The Ontario Liberal Party ( OLP ; French : Parti libéral de l'Ontario , PLO ) is a political party in the province of Ontario , Canada . The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023.
161-694: The party espouses the principles of liberalism , and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum, with their rival the Progressive Conservative Party positioned to the right and the New Democratic Party (who at times aligned itself with the Liberals during minority governments), positioned to their left . The party has strong informal ties to the Liberal Party of Canada , but
322-558: A duty to promote the common good . His ideas spread rapidly and were developed by other thinkers such as Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse and John A. Hobson . In a few years, this New Liberalism had become the essential social and political programme of the Liberal Party in Britain, and it would encircle much of the world in the 20th century. In addition to examining negative and positive liberty, liberals have tried to understand
483-668: A by-election to enter the House of Commons. Similarly, Bob Runciman served as parliamentary leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party following the 2007 election , in which party leader John Tory lost his seat in the legislature. He became the party's full interim leader in 2009 after Tory was defeated in an attempt to re-enter the Legislative Assembly in a by-election. Bill Graham served as interim parliamentary leader of
644-578: A central role in the ideas of Kant and John Stuart Mill. Both thinkers believed that society would contain different conceptions of a good ethical life and that people should be allowed to make their own choices without interference from the state or other individuals. Adam Smith 's The Wealth of Nations , published in 1776, followed by the French liberal economist Jean-Baptiste Say 's treatise on Political Economy published in 1803 and expanded in 1830 with practical applications, were to provide most of
805-433: A central role in the economy through their coordinating function. He also highlights qualities essential for successful entrepreneurship and focuses on judgement, in that they have continued to assess market needs and the means to meet them. This requires an "unerring market sense". Say views entrepreneurial income primarily as the high revenue paid in compensation for their skills and expert knowledge. He does so by contrasting
966-467: A challenge to anyone looking for a clear definition. Although all liberal doctrines possess a common heritage, scholars frequently assume that those doctrines contain "separate and often contradictory streams of thought". The objectives of liberal theorists and philosophers have differed across various times, cultures and continents. The diversity of liberalism can be gleaned from the numerous qualifiers that liberal thinkers and movements have attached to
1127-411: A class of yeoman farmers. Beginning in the late 19th century, a new conception of liberty entered the liberal intellectual arena. This new kind of liberty became known as positive liberty to distinguish it from the prior negative version , and it was first developed by British philosopher T. H. Green . Green rejected the idea that humans were driven solely by self-interest , emphasising instead
1288-428: A dangerous existence was to form a common and supreme power capable of arbitrating between competing human desires. This power could be formed in the framework of a civil society that allows individuals to make a voluntary social contract with the sovereign authority, transferring their natural rights to that authority in return for the protection of life, liberty and property. These early liberals often disagreed about
1449-665: A dynasty which was to rule Ontario for the next 42 years. Ontario politics in recent times have been dominated by the Progressive Conservatives , also known as the Tories. The Liberals had formed the Government for only five years out of sixty years from 1943 to 2003. For forty-two years, from 1943 to 1985, the province was governed by the Tories. During this period, the Ontario Liberal Party
1610-421: A general defence for religious toleration . Three arguments are central: Locke was also influenced by the liberal ideas of Presbyterian politician and poet John Milton , who was a staunch advocate of freedom in all its forms. Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration . Rather than force a man's conscience, the government should recognise the persuasive force of
1771-536: A governing framework that harmonises and minimises conflicting views but still allows those views to exist and flourish. For liberal philosophy, pluralism leads easily to toleration. Since individuals will hold diverging viewpoints, liberals argue, they ought to uphold and respect the right of one another to disagree. From the liberal perspective, toleration was initially connected to religious toleration , with Baruch Spinoza condemning "the stupidity of religious persecution and ideological wars". Toleration also played
