List of Prime Ministers of Canada
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- For lists of Canadian Prime Ministers ranked by different criteria, such as time in office and religion see the related lists linked at the bottom of this page.
This is a list of Prime Ministers of Canada since Confederation. The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada. The office is not outlined in any of the documents that constitute the written portion of the constitution of Canada; executive authority is formally vested in the Canadian sovereign and exercised on his or her behalf by the Governor General. The prime ministership is part of Canada's constitutional convention tradition. The office was initially modelled after the job as it existed in Britain at time of Confederation in 1867. The British prime ministership, although fully developed by 1867, was not formally integrated into the British constitution until 1905—hence, its absence from Constitution Act, 1867. The Prime Minister is almost invariably the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in the House of Commons.
Stephen Harper is the current Prime Minister, appointed by Governor General Michaëlle Jean as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, on February 6, 2006. He is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won 143 of 308 seats in the last federal election. Of the total 308 seats, 143 is a plurality (a majority would be 155 seats) so Prime Minister Harper leads a minority government; that is, the total number of seats held by all the other political parties is greater than the number of seats held by the Conservatives.
Contents |
Timeline
Liberal Party of Canada Historical conservative parties: Liberal-Conservative, Conservative (historical), Unionist, N.L.C., Progressive Conservative Conservative Party of Canada
| Prime Minister (party) |
Period | Parli- ament |
Appointment details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1st | Sir John A. Macdonald (Liberal-Conservative) (1st time of 2) |
July 1, 1867 November 5, 1873 |
— | Designated July 1, 1867 | |
| 1st | Elected Aug-Sep, 1867 | |||||
| 2nd | Re-elected Jul-Oct, 1872 Resigned November 5, 1873 (Pacific Scandal) |
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 |
2nd | Alexander Mackenzie (Liberal) |
November 7, 1873 October 8, 1878 |
Designated November 7, 1873 | ||
| 3rd | Elected January 22, 1874 | |||||
|
|
– | Sir John A. Macdonald (Liberal-Conservative) (2nd time of 2) |
October 17, 1878 June 6, 1891 |
4th | Elected September 17, 1878[1] | |
| 5th | Re-Elected June 20, 1882 | |||||
| 6th | Re-elected February 22, 1887 | |||||
| 7th | Re-elected March 5, 1891 Died in office June 6, 1891 |
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 |
3rd | Sir John Abbott (Liberal-Conservative) |
June 16, 1891 November 24, 1892 |
Designated June 16, 1891[2] Resigned (Retired) November 24, 1892 |
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 |
4th | Sir John Thompson (Conservative) |
December 5, 1892 December 12, 1894 |
Designated December 5, 1892 Died in office December 12, 1894 |
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 |
5th | Sir Mackenzie Bowell (Conservative) |
December 21, 1894 April 27, 1896 |
Designated December 21, 1894[3] Resigned (Retired) April 27, 1896 |
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 |
6th | Sir Charles Tupper (Conservative) |
May 1, 1896 July 8, 1896 |
none[4] | Designated May 1, 1896 | |
 |
7th | Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Liberal) |
July 11, 1896 October 6, 1911 |
8th | Elected June 23, 1896 | |
| 9th | Re-Elected November 7, 1900 | |||||
| 10th | Re-Elected November 3, 1904 | |||||
| 11th | Re-Elected October 26, 1908 | |||||
 |
8th | Sir Robert Borden (Conservative) |
October 10, 1911 October 11, 1917 |
12th | Elected September 21, 1911 | |
|
|
– | Sir Robert Borden (Unionist)[5] |
October 12, 1917 July 9, 1920 |
Formed a new ministry October 12, 1917 as a coalition government | ||
| 13th | Re-Elected December 17, 1917 to a coalition government[6] Resigned (Retired) July 9, 1920 |
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 |
9th | Arthur Meighen (N.L.C.) (1st time of 2) |
July 10, 1920 December 28, 1921 |
Designated July 7, 1920 | ||
 |
10th | William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (1st time of 3) |
December 29, 1921 June 28, 1926 |
14th | Elected December 6, 1921 to a minority government | |
| 15th | Re-Elected October 29, 1925 to a minority government[7] By-Election February 15, 1926[8] Resigned June 28, 1926 (King-Byng Affair) |
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|
|
– | Arthur Meighen (Conservative) (2nd time of 2) |
June 29, 1926 September 24, 1926 |
Designated June 29, 1926 to a minority government | ||
|
|
– | William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (2nd time of 3) |
September 25, 1926 August 6, 1930 |
16th | Elected September 14, 1926 to a minority government | |
