another prominent Liberal from
Hamilton, Ontario, vowed to resign if the GST was not scrapped under a Liberal
mandate. Three years into the Liberal
mandate, controversy began to rise over Chretien's and Copps' promises
regarding the GST. Copps eventually
resigned after much criticism, and won back her seat in her Hamilton riding in
a by-election several weeks later.
Chretien was subjected to large amounts of public criticism, especially
during one of CBC TV's electronic "town hall" meetings. Chretien argued the fact that the Liberals
never said that they were going to scrap the GST, and that people should read
their policy guide, the "Red Book," to find out where exactly the
Liberals stood on the issue of the GST.
Chretien argued during this debate that the Liberals wanted to replace
the GST instead of scrapping it. Earlier
clips taken from the parliamentary channel and radio interviews seemed to
contradict his claim that the Liberals wanted to replace the GST. "We hate it and we will kill it!"
(the GST) were the exact words that came out of Jean Chretien's mouth during a
debate in the House of Commons over the GST, before the Liberals took power in
1993. Since the federal election has not
been called yet, it has yet to be seen whether or not the Canadian public has
lost any faith in the current Prime Minister.
The Liberals have made the economic revival of
Canada one of their top policy platforms, so much so that in the online edition
of the Red Book, economic policy is
chapter one. The Liberals explain
their approach to economic policy by saying that they will focus on the five
major problems facing the current Canadian economy: "lack of growth, high unemployment,
high long-term real interest rates, too high levels of foreign indebtedness,
and excessive government debt and deficits." (chapter1.html, 1997) In the online edition of the Red Book, the
Liberals also state that the "better co-ordination of federal and
provincial tax and economic policies must be achieved in the interests of all
Canadians....we will work with the provinces to redesign the current social
assistance programs, to help people on social assistance who are able to work
to move from dependence to full participation in the economic and social life
of this country....and that Canadians are entitled to trade rules that are fair
that secure access to new markets, and that do not undermine Canadian
commitments to labour and environmental standards." (chapter1.html, 1997) There is also a brief section about the
Liberals' plan to create many more jobs for Canadians, which was one of their
large campaign platforms during the 1993 election. (chapter1.html, 1997)
Right of centre on the political scale, the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada can be found. The Progressive Conservatives (PCs) were, in
their fledgling years, known as the Conservative Party (and before that, the
Liberal-Conservatives), and was founded before the Liberal Party of Canada,
making it the oldest political party in Canada.
"While it is difficult to pin-point a precise date of origin of the
Conservative Party there is nevertheless good reason for regarding 1854 as the
inaugural year for the political group which has continued to this day as the
conservative element in Canadian politics." (Macquarrie, pg.3, 1965) In 1854, John A. MacDonald, who was to become
Canada's first Prime Minister ever, led the Conservative Party to office and "began the process which established
a nation in the northern part of this continent and set the pattern for that
nation's political institutions."
(Macquarrie, pg.4, 1965) Since
Confederation, many events in Canadian politics have held vast significance in
Canada's history. For example:
Confederation (1867), Hudson Bay territories joining the dominion (1870),
Arctic Islands added to the dominion (1880), the defeat of reciprocity (1911),
the enfranchisement of women (1918), the providing of universal suffrage under
the Dominion Elections Act (1920), the Statute of Westminster (1931), and
finally, the addition of Newfoundland to the Dominion (1949). It is interesting to note that all of these
significant political occurrences were made under Conservative Party
mandates. (Macquarrie, pg.2, 1965) "It has been said that if Canada had an
Independence Day it would be December 11, 1931, the date of the proclamation of
the Statute of Westminster under the regime of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett." (Macquarrie, pg.3, 1965) The Statute of Westminster "repealed the
Colonial Laws Validity Act and gave Canada absolute legislative autonomy except
as requested by Canada in the case of amendments to the British North America
Act." (Macquarrie, pg.107, 1965)
This was a recognition of an establishment which was long overdue. Before the Statute of Westminster was
implemented in 1931, it was under the rule of another conservative Prime
Minister, Sir Robert Borden, in which Canada took its largest steps towards
having "full independence and complete national sovereignty. Vigorously and successfully he (Borden)
asserted the equality of nations comprising the Commonwealth." (Macquarrie, pg.3, 1965) In December of 1942, the Conservative Party
met at a leadership convention in Winnipeg, and after some prodding by one of
the candidates, John Bracken, the name of the Conservative Party was changed to
that of the Progressive Conservatives, in order to reflect the party's
progressive goals and intentions.
(Macquarrie, pg.122, 1965) Under
the name of Progressive Conservative party, John Diefenbaker led the party to
the largest landslide victory in the history of Canadian politics in 1958, just
one year after the Diefenbaker government had won a minority government. (Guy, pg.393, 1995)
In recent years, the Progressive Conservatives
have been dealt severe blows at the polls.