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#17327721534661932-536: A growing anti-Catholic sectarian sentiment hurt the Liberals, particularly in Toronto where they were unable to win a seat from 1890 until 1916. The Liberals continued to decline after losing power, and, for a time, were eclipsed by the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) when the Liberals were unable to attract the growing farmers' protest movement to its ranks. Debates over the party's policy on liquor divided
2093-575: A hard time winning an election. The Liberals had held office only three times for 13 years since 1900 and the party caucus was not that much different from the time between 1959 and 1963. They failed to get a popular candidate, Charles Templeton , elected in a by-election. They also lost another riding to the PCs when Maurice Bélanger died in March 1964. Thompson would last only two years as leader before resigning due to stress-induced health problems. Throughout
2254-414: A key Liberal campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and gave the government an early reputation for breaking promises. The Liberals defended the premium by pointing to the previous government's hidden deficit of $ 5.6 billion, and McGuinty claimed he needed to break his campaign pledge on taxation to fulfill his promises on other fronts. The Ontario Health Premium also became a major issue in the early days of
2415-494: A mercantile society where there were no slaves, but almost everybody had to earn a living through work. Instead, the voters would elect representatives who would deliberate in Parliament on the people's behalf and would save citizens from daily political involvement. The importance of Constant's writings on the liberty of the ancients and that of the "moderns" has informed the understanding of liberalism, as has his critique of
2576-583: A pejorative remark—in the 16th and the 17th centuries. In the 16th-century Kingdom of England , liberal could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someone's generosity or indiscretion. In Much Ado About Nothing , William Shakespeare wrote of "a liberal villaine" who "hath ... confest his vile encounters". With the rise of the Enlightenment , the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, defined as "free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823. In 1815,
2737-421: A return to the activist form of government that had prevailed from 1985 to 1987, and its co-operation with the Liberals during that time made it appear more moderate and acceptable to swing voters in the Toronto area. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post system, the Liberals were decimated, falling from 95 seats to 36. The 59-seat loss surpassed the 48-seat loss in 1943 that began the Tories' long rule over
2898-472: A scenario, as other leaders in the same situation have retained the leadership until they were able to run in a by-election . However, for personal or political reasons some leaders have opted to immediately resign the leadership instead. Andy Brandt became interim leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party following the party's defeat in the 1987 provincial election , in which leader Larry Grossman lost his own seat. He served until 1990, when he
3059-560: A sense of crisis within Islam , which continues to this day, leading to Islamic revivalism . Before 1920, the main ideological opponents of liberalism were communism , conservatism , and socialism ; liberalism then faced major ideological challenges from fascism and Marxism–Leninism as new opponents. During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread even further, especially in Western Europe, as liberal democracies found themselves as
3220-425: A separate company and sold outright for up to $ 3 billion. The government pivoted to the left in the lead up to the 2018 election by raising the minimum wage, introducing reforms to employment standards and labour law, bringing in a limited form of pharmacare and promising universal child care. In the 2018 general election , the Liberals were swept from power in a historic defeat that resulted in large gains for both
3381-548: A series of high-profile maulings, the government also moved to ban pit bulls . During early 2005, McGuinty called the Legislature back for a rare winter session to debate and pass several high-profile bills. The government legislated a Greenbelt around Toronto. The size of Prince Edward Island , the Greenbelt protects a broad swath of land from development and preserves forests and farmland. In response to court decisions,
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#17327721534663542-611: A slump as the present one, so great as to bring production altogether to a standstill". At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, Keynes published The Means to Prosperity , which contained specific policy recommendations for tackling unemployment in a global recession, chiefly counter cyclical public spending. The Means to Prosperity contains one of the first mentions of the multiplier effect . Interim leader (Canada) An interim leader , in Canadian politics ,
3703-763: A variety of liberalism that endorses a regulated market economy and the expansion of civil and political rights , with the common good considered as compatible with or superior to the freedom of the individual. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica : "In the United States, liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal programme of the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt , whereas in Europe it
