Liberalism in Canada

Liberalism has been a strong force in Canadian politics since the late 18th century. While Canada has the same features of other liberal democracies in the Western democratic political tradition, it is, in some respects, an exemplar of liberalism. This article gives an overview of liberalism in Canada. It includes a brief history of liberal parties with substantial representation in parliament.

Liberalism in Canadian history

Historically, Canada has had two liberal phases. Prior to the 1960s, Canadian politics were classically liberal, i.e., there was a focus on individual liberty, representative government, and free markets. This brand of liberalism can be traced to the arrival in Canada of the United Empire Loyalists and the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The Constitutional Act established representative government through the elected assemblies of Upper and Lower Canada. While the Loyalists were faithful to British institutions and opposed to American republicanism, they were committed to North American ideals of individual liberty and representative government. This brand of liberalism was prominent though the Liberal government of Wilfrid Laurier, which advocated such policies as free trade with the United States, and beyond.

The second liberalism began, roughly, in the 1960s with the election of Lester B. Pearson as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and can be traced through the politics of Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, and Paul Martin. This liberalism is what is properly called in a global context social liberalism, or what contemporary North American use of the word signifies as liberalism: liberal democracy, social justice, social progressivism, Third Way, multiculturalism, diplomacy in foreign policy, and a regulated free market economy (during the Trudeau era the Liberals arguably supported a mixed economy). In this second sense, the Liberal Party of Canada is presently one of the more liberal political parties in the Americas. By contrast, prior to the 1960s, the Liberal Party was one of the most liberal parties in the world in the first sense.

There is argued to be a third phase of liberalism emerging that is centred on a more sustainable form of politics. The argument is that action is needed to ensure that the environment, economy, and social elements of society will function not only in the short term, but long term as well. If action is not taken on all of these pressing issues then it can cause a direct threat to our freedoms. This emerging new liberalism is centred on an ideal of 'timeless freedom' which seeks to preserve the freedom of future generations through proactive action today. This would extend both positive and negative rights and responsibilities to future generations. However, the Liberal Party of Canada is not aligned with this third phase; it is moving closer and closer to the neo-liberalism of the Washington Consensus.

Liberal parties

Liberal parties developed in both the French and English speaking parts of Canada, and led to the formation of the Liberal Party of Canada. Liberal parties exist on a provincial level, but while they mostly share similar ideologies, not all provincial parties are officially affiliated with the federal party.

In Canada, a "capital-L" liberal refers to the policies and ideas of the Liberal Party of Canada/Parti Libéral du Canada (member LI), the most frequent governing party of Canada for the last century and one of the largest liberal parties around the world. The Quebec Liberal Party (Parti libéral du Québec) combines liberalism with more conservative ideas. Only federal parties are included in the following timeline. The sign ⇒ indicates a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme, it isn't necessary for parties to have explicitly labelled themselves as a liberal party.

Timeline

Canadian Party / Patriot Party / Red Party

Reform Party

Clear Grits / Liberal Party of Canada

Current status

In addition to the federal party, each province and the Yukon territory has its own Liberal Party. However those in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec are no longer affiliated with the federal party. Under their system of consensus government, political parties are not recognized in the territories of Nunavut and Northwest Territories. However, there are plans to reestablish a Northwest Territories Liberal Party in time for elections in 2015.[1]

Federal, provincial and territorial Liberal Parties
Federal party Seats/Total Status Leader
Liberal Party of Canada 36/308 (House)
30/105 (Senate)		 Third party Justin Trudeau, MP
Affiliated parties Seats/Total Status Leader
New Brunswick Liberal Association 26/49 Governing Brian Gallant, Premier of New Brunswick
Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador 16/48 Official Opposition Dwight Ball, MHA
Nova Scotia Liberal Party 33/51 Governing Stephen McNeil, Premier of Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island Liberal Party 20/27 Governing Robert Ghiz, Premier of Prince Edward Island
Unaffiliated parties Seats/Total Status Leader
Alberta Liberal Party 5/87 Third party David Swann, MLA
British Columbia Liberal Party 49/85 Governing Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia
Manitoba Liberal Party 1/57 Third party Rana Bokhari
Ontario Liberal Party 59/107 Governing Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
Quebec Liberal Party 69/125 Governing Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec
Saskatchewan Liberal Party 0/58 No seats Darrin Lamoureux
Yukon Liberal Party 1/19 Third party Sandy Silver, MLA
Former party Details
Northwest Territories Liberal Party No longer any recognized political parties due to consensus government.

Liberal leaders

Parti Patriote

Clear Grits

Parti Rouge

Liberal Party of Canada

Prominent Liberals

Federal

Provincial

Governor General of Canada

Liberal thinkers

References

  1. ↑ "Group plans to run Liberal candidate in 2015 N.W.T. election". CBC News. 2013-05-27. Retrieved 2013-09-13.

See also