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39-521: In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the Confederation parties became Conservative parties aligned with the federal Liberal-Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald (generally known simply as Conservatives ), while Anti-Confederation parties became Liberals . This approximated the political dichotomy that existed prior to Confederation although, because of the realignment, some former Liberals became Conservatives and vice versa. The acceptance of

78-630: A "National Government" platform was likely inspired by the Union Government which the Conservatives formed during World War I in coalition with some dissident Liberals. After Manion's defeat, the Conservatives again turned to Arthur Meighen for leadership. Senator Meighen was appointed the party's leader for the duration of the war in November 1941 by a unanimous vote at a national conference of several hundred party delegates after

117-529: A Canadian political party is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Conservative Party of Canada (historical) Provincial Provincial The Conservative Party of Canada was a major federal political party in Canada that existed from 1867 to 1942. The party adhered to traditionalist conservatism and its main policies included strengthening relations with Great Britain , nationalizing industries, and promoting high tariffs. The party

156-512: A further strain as most Quebecers (plus pacifists and many workers, farmers and socialists across the country, especially immigrants) were unenthusiastic about Canadian involvement in what they saw as a foreign, and particularly British, conflict, while Borden's supporters, most living in English Canada, supported Canada's war effort and its policy of conscription of men for the war (see Conscription Crisis of 1917 ). The attempt to turn

195-520: A minimum wage, a maximum for work week hours, unemployment insurance, health insurance, an expanded pension program, and grants to farmers. The Conservatives' conversion to the concept of a welfare state came too late, and the Conservatives were routed in the October 1935 election , winning only 40 seats to 173 for Mackenzie King's Liberals. The Bennett years left the Conservatives in the worst shape they had ever been – not only did enmity towards

234-704: A motion to hold a leadership convention was defeated. He resigned from the Senate and attempted to enter the House of Commons from a safe Conservative seat but was trounced by the CCF in a February 1942 by-election in York South. His party's agitation for a re-enactment of conscription in World War II only further alienated Quebec from the Conservatives. Meighen resigned as leader following his defeat. Later that year,

273-512: A new election but Byng refused and asked Meighen to form a government. Meighen's government was defeated three days after taking office by a vote in the Commons, leaving no choice but a new election. The general election produced a Liberal victory. Wiseman argues that Liberals emphasized Canadian nationalism while Conservatives "exuded British imperialist pride". The " King–Byng Affair " played primarily to Canadian nationalist sentiment because it

312-539: The 1911 election . Wilfrid Laurier 's Liberals, in favour of increased trade with the U.S., were swept from power. Robert Borden led a new Tory administration that emphasised a revitalised National Policy and continued strong links to Britain. Borden had built a base in Quebec by allying with anti-Laurier Quebec nationalists, but, in government, tensions between Quebec nationalists and English Canadian imperialists made any grand coalition untenable. World War I created

351-676: The British Empire ) and strong political and legal links with Britain while Liberals promoted free trade and continentalism (that is closer ties to the United States) and greater independence from Britain. Macdonald died in 1891 and, without his leadership, the Conservative coalition began to unravel under the pressure of sectarian tensions between Catholic French Canadians and British imperialists who tended to be anti-French and anti-Catholic. The government's mis-handling of

390-668: The Canadian Pacific Railway , significantly expanded Canada's territorial boundaries, and introduced the National Policy of high tariffs to protect domestic industries. During its third period of governance from 1911 to 1921, the Conservative Party introduced the income tax and women's suffrage for federal elections, and most notably oversaw Canada's involvement in World War I . In 1917,

429-521: The Great Depression , although the party was widely unpopular for its handling of it, leading to their defeat in 1935 . In 1942, the Conservatives attempted to broaden their base by electing Manitoba Progressive Premier John Bracken as their new leader at that year's leadership convention . Bracken agreed to become the party's leader on the condition that it change its name to the " Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ". The roots of

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468-872: The Province of Canada . Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of Canada, was created by the Act of Union 1840 passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom , having effect in 1841. For administrative purposes, the new Province was subdivided into Canada West and Canada East. The former name of "Lower Canada" came back into official use in 1849, and as of Canadian Confederation of 1867 it formed

507-680: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , on orders from the Prime Minister, attacked a public meeting of 3,000 strikers leaving two dead and dozens injured. In desperation, Bennett had attempted to save his government by reversing its laissez-faire policies and, belatedly, implementing "Bennett's New Deal" based on the New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt . Bennett proposed progressive income taxation,