3864-406: Is a party leader appointed by the party's legislative caucus or the party's executive to temporarily act as leader when a gap occurs between the resignation or death of a party leader and the election of their formal successor. Usually a party leader retains the leadership until a successor is formally chosen — however, in some situations this is not possible, and an interim leader is thus appointed by
4025-427: Is also credited with Say's law , or the law of markets which may be summarised as " Aggregate supply creates its own aggregate demand ", and " Supply creates its own demand ", or "Supply constitutes its own demand" and "Inherent in supply is the need for its own consumption". The related phrase "supply creates its own demand" was coined by John Maynard Keynes , who criticized Say's separate formulations as amounting to
4186-721: Is applied to making one product and not enough to another" (1803, pp. 178–179). Related reasoning appears in the work of John Stuart Mill and earlier in that of his Scottish classical economist father, James Mill (1808). Mill senior restates Say's law in 1808: "production of commodities creates, and is the one and universal cause which creates a market for the commodities produced". In addition to Smith's and Say's legacies, Thomas Malthus ' theories of population and David Ricardo 's Iron law of wages became central doctrines of classical economics. Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste Say challenged Smith's labour theory of value , believing that prices were determined by utility and also emphasised
4347-462: Is considered closely tied to, or synonymous with, American libertarianism . Liberalism—both as a political current and an intellectual tradition—is mostly a modern phenomenon that started in the 17th century, although some liberal philosophical ideas had precursors in classical antiquity and Imperial China . The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius praised "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and
4508-492: Is made up by a voluntary compact between men and women". Locke maintained that the grant of dominion in Genesis was not to men over women , as Filmer believed, but to humans over animals. Locke was not a feminist by modern standards, but the first major liberal thinker in history accomplished an equally major task on the road to making the world more pluralistic: integrating women into social theory . Locke also originated
4669-639: Is more commonly associated with a commitment to limited government and laissez-faire economic policies." This variety of liberalism is also known as modern liberalism to distinguish it from classical liberalism , which evolved into modern conservatism . In the United States, the two forms of liberalism comprise the two main poles of American politics, in the forms of modern American liberalism and modern American conservatism . Some liberals, who call themselves classical liberals , fiscal conservatives , or libertarians , endorse fundamental liberal ideals but diverge from modern liberal thought on
4830-426: Is nothing but the consent of any number of freemen capable of a majority to unite and incorporate into such a society. And this is that, and that only, which did or could give beginning to any lawful government in the world". The stringent insistence that lawful government did not have a supernatural basis was a sharp break with the dominant theories of governance, which advocated the divine right of kings and echoed
4991-542: Is often associated with this principle, with Friedrich Hayek arguing in The Road to Serfdom (1944) that reliance on free markets would preclude totalitarian control by the state. The development into maturity of modern classical in contrast to ancient liberalism took place before and soon after the French Revolution. One of the historic centres of this development was at Coppet Castle near Geneva , where
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5152-556: Is often used as a pejorative. This political philosophy is exemplified by enactment of major social legislation and welfare programs. Two major examples in the United States are Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal policies and later Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society , as well as other accomplishments such as the Works Progress Administration and the Social Security Act in 1935, as well as
5313-482: Is the Liberal Party , and the Democratic Party is usually considered liberal in the United States. In the United States, conservative liberals are usually called conservatives in a broad sense. Over time, the meaning of liberalism began to diverge in different parts of the world. Since the 1930s, liberalism is usually used without a qualifier in the United States, to refer to social liberalism ,
5474-406: The 1999 election , the governing Conservatives were reelected on the basis of strong economic growth and a negative campaign tightly focused on portraying McGuinty as "not up to the job". A poor performance in the leader's debate and a weak overall campaign hamstrung the new leader, but he was able to rally his party in the final weeks of the campaign. The Ontario Liberals garnered 40% of the vote, at
