List of Canadian Leaders of the Opposition
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This is a List of Canadian Leaders of the Opposition. The leader of the opposition is usually the leader of the party with the second-most seats in the Canadian House of Commons, known as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. He or she is entitled to the same levels of pay and protection as a Cabinet Minister, and is often made a member of the Canadian Privy Council, generally the only non-government member of the House of Commons afforded that privilege.
If the leader of the opposition party is not a Member of Parliament, then a sitting MP takes the role of acting leader of the opposition until the party leader can obtain a seat. If there is a leadership race occurring within the party, an MP will act as interim leader until a new leader is chosen.
The current Leader of the Opposition is the Hon. Stéphane Dion, of the Liberal Party of Canada. Previously, Stephen Harper was opposition Leader until he became Prime Minister in January 2006. During the campaign for Liberal leadership, Bill Graham served as interm leader of the opposition Liberals.
[edit] Leaders of the Opposition
Liberal Party of Canada Liberal-Conservative Party, Conservative Party of Canada (historical), Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Bloc Québécois Reform Party of Canada Canadian Alliance Conservative Party of Canada (modern)
[edit] Notes
- ^ George Brown was the unofficial leader of the Liberal Party during the 1867 election, but failed to win a seat in the House of Commons in the September 20th election. Had Brown entered the Commons, he would have almost certainly become Leader of the Opposition, but as it was, the Liberals remained largely leaderless until 1873. Edward Blake was recognized as leader from 1869 - 1871, while leadership duties were held collectively by leading Liberal MPs, particularly Blake and Alexander Mackenzie.
- ^ Tupper lost his seat in the 1900 election and resigned as party leader and Leader of the Opposition three months later.
- ^ McKenzie served as interim Leader of the Opposition from Laurier's death until King's election as leader of the Liberal Party.
- ^ Arthur Meighen's Conservatives formed the Official Opposition although the Progressive Party had more seats.
- ^ Meighen failed to win his seat and immediately resigned as leader of the Conservative Party.
- ^ Guthrie served as interim Leader of the Opposition from shortly after Meighen's resignation until Bennett's election as leader of the Conservative Party.
- ^ Hanson served as interim Leader of the Opposition from Manion's resignation until Meighen's election as leader of the Conservative Party.
- ^ Hanson continued as acting Leader of the Opposition throughout Meighen's term as Conservative leader, as Meighen failed in his attempts to win election to the House of Commons.
- ^ Hanson continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Bracken's election as PC leader until his own resignation.
- ^ Graydon served as acting Leader of the Opposition from Hanson's resignation until Bracken entered Parliament in the 20th general election.
- ^ Rowe served as acting Leader of the Opposition in winter 1954-55 due to Drew's poor health.
- ^ Rowe again served as acting Leader of the Opposition due to Drew's poor health until Drew was replaced by Diefenbaker.
- ^ Starr served as acting Leader of the Opposition from Stanfield's election as PC leader until Stanfield entered Parliament via by-election.
- ^ Nielsen served as acting Leader of the Opposition for the two weeks preceding Clark's resignation from the post of leader of the PC Party.
- ^ Nielsen continued as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign in which Clark unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself.
- ^ Nielsen continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Mulroney's election as PC leader until Mulroney entered Parliament via by-election.
- ^ a b Gray served as parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from John Turner's announcement that he would be stepping down through Chrétien's election as Liberal leader and until Chrétien entered Parliament via by-election.
- ^ Duceppe served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 1996 Bloc Québécois leadership election initiated by Bouchard's sudden resignation from federal politics to become Premier of Quebec.
- ^ Grey served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2000 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign in which Manning unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself.
- ^ Grey continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Day's election as Alliance leader until Day entered Parliament via byelection.
- ^ Reynolds served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2002 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign in which Day unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself.
- ^ Reynolds continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Harper's election as Alliance leader until Harper entered Parliament via by-election.
- ^ a b Hill served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2004 Conservative leadership election in which Harper successfully ran to be leader of the new party.
- ^ Although the PC Party and Canadian Alliance were recognized as merged on December 7, 2003 by Elections Canada, they did not merge their Parliamentary caucuses until February 2, 2004.
- ^ Graham served as interim parliamentary leader and Leader of the Opposition until the 2006 Liberal leadership convention.
[edit] References
- Government of Canada (2006-02-24). Leaders of the Opposition in the House of Commons:1867 to Date. Library of Parliament. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
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