546-574: The 1860s, the Grand Trunk Railway was about $ 72 million in debt. Its annual income was about $ 200. Partly because of this, the Province of Canada pulled out of the negotiations for the Intercolonial Railway . Only 20% of Canada East's residents lived in cities. The rest were farmers, habitants as they called themselves. They built their own stone houses and wooden furniture. Their clothes were homemade and their food

585-835: The Confederation Party was greatly influenced by the American Civil War . Other reasons were an aggressive American foreign policy and the Fenian Raids of 1866 . Some of the Maritime provinces were worried that the autonomy would be weakened if they took up the Confederation. It was also feared that the French-Canadian interests would be weakened if the Confederation was embraced in Canada East (modern-day Quebec ). This article about

624-635: The Conscription Crisis destroyed any remaining Conservative base in Quebec for generations, leaving them with even less support than they had before the Union government. Borden's successor, Arthur Meighen formally attempted to make the Unionist coalition permanent by creating the "National Liberal and Conservative Party" but most Liberals ended up returning to their old party and some Conservatives balked at what they saw as an attempt to destroy

663-528: The Conservative Party. John Hampden Burnham , MP for Peterborough West , quit the government caucus to sit as an Independent Conservative and resigned his seat in order to contest it in a by-election on his position. Meighen's party was defeated by the Liberals in the election of 1921 coming in third behind the Progressives. At March 1922 caucus meeting the party voted to revert to its original name of

702-401: The Conservatives attempted to broaden their base by electing Manitoba Progressive Premier John Bracken as their new leader at the 1942 leadership convention . Bracken agreed to become the party's leader on the condition that it change its name to the " Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ". Canada East Canada East ( French : Canada-Est ) was the northeastern portion of

741-678: The Conservatives continue in Quebec as a legacy of the Conscription Crisis of 1917 , but they were now reviled in the West for their perceived insensitivity to the needs of farmers in the Dust Bowl and Westerners turned to Social Credit or the CCF making the Conservatives their fourth choice. The Conservatives would have to wait twenty years before their fortunes in Western Canada revived. Bennett's successor, Robert Manion ,

780-406: The Conservatives into a hegemonic party by merging with Liberal-Unionists failed as most Liberals either joined the new Progressive Party of Canada or rejoined the Liberals under its new leader William Lyon Mackenzie King . One critical issue in this split was free trade - farmers were particularly hostile to Tory tariff policy and free trade was a key issue in the creation of the Progressives while

819-730: The Francophones were nervous because they did not want to lose their French heritage. They were afraid that it would be overwhelmed by the English. At the time of Confederation (1867), Montreal was the largest city of the British North American colonies, with a population of 107,225. Some of the richest people in Canada lived in Montreal. By the late 1850s all the land of Canada West had been bought. The next frontier

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858-562: The Liberal-Conservative Party. The Liberals were reduced to a minority government in the 1925 election . The Conservatives won a plurality of seats in the House of Commons , but King was able to stay in power with the support of the Progressives and form a minority government . King's government was defeated in a vote in the House of Commons within months and Prime Minister King asked Governor-General Byng to call

897-576: The Province of Canada. Canada East was primarily a French-speaking region. Due to heavy immigration following the American Revolutionary War, the population of English-speaking residents of Canada West soon outstripped Canada East. Under the Act of Union 1840 the seats in the lower legislature were evenly divided between East and West. There was no provision under the Act for representation by population . From 1841 to 1843,

936-653: The Province of Lower Canada. The words "Upper Canada," shall mean all that part of this Province which formerly constituted the Province of Upper Canada. There was a danger of Fenian raids along the Canada–United States border south and east of Montreal. The British government did not want a repeat of the rebellion of 1837 and 1838, for fear of losing two more colonies to the United States . The most important farm products were potatoes, rye, buckwheat, maple sugar and livestock . When it came time to confederate,

975-474: The coalition concept run as "National Government" candidates nominated through open riding conventions in which members of any party would be allowed to vote. The concept did not pan out and, in practice, the National Government candidates were all Conservatives. Despite the new name, the party failed to gain any seats, and Manion was personally defeated in his riding . The idea for running under

1014-581: The desired result Bennett's government had no alternative plan. The party's pro-business, pro-bank inclinations provided no relief to the millions of unemployed who were now becoming increasingly desperate and agitated. The Conservatives seemed indecisive and unable to cope and rapidly lost the confidence of Canadians becoming a focus of hatred, ridicule and contempt. Car owners who could no longer afford gasoline reverted to having their vehicles pulled by horses and dubbed them "Bennett buggies". R. B. Bennett faced pressure for radical reforms from within and without