5635-668: The Bloc Québécois on June 2, 2011, at the beginning of the first session of the 41st Canadian Parliament , following the 2011 federal election and the defeat and resignation of BQ leader Gilles Duceppe , while Vivian Barbot succeeded Duceppe as interim president of the BQ. Major James Coldwell became parliamentary leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in October 1940, following
5796-792: The British liberal tradition has emphasized expanding democracy, French liberalism has emphasized rejecting authoritarianism and is linked to nation-building . Leaders in the British Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776, and the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of royal sovereignty . The 19th century saw liberal governments established in Europe and South America , and it
5957-468: The Canadian Alliance came under criticism due to party infighting. Like Clark, he thus announced a new leadership campaign in which he would reoffer as a candidate, and John Reynolds became the party's interim leader. In several cases, a party's leader has been defeated in his or her own riding in an election, and has resigned soon afterward. A resignation is not necessarily required in such
6118-546: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Modern liberalism, in the United States and other major Western countries, now includes issues such as same-sex marriage , transgender rights , the abolition of capital punishment , reproductive rights and other women's rights , voting rights for all adult citizens, civil rights, environmental justice , and government protection of
6279-469: The December 2023 leadership election which elected Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie as the new Liberal leader. On December 2nd, 2023, the Ontario Liberal Party elected Bonnie Crombie , the then-mayor of Mississauga, as the next leader of the party, defeating MP Nate Erskine-Smith , MP Yasir Naqvi , and MPP Ted Hsu . The executive of the Ontario Liberal Party is elected to a 12 to 18 month term at
6440-512: The Progressive Conservative Party . Feeling that he did not have sufficiently strong support within the party, he thus scheduled a leadership convention. Initially, he remained the party's leader in the meantime — however, as he was also standing as a candidate in the leadership process, he eventually stepped down and Erik Nielsen was installed as the party's interim leader. In early 2002, Stockwell Day's leadership of
6601-534: The divine right of kings by appealing to biblical teaching, claiming that the authority granted to Adam by God gave successors of Adam in the male line of descent a right of dominion over all other humans and creatures in the world. However, Locke disagreed so thoroughly and obsessively with Filmer that the First Treatise is almost a sentence-by-sentence refutation of Patriarcha . Reinforcing his respect for consensus, Locke argued that "conjugal society
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6762-590: The provincial sales tax was a particularly bad blunder. The party had also underestimated the impact of the Patti Starr fundraising scandal, as well as allegations surrounding the Liberal government's links with land developers. In the 1990 election, the Liberals only finished five points behind the NDP in the popular vote. However, the NDP took many seats from the Liberals in the Toronto suburbs. The NDP promised
6923-561: The right to an adequate standard of living . National social services , such as equal educational opportunities, access to health care, and transportation infrastructure are intended to meet the responsibility to promote the general welfare of all citizens as established by the United States Constitution . Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under
7084-521: The rights of minorities . Besides liberty, liberals have developed several other principles important to the construction of their philosophical structure, such as equality, pluralism and tolerance. Highlighting the confusion over the first principle, Voltaire commented, "equality is at once the most natural and at times the most chimeral of things". All forms of liberalism assume in some basic sense that individuals are equal. In maintaining that people are naturally equal, liberals assume they all possess
7245-474: The rule of law , with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government , economic freedom , political freedom and freedom of speech . Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism , looks more negatively on social policies , taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation . Until the Great Depression and
7406-479: The workhouses and asylums for the mentally ill. During the Great Depression , the English economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) gave the definitive liberal response to the economic crisis. Keynes had been "brought up" as a classical liberal, but especially after World War I, became increasingly a welfare or social liberal. A prolific writer, among many other works, he had begun a theoretical work examining