 |
11th | Richard Bedford Bennett (Conservative) |
August 7, 1930 October 22, 1935 |
17th | Elected July 28, 1930 | |
|
|
– | William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (3rd time of 3) |
October 23, 1935 November 14, 1948 |
18th | Elected October 14, 1935 | |
| 19th | Re-Elected March 26, 1940 | |||||
| 20th | Re-Elected June 11, 1945[9] By-Election August 6, 1945 Resigned (Retired) 1948 |
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 |
12th | Louis St. Laurent (Liberal) |
November 15, 1948 June 20, 1957 |
Designated August 7, 1948 | ||
| 21st | Re-elected June 27, 1949 | |||||
| 22nd | Re-Elected August 10, 1953 | |||||
 |
13th | John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative) |
June 21, 1957 April 21, 1963 |
23rd | Elected June 10, 1957 to a minority government | |
| 24th | Re-Elected March 31, 1958 | |||||
| 25th | Re-Elected June 18, 1962 to a minority government | |||||
 |
14th | Lester B. Pearson (Liberal) |
April 22, 1963 April 19, 1968 |
26th | Elected April 8, 1963 to a minority government | |
| 27th | Re-Elected November 8, 1965 to a minority government Resignation (Retired) April 20, 1968 |
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 |
15th | Pierre Trudeau (Liberal) (1st time of 2) |
April 20, 1968 June 3, 1979 |
Designated April 6, 1968 to a minority government | ||
| 28th | Re-elected June 25, 1968 | |||||
| 29th | Re-Elected October 30, 1972 to a minority government | |||||
| 30th | Re-Elected July 8, 1974 | |||||
 |
16th | Joe Clark (Progressive Conservative) |
June 4, 1979 March 2, 1980 |
31st | Elected May 22, 1979 to a minority government | |
|
|
– | Pierre Trudeau (Liberal) (2nd time of 2) |
March 3, 1980 June 29, 1984 |
32nd | Elected February 18, 1980 Resigned (Retired) June 30, 1984[10] |
|
| 17th | John Turner (Liberal) |
June 30, 1984 September 16, 1984 |
Designated June 16, 1984[11] | |||
 |
18th | Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative) |
September 17, 1984 June 24, 1993 |
33rd | Elected September 4, 1984 | |
| 34th | Re-Elected November 21, 1988 Resigned (Retired) June 25, 1993[12] |
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| 19th | Kim Campbell (Progressive Conservative) |
June 25, 1993 November 3, 1993 |
Designated June 13, 1993 | |||
 |
20th | Jean Chrétien (Liberal) |
November 4, 1993 December 11, 2003 |
35th | Elected October 25, 1993 | |
| 36th | Re-Elected June 2, 1997 | |||||
| 37th | Re-Elected November 27, 2000 Resigned (Retired) December 12, 2003[13] |
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 |
21st | Paul Martin (Liberal) |
December 12, 2003 February 5, 2006 |
Designated November 15, 2003 | ||
| 38th | Re-elected June 28, 2004 to a minority government | |||||
 |
22nd | Stephen Harper (Conservative) |
February 6, 2006 incumbent |
39th | Elected January 23, 2006 to a minority government | |
| 40th | Re-Elected October 14, 2008 to a minority government | |||||
Notes
- ↑ In 1878, John A. Macdonald presented himself in the electoral districts of Kingston, ON, Marquette, MB, and Victoria, BC. He was defeated in Kingston, Ontario by Liberal Alexander Gunn. However, since Macdonald was elected in the two other districts and chose to sit as an MP from Victoria, BC, he did not present himself in another by-election.
- ↑ John Abbott was a senator when he was designated Prime Minister.
- ↑ Mackenzie Bowell was a senator when he was designated Prime Minister.
- ↑ After the dissolution of the 7th Canadian Parliament, Mackenzie Bowell stepped down and Sir Charles Tupper became Prime Minister on May 1, 1896. Tupper was only Prime Minister during the 1896 election campaign, which he lost, so he was never Prime Minister of a sitting parliament.
- ↑ The later half of Borden's premiership was under a coalition government of the Conservatives, now renamed "Unionist" and some Liberals.
- ↑ Coalition with some members of the Liberal Party of Canada.
- ↑ In the 15th general election, P.M. King's Liberals elected fewer seats than Arthur Meighen's Conservatives. However, King stayed in power with the support of the Progressive Party.
- ↑ King was defeated in his electoral district in the general election.
- ↑ Defeated in his electoral district.
- ↑ Resignation announced February 29, 1984
- ↑ Turner was not a sitting member of parliament when he was designate Prime Minister
- ↑ Resignation announced February 1993
- ↑ Jean Chrétien announced on August 21, 2002, his intention to step down in February 2004 and ended up resigning on December 12, 2003.
References
- "Prime Ministers of Canada - 1867 to Date" (.asp). Parliament of Canada. Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
- "Prime Ministers of Canada" (.htm). Canada Info Link. Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
- "The Prime Ministers of Canada" (.php). 7th Floor Media. Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
External links
See also
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