In 1993, the Progressive Conservatives went from having the majority
government in the House of Commons to a mere two seats: current PC leader Jean
Charest in Sherbrooke, and Elsie Wayne in Saint John. The PCs can attach their massive defeat in
the 1993 election to nine years of rule by Brian Mulroney. Mulroney won two large majority governments
in 1984 and 1988, but in the 1988 term, his fortunes turned south. His government was responsible for the
implementation of the hated Goods and Services tax, the Free Trade Agreement
with the United States, and the Meech Lake Accord. Several months before the 1993 federal
election was called, Mulroney stepped down as party leader, which paved the way
for the election of Kim Campbell, then Justice Minister, to the post of Prime
Minister. Campbell was the first female
Prime Minister of Canada, even though she was not elected by the general voting
public. Her early days of campaigning
were regarded as successful for herself and the party, but in the latter part
of the election campaign, debates over whether or not Campbell was a competent
leader were raised. Her trip-up in the
late stages of the election campaign set the stage for the Custer-like wiping
out of her party; she was even soundly defeated in her own riding of Vancouver
Central. Even though the federal party
was decimated, provincial PC parties seemed to hold their own during the
federal dark times. Currently, there are
Progressive Conservative provincial governments in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario
and Prince Edward Island. PEI
Conservatives won the most recent election, going from only one seat in the PEI
legislature to a majority. The
Conservatives in Ontario were also recent winners. Under the leadership of Mike Harris, the
Ontario Conservatives ousted the Ontario NDP in the 1994 provincial election in
a landslide victory, perhaps bringing on a second wave of the Big Blue Machine
in years to come.
Even though the Conservatives were given a
serious setback in the 1993 federal election, their commitment to policy-making
has not been affected. They have drafted
a Tory Top Ten list of policies that they will campaign with during the next
federal election. Their number one
policy standpoint on the Top Ten is tax cuts for jobs: "Canadians today
are overtaxed. The high tax burden is killing jobs and reducing Canada's
competitiveness. We need to create lasting jobs and rekindle the
entrepreneurial spirit. Tax cuts will inject life back into the Canadian
economy by promoting investment, consumer consumption and job
creation." (library4.html,
1997) On the income tax front, the PCs
are also committed to giving Canadians a 10-20 per cent personal income tax
cut, which would be phased in over their first term in office. They have also
given the situation regarding the federal debt and deficit a fair amount of
thought. They intend to balance the
federal budget within their first mandate in office, and that by the time the
deficit is eliminated through spending cuts, "specific targets for
reduction of the federal debt must be
set with measurable milestones."
(Designing a Blueprint for Canadians, pp.6-7, 1996) Finally, their overall economic policy states
that "Canada should constitute an economic union within which goods,
services, persons and capital may move freely.
Any measures which unduly discriminate between individuals, goods,
services and capital on the basis of their origin or their destination should
be unconstitutional. The strengthening of the Canadian economic union is
crucial to fostering economic growth, the flourishing of a common citizenhood,
and helping Canadians reach their full potential." (Designing a Blueprint for Canadians,
pgs.40-41, 1996) On the whole, it would
appear to the unbiased reader that the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
knows exactly what it stands for.
Even further to the right side of the political
scale, the relatively new Reform Party of Canada can be found. On the last weekend of October in 1987, 306
delegates from Western Canada converged on Alberta, in order to found the
party. These people were fed up with the
traditional Liberal/Conservative rule in Ottawa, and wanted a party that could
effectively represent the concerns of Western Canadians. (Harrison, pgs.110, 112,114, 1995) "The delegates faced three tasks as they
met that weekend: to decide upon a name for the party, to devise a
constitution, and to pick a leader. The
delegates chose the party's name - the Reform Party of Canada - the first
day." (Harrison, pg.114, 1995) On the second day of the convention, the
party started the process of selecting a leader. There were three potential candidates:
Preston Manning (the current leader), Ted Byfield, and Stan Roberts. Byfield was not entirely comfortable with the
idea of being the Reform Party's leader, however, and wanted to continue to run
his own personal business. A theory that came out of the convention was that
this leadership race was a battle between "Roberts' old political style
and money against Manning's grass-roots populism." (Harrison, pg.117, 1995) There was also some controversy over the
amount of money Roberts spent on his hospitality suite at the convention, which
was an estimated $25000. Manning was
regarded as being quite frugal, spending around $2000. Even though the difference in the amount of
money spent between the two main candidates was rather large, Manning was
regarded as being the stronger of the two candidates, having the unquestionable
allegiance of many of the delegates.
(Harrison, pg.117, 1995) Roberts
knew of the immense support Manning had, and it was rumoured that he was going
to bring in a significant amount of "instant delegates" (Harrison, pg.117, 1995) to push him over the top. The Manning camp got word of this idea, and
subsequently closed delegate registration on the Friday night of the convention
(it was supposed to run until Saturday morning). This action sent a Roberts supporter by the
name of Francis Winspear into a rage, severely criticising the decision to
suspend registration and accusing the Manning camp that some membership money
had been unaccounted for. "With
animosities rising, Jo Anne Hillier called a meeting between the two sides on
Saturday night to attempt to resolve the disputes. The attempt at reconciliation
failed." (Harrison, pg.117,
1995) The next morning, during an
emotional speech, Roberts decided to drop out of the race, all the while
questioning whether or not the party stood true to its founding principles of
integrity and honesty. He referred to
Manning's supporters as "fanatical Albertans" and "small-minded
evangelical cranks." (Harrison,
pg.118, 1995) This left Preston Manning
as the first (and current) leader of one of Canada's newest political parties,
the Reform Party of Canada.