1053-506: The first national government in 1867. The party brought together ultramontane Quebec Catholics , pro-tariff businessmen, United Empire Loyalists , and Orangemen . One major accomplishment of Macdonald's first government was the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway which also led to the Pacific Scandal that brought down the government in 1873. The Liberal-Conservatives under Macdonald returned to power in 1878 by opposing

1092-624: The grievances that aroused the Red River Rebellion and the North-West Rebellion , and its hanging of their leader Louis Riel ), and the Manitoba Schools Question exacerbated tensions within the Conservative Party and suppressed much of the support among Quebecois for the Conservative party, a problem only smoothed over by the 1980s. Free trade between Canada and the U.S. was the major issue of

1131-474: The newly created province of Quebec . An estimated 890,000 people lived in Canada East in 1851. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian province of Quebec . It was a former British colony called the Province of Lower Canada . Based on Lord Durham's report it was merged with the Province of Upper Canada (present-day southern portion of the Province of Ontario ) to create

1170-431: The party introduced conscription , triggering a national divide known as the Conscription Crisis . As a result of the crisis, the party joined with pro-conscription Liberals to become the " Unionist Party ", which existed until 1920. The Conservatives were defeated in the 1921 election . The Conservatives briefly formed government in 1926 and from 1930 to 1935. During the latter period, the Conservatives were faced with

1209-467: The party are in the pre- Confederation Province of Canada . In 1853, the bleus from Canada East and the Tories and moderate reformers from Canada West joined together in a coalition government under the dual premiership of Allan MacNab and A.-N. Morin . It was out of this coalition that the Liberal-Conservative Party was formed. Macdonald became the leader of the Conservative Party and formed

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1248-493: The party: Bennett attempted to prevent social disorder by evacuating the unemployed to relief camps far away from the cities but this only exacerbated social tensions leading to the " On-to-Ottawa Trek " of unemployed protesters who intended to ride the rails from Vancouver to Ottawa (gathering new members along the way) in order to bring their demands for relief to Bennett personally. The trek ended in Regina on July 1, 1935, when

1287-580: The policy of free trade or reciprocity with the United States and promoting, instead, the National Policy which sought to promote business and develop industry with high tariff protectionist measures as well as settle and develop the west. The principal difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals in this period and well into the twentieth century was that Conservatives were in favour of imperial preference (a protectionist system in which tariffs would be levied against imports from outside

1326-482: The terms Canada East and Canada West were used. The former names of the two colonies, Lower Canada and Upper Canada , had no constitutional status. From April 25, 1849, the Canadian Parliament enacted an interpretation act, which once again gave legal meaning to the terms Lower Canada and Upper Canada : The words "Lower Canada," shall mean all that part of this Province which formerly constituted

1365-547: Was chosen at the 1938 leadership convention which also officially changed the name of the party from the Liberal-Conservative Party to the National Conservative Party. The Conservatives fought the 1940 election under Manion with a different name, "National Government". With the election taking place during World War II , the party ran on a platform of forming a wartime national unity government . Manion proposed to have Liberal and Labour supporters of

1404-467: Was chosen by this method. Bennett led the Conservatives to power in the 1930 election , largely as a result of the inability of the Liberal government (or any government in the western world) to deal with the Great Depression . Bennett promised to end the economic crisis in three days by implementing the old Conservative policy of high tariffs and imperial preference. When this policy failed to generate

1443-586: Was felt the Governor General, a British government appointee, had overstepped his bounds and that this was a sign of excessive British influence in Canadian politics. The political impact of the King–Byng Affair therefore favoured the Liberals. Meighen was replaced as Tory leader by R. B. Bennett , a millionaire Calgary businessman at the 1927 leadership convention , the first time a Tory leader

1482-404: Was founded in the aftermath of Canadian Confederation and was known as the " Liberal-Conservative Party " until it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873. Primarily under the leadership of John A. Macdonald , the Conservatives governed Canada from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1896. During these two periods of governance, the party strengthened ties with Great Britain, oversaw the construction of

1521-540: Was west of Lake Superior . However, this land was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company . Most in Canada East resisted the takeover of this land, as it would have changed the balance of the seats in the legislature. The St. Lawrence River was full of ice for half the year. For that half of the year, goods had to be transported on American railways. People supported construction of a railway through Canada East to Halifax to provide an all-British route for trade and defence. By

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