7567-647: The 1830s and 1840s against the conservative patrician rule of the Family Compact . The modern Liberals were founded by George Brown , who sought to rebuild the Reform Party after its collapse in 1854. In 1857, Brown brought together the Reformers and the radical " Clear Grits " of southwestern Ontario to create a new party in Upper Canada with a platform of democratic reform and annexation of
7728-509: The 1960s and 1970s, the Liberals were almost shut out of Metropolitan Toronto and other urban areas and, in 1975, fell to third place behind the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) under Stephen Lewis . With the NDP in ascendancy in the late 1960s and 1970s, it appeared that the Liberals could disappear altogether. The Liberals remained more popular than the Tories among Catholic and Francophone voters, due to
7889-546: The 2004 federal election, called a week after the Ontario budget. Most believe that the controversy seriously hampered Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin 's bid for re-election. Also controversial were the elimination of coverage for health services not covered by the Canada Health Act , including eye examinations and physical therapy . Other elements included a four-year plan to tackle the deficit left behind by
8050-515: The 2018 election, the party had won every election since the beginning of the 21st century and had governed the province for the previous 15 years. In the 2022 provincial election , the Liberals saw a modest increase in support, finishing second in popular vote, but only winning eight seats. The Liberal Party of Ontario is descended from the Reform Party of Robert Baldwin and William Lyon Mackenzie , who argued for responsible government in
8211-493: The 20th century achieved several objectives towards both goals. Other goals often accepted by liberals include universal suffrage and universal access to education . In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism (often called simply liberalism in the United States) became a key component in expanding the welfare state . Today, liberal parties continue to wield power and influence throughout
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#17327721534668372-701: The Annual General Meeting. Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual , liberty , consent of the governed , political equality , right to private property and equality before the law . Liberals espouse various and often mutually warring views depending on their understanding of these principles but generally support private property , market economies , individual rights (including civil rights and human rights ), liberal democracy , secularism , rule of law , economic and political freedom , freedom of speech , freedom of
8533-546: The French Revolution. The British philosopher and historian of ideas, Sir Isaiah Berlin , has pointed to the debt owed to Constant. Liberalism in Britain was based on core concepts such as classical economics , free trade , laissez-faire government with minimal intervention and taxation and a balanced budget . Classical liberals were committed to individualism, liberty and equal rights. Writers such as John Bright and Richard Cobden opposed aristocratic privilege and property, which they saw as an impediment to developing
8694-536: The Liberals in early 2006, while outgoing party leader Paul Martin was still sitting as an MP and retained the formal leadership of the party. After this situation created some media confusion over which man would lead the party into an election if one were to occur, Martin stepped down as party leader in March, and Graham assumed the full interim leadership until Stéphane Dion was selected as leader in December. Louis Plamondon became interim parliamentary leader of
8855-453: The Liberals to win a historic third consecutive term and to once again form government, albeit with a minority of seats in the legislature. The Liberals won 53 of the 107 seats, just short of a 54-seat majority government. On October 15, 2012, McGuinty announced that he would resign as leader and Premier. At the end of January 2013, the party elected MPP Kathleen Wynne as leader, making her the 25th Premier of Ontario. The June 12, 2014 election
9016-420: The Liberals updated the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. McGuinty also launched a PR campaign to narrow the politically charged $ 23 billion gap between what Ontario contributes to the federal government and what is returned to Ontario in services. This came as a sharp turn after more than a year of cooperating with the federal government, but McGuinty pointed to the special deals worked out by
9177-642: The McGuinty campaign kept a positive message throughout. The PCs' negative attacks on McGuinty backfired throughout the campaign. The new government called the Legislature back in session in late 2003, and passed a series of bills relating to its election promises. The government brought in auto insurance reforms (including a price cap), fixed election dates, rolled-back a series of corporate and personal tax cuts which had been scheduled for 2004, passed legislation which enshrined publicly funded Medicare into provincial law, hired more meat and water inspectors, opened up
