List of Canadian Leaders of the Opposition

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. Michael Ignatieff, of the Liberal Party of Canada.

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)

# Name Party Took Office Left Office
    1. Edward Blake[1] Liberal January 1, 1869 January 1, 1871
    - vacant Liberal January 1, 1871 March 5, 1873
    2. Alexander Mackenzie Liberal March 6, 1873 November 5, 1873
    3. John A. Macdonald Liberal-Conservative November 6, 1873 October 16, 1878
    returning Alexander Mackenzie (2nd time) Liberal October 17, 1878 April 27, 1880
    - vacant Liberal April 28, 1880 May 3, 1880
    returning Edward Blake (2nd time) Liberal May 4, 1880 June 2, 1887
    - vacant Liberal June 3, 1887 June 22, 1887
    4. Wilfrid Laurier Liberal June 23, 1887 July 10, 1896
    5. Charles Tupper[2] Conservative (historical) July 11, 1896 February 5, 1901
    6. Robert Borden Conservative (historical) February 6, 1901 October 9, 1911
    returning Wilfrid Laurier (2nd time) Liberal October 10, 1911 February 2, 1919
    interim Daniel Duncan McKenzie[3] Liberal February 2, 1919 August 6, 1919
    7. William Lyon Mackenzie King Liberal August 7, 1919 December 28, 1921
    8. Arthur Meighen[4] Conservative (historical) December 29, 1921 June 28, 1926
    returning William Lyon Mackenzie King (2nd time) Liberal June 29, 1926 September 24, 1926
    - vacant[5] Conservative (historical) September 25, 1926 October 10, 1926
    interim Hugh Guthrie[6] Conservative (historical) October 11, 1926 October 11, 1927
    9. Richard Bedford Bennett Conservative (historical) October 12, 1927 August 6, 1930
    returning William Lyon Mackenzie King (3rd time) Liberal August 7, 1930 October 22, 1935
    returning Richard Bedford Bennett (2nd time) Conservative (historical) October 23, 1935 June 6, 1938
    10. Robert Manion Conservative (historical) July 7, 1938 May 13, 1940
    interim Richard Hanson[7] Conservative (historical) May 14, 1940 November 11, 1941
    acting cont'd (acting for Meighen[8]) Conservative (historical) November 12, 1941 December 10, 1942
    acting cont'd (acting for Bracken[9]) Progressive Conservative December 11, 1942 December 31, 1942
    acting Gordon Graydon (acting for Bracken[10]) Progressive Conservative January 1, 1943 June 10, 1945
    11. John Bracken Progressive Conservative June 11, 1945 July 20, 1948
    - vacant Progressive Conservative July 21, 1948 October 1, 1948
    12. George A. Drew Progressive Conservative October 2, 1948 November 1, 1954
    acting William Earl Rowe (acting for Drew[11]) Progressive Conservative November 1, 1954 January 31, 1955
    returning George A. Drew (2nd time) Progressive Conservative February 1, 1955 July 31, 1956
    acting William Earl Rowe (acting for Drew[12]) Progressive Conservative August 1, 1956 December 13, 1956
    13. John George Diefenbaker Progressive Conservative December 14, 1956 June 20, 1957
    14. Louis St. Laurent Liberal June 21, 1957 January 15, 1958
    15. Lester B. Pearson Liberal January 16, 1958 April 21, 1963
    returning John George Diefenbaker (2nd time) Progressive Conservative April 22, 1963 September 8, 1967
    acting Michael Starr (acting for Stanfield[13]) Progressive Conservative September 9, 1967 November 5, 1967
    16. Robert Stanfield Progressive Conservative November 6, 1967 February 21, 1976
    17. Joe Clark Progressive Conservative February 22, 1976 June 3, 1979
    18. Pierre Elliott Trudeau Liberal June 4, 1979 March 2, 1980
    returning Joe Clark (2nd time) Progressive Conservative March 3, 1980 February 1, 1983
    acting Erik Nielsen (acting for Clark[14]) Progressive Conservative February 2, 1983 February 18, 1983
    interim cont'd[15] Progressive Conservative February 19, 1983 June 10, 1983
    acting cont'd (acting for Mulroney[16]) Progressive Conservative June 11, 1983 August 28, 1983
    19. Brian Mulroney Progressive Conservative August 29, 1983 September 16, 1984
    20. John Napier Turner Liberal September 17, 1984 February 7, 1990
    acting Herb Gray (acting for Turner[17]) Liberal February 8, 1990 June 22, 1990
    acting cont'd (acting for Chrétien[17]) Liberal June 23, 1990 December 20, 1990
    21. Jean Chrétien Liberal December 21, 1990 October 24, 1993
    22. Lucien Bouchard Bloc Québécois October 25, 1993 January 14, 1996
    interim Gilles Duceppe[18] Bloc Québécois January 15, 1996 February 16, 1996
    23. Michel Gauthier Bloc Québécois February 17, 1996 March 14, 1997
    24. Gilles Duceppe (2nd time) Bloc Québécois March 15, 1997 June 1, 1997
    25. Preston Manning Reform June 2, 1997 March 26, 2000
    interim Deborah Grey[19] Alliance March 27, 2000 July 7, 2000
    acting cont'd (acting for Day[20]) Alliance July 8, 2000 September 10, 2000
    26. Stockwell Day Alliance September 11, 2000 December 11, 2001
    interim John Reynolds[21] Alliance December 12, 2001 March 19, 2002
    acting cont'd (acting for Harper[22]) Alliance March 20, 2002 May 20, 2002
    27. Stephen Harper Alliance May 21, 2002 January 8, 2004
    interim Grant Hill[23] Alliance January 9, 2004 February 1, 2004
    interim cont'd[23] Conservative (modern) February 2, 2004[24] March 19, 2004
    returning Stephen Harper (2nd time) Conservative (modern) March 20, 2004 February 5, 2006
    interim Bill Graham[25] Liberal February 6, 2006 December 1, 2006
    28. Stéphane Dion Liberal December 2, 2006 December 10, 2008
    interim Michael Ignatieff Liberal December 10, 2008 present