In its short history to date, the Reform Party
of Canada has had some success federally, and has weathered its share of
criticism. In the last federal election,
they won a total of 52 seats, almost beating out the Bloc Quebecois for the
title of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, who won 54 seats. The Reform took one seat in Ontario, one seat
in Manitoba, four seats in Saskatchewan, 22 seats in Alberta, and 24 seats in
British Columbia. (Guy, pg.434,
1995) There was some debate at the
beginning of the Liberals' mandate from the Reform Party whether or not a
separatist party (Bloc Quebecois) should be allowed to be the opposition in
Parliament, but the Bloc remained as official opposition. Lately, however, a Bloc MP resigned his seat,
leaving the Bloc with a one seat lead over the Reform Party in the race for
official opposition. The next federal
election should be very interesting, as these two parties might battle it out
for the right to be opposition again.
One moniker that the Reform Party wears that could damage their hopes of
ever being the opposition or the government is the fact that many Canadians
have the stereotype that Reform MPs and supporters are red-necked hillbillies
from out west. A little while back, a
Reform MP by the name of Robert Wringma made comments of a racial nature
towards black and aboriginal people.
Wringma suggested that if he were a shopkeeper, and if his patrons were
offended by blacks or aboriginals working up in the front of his shop, he would
make sure that the black or aboriginal person(s) working for him would be in
the back of the shop while his racist customers were on the premises. This prompted outrage from minority groups
and the general Canadian population, and Preston Manning was eventually
pressured into kicking Wringma out of caucus.
That particular incident summed up the Reform stereotype of extreme
right-wing views, and it should also be interesting whether or not this subject
surfaces again during the next federal election campaign.
On the Reform Party's web page, the policy
section is entitled "a 6 point plan to build a brighter future
together." (summary.html,
1997) Their number one priority is to
"create growth, opportunity, and lasting jobs through smaller government,
an end to overspending, and lower taxes, to make government smaller by
eliminating waste, duplication, and red tape to save $15 billion a year, and to
balance the budget by March 31, 1999."
(summary.html, 1997) The Reform
Party also intends to give the public tax relief, by having "lower taxes
for all Canadians: $2,000 by the year 2000 for the average family, an increase
in the Basic Personal Amount and Spousal Amount, cut capital gains taxes in
half, cut employers' U.I. premiums by 28%, and eliminate federal surtaxes and
last but not least, flatten and simplify the income tax system." (Summary.html, 1997) Their plans for the Unemployment Insurance
system are not all that extravagant, but on the home page, they are quoted as
saying that they are going to: "return Unemployment Insurance to its
original purpose: protection against temporary job loss." (summary.html, 1997) These economic reform policies seem to be
related somewhat to the Progressive Conservatives' economic reform policies,
but they do not go into nearly as much detail as the Conservatives do.
Politics in Canada is an extremely volatile
business. One day a party can be on top of the world, and the next day they can
be the scourge of the planet. Politics
in Canada has a long and interesting history, so much so that this paper has
barely even scratched the surface. While
the New Democrats and Reform are gathering support in different areas of the
country, it must be remembered that the only two parties to ever hold federal
office in this country have been the Conservative and Liberal parties. From examining the various party's web pages,
it seems that the Liberals and Conservatives have the most detailed policy
platforms, the Reform Party is simply lacking the detail of the Conservatives
and Liberals, and the New Democrats have little information to research at
all. History tends to repeat itself,
especially in elections in this country, and it would not be surprising if the
Liberals won another federal mandate this year.
The Conservatives look like they are making the long trek back to
prominence, but the Reform Party and New Democrats seem to be treading
water. The real test that will determine
which paths these parties will take during the trek into the 21st century,
however, will be made in the soon-to-be-called Canadian federal election. Democracy will speak out once again.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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People, Politics and Government.
Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 1995.
Harrison,
Trevor. Of Passionate Intensity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995.
(1996) Liberal Party of Canada [Online]. Available:
http://www.liberal.ca/english2/policy/red_book/chapter1.html
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Macquarrie,
Heath. The Conservative Party. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart
Limited, 1965.
McMenemy, John,
Winn, Conrad. Political Parties in
Canada. Montreal: McGraw-Hill
Ryerson, 1976.
Morton,
Desmond. The New Democrats,
1961-1986. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman
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[1997, Feb.25].
Progressive
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a Blueprint for Canadians.
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(1996) Progressive Conservative Youth [Online]. Available:
http://www.openface.ca/PCU/library4.html [1997,
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