9338-539: The Progressive Conservatives and NDP. The Liberal popular vote fell to 19%, almost half their previous result; the party lost 51 seats and were reduced to a rump of only seven seats in a swing that elected a PC majority and made the NDP the official opposition. Notably, the Liberals lost all but three of their 18 seats in Toronto, were completely shut out in the 905 region and won only one seat outside of Toronto and Ottawa. The seven-member rump caucus
9499-509: The Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris . Harris swept to power on a right-wing " Common Sense Revolution " platform. In 1996, the Ontario Liberals selected Dalton McGuinty as their leader in a free-wheeling convention. Starting in fourth place, McGuinty's fiscally prudent record and moderate demeanor made him the second choice of a convention polarized around the candidacy of former Toronto Food Bank head Gerard Kennedy . In
9660-512: The Progressive Conservatives, free immunization for children, investments in education and investments to lower waiting times for cancer care, cardiac care, joint replacement , MRI and CT scans. Soon after the federal election, McGuinty hosted a federal-provincial summit on public health-care funding which resulted in a new agreement for a national health accord. This accord allowed the provincial Premiers and territorial leaders to draw more money from Ottawa for health services, and requires
9821-644: The UFO. Hepburn was able to build an electoral coalition with Liberal-Progressives and attract reformers and urban voters to the party. The Liberal-Progressives had previously supported the UFO and the Progressive Party of Canada . A "wet", Hepburn was able to end the divisions in the party around the issue of temperance which had reduced it to a narrow sect. The revitalized party was able to win votes from rural farmers, particularly in southwestern Ontario, urban Ontario, Catholics and francophones. It also had
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#17327721534669982-515: The United States. In the 2003 election , McGuinty led the Liberals to a majority government, winning 72 out of 103 seats. The PC government's record had already been marred by a number of prior events, including the death of Dudley George , the Walkerton water tragedy and the government's performance during the SARS outbreak . The PC's election campaign relied on attack ads against McGuinty, while
10143-424: The absence of interference from government and other individuals, claiming that all people should have the freedom to develop their unique abilities and capacities without being sabotaged by others. Mill's On Liberty (1859), one of the classic texts in liberal philosophy, proclaimed, "the only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way". Support for laissez-faire capitalism
10304-547: The advantage of not being in power at the onset of the Great Depression . With the economy in crisis, Ontarians looked for a new government, and Hepburn's populism was able to excite the province. In government, Hepburn's Liberals warred with organized labour led by the Congress of Industrial Organizations , who were trying to unionize the auto-sector. Later, he battled with the federal Liberal Party of Canada government of William Lyon Mackenzie King , which, Hepburn argued,
10465-508: The anarchic and brutal state of nature came together and voluntarily ceded some of their rights to an established state authority, which would create laws to regulate social interactions to mitigate or mediate conflicts and enforce justice. Whereas Hobbes advocated a strong monarchical commonwealth (the Leviathan ), Locke developed the then-radical notion that government acquires consent from the governed , which has to be constantly present for
10626-505: The basis of liberalism based on social contract theory. To these early enlightenment thinkers, securing the essential amenities of life— liberty and private property —required forming a "sovereign" authority with universal jurisdiction. His influential Two Treatises (1690), the foundational text of liberal ideology, outlined his major ideas. Once humans moved out of their natural state and formed societies , Locke argued, "that which begins and actually constitutes any political society
10787-403: The benefit of free internal and international trade , which he thought could increase wealth through specialisation in production. He also opposed restrictive trade preferences , state grants of monopolies and employers' organisations and trade unions . Government should be limited to defence, public works and the administration of justice , financed by taxes based on income . Smith
10948-452: The building of hospitals. Following the campaign, however, the McGuinty government allowed "3P" hospital construction deals arranged by the previous government to continue. The Ontario Liberals won their second majority in a row on October 10, 2007, winning 71 of the province's 107 seats. Winning two majorities back to back is a feat that had not occurred for the party in 70 years. In the next general election on October 6, 2011, McGuinty led