Notes

  1. ↑ 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 20 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.
  2. ↑ Tupper lost his seat in the 1900 election and resigned as party leader and Leader of the Opposition three months later.
  3. ↑ McKenzie served as interim Leader of the Opposition from Laurier's death until King's election as leader of the Liberal Party.
  4. ↑ Arthur Meighen's Conservatives formed the Official Opposition although the Progressive Party had more seats.
  5. ↑ Meighen failed to win his seat and immediately resigned as leader of the Conservative Party.
  6. ↑ Guthrie served as interim Leader of the Opposition from shortly after Meighen's resignation until Bennett's election as leader of the Conservative Party.
  7. ↑ Hanson served as interim Leader of the Opposition from Manion's resignation until Meighen's election as leader of the Conservative Party.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Hanson continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Bracken's election as PC leader until his own resignation.
  10. ↑ Graydon served as acting Leader of the Opposition from Hanson's resignation until Bracken entered Parliament in the 20th general election.
  11. ↑ Rowe served as acting Leader of the Opposition in winter 1954-55 due to Drew's poor health.
  12. ↑ Rowe again served as acting Leader of the Opposition due to Drew's poor health until Drew was replaced by Diefenbaker.
  13. ↑ Starr served as acting Leader of the Opposition from Stanfield's election as PC leader until Stanfield entered Parliament via by-election.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Nielsen continued as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign in which Clark unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself.
  16. ↑ Nielsen continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Mulroney's election as PC leader until Mulroney entered Parliament via by-election.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ Grey served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2000 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign in which Manning unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself.
  20. ↑ Grey continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Day's election as Alliance leader until Day entered Parliament via byelection.
  21. ↑ Reynolds served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2002 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign in which Day unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself.
  22. ↑ Reynolds continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Harper's election as Alliance leader until Harper entered Parliament via by-election.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 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.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ Graham served as interim parliamentary leader and Leader of the Opposition until the 2006 Liberal leadership convention.

References