11109-399: The campaign trail, the media reported that the Liberals were met by voters who were angry at going to the polls just three years into the government's mandate. Another negative factor was Peterson's association with Mulroney and the failed Meech Lake Accord attempt at constitutional reform, about which the public felt strongly. The campaign was also poorly run: a mid-campaign proposal to cut
11270-409: The citizens the right to influence politics directly through debates and votes in the public assembly. In order to support this degree of participation, citizenship was a burdensome moral obligation requiring a considerable investment of time and energy. Generally, this required a sub-group of slaves to do much of the productive work, leaving citizens free to deliberate on public affairs. Ancient Liberty
11431-410: The complex circumstances involved in the evolution of our moral character . In a very profound step for the future of modern liberalism, he also tasked society and political institutions with the enhancement of individual freedom and identity and the development of moral character, will and reason and the state to create the conditions that allow for the above, allowing genuine choice . Foreshadowing
11592-485: The concept of the separation of church and state . Based on the social contract principle, Locke argued that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience , as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right to the liberty of conscience, which he argued must remain protected from any government authority. In his Letters Concerning Toleration , he also formulated
11753-418: The contest. Only in rare cases, such as when a minor party's interim leader is also its only caucus member in the legislature or when no other caucus colleagues are competing for the leadership positions, will an interim leader stand as a candidate for permanent leadership. An interim leader may, if necessary, lead the party into an election, but by Canadian custom, an election is usually not called while one of
11914-418: The context of American politics, "classical liberalism" may be described as "fiscally conservative" and "socially liberal". Despite this, classical liberals tend to reject the right 's higher tolerance for economic protectionism and the left's inclination for collective group rights due to classical liberalism's central principle of individualism . Additionally, in the United States, classical liberalism
12075-563: The critical role of the entrepreneur in the economy. However, neither of those observations became accepted by British economists at the time. Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population in 1798, becoming a major influence on classical liberalism. Malthus claimed that population growth would outstrip food production because the population grew geometrically while food production grew arithmetically. As people were provided with food, they would reproduce until their growth outstripped
12236-500: The earlier thought of Aristotle . Dr John Zvesper described this new thinking: "In the liberal understanding, there are no citizens within the regime who can claim to rule by natural or supernatural right, without the consent of the governed". Locke had other intellectual opponents besides Hobbes. In the First Treatise , Locke aimed his arguments first and foremost at one of the doyens of 17th-century English conservative philosophy: Robert Filmer . Filmer's Patriarcha (1680) argued for
12397-502: The early 18th century, building on ideas dating at least as far back as the 16th century, within the Iberian, British, and Central European contexts, and it was foundational to the American Revolution and "American Project" more broadly. Notable liberal individuals whose ideas contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke , Jean-Baptiste Say , Thomas Malthus , and David Ricardo . It drew on classical economics , especially
12558-590: The economic ideas espoused by Adam Smith in Book One of The Wealth of Nations , and on a belief in natural law . In contemporary times, Friedrich Hayek , Milton Friedman , Ludwig von Mises , Thomas Sowell , George Stigler , Larry Arnhart , Ronald Coase and James M. Buchanan are seen as the most prominent advocates of classical liberalism. However, other scholars have made reference to these contemporary thoughts as neoclassical liberalism , distinguishing them from 18th-century classical liberalism. In
12719-482: The end of the rule of the East India Company over India in 1858. In his Treatise (Traité d'économie politique), Say states that any production process requires effort, knowledge and the "application" of the entrepreneur. He sees entrepreneurs as intermediaries in the production process who combine productive factors such as land, capital and labour to meet the consumers' demands. As a result, they play
12880-437: The enterprise and supply-of-capital functions, distinguishing the entrepreneur's earnings on the one hand and the remuneration of capital on the other. This differentiates his theory from that of Joseph Schumpeter , who describes entrepreneurial rent as short-term profits which compensate for high risk (Schumpeterian rent). Say himself also refers to risk and uncertainty along with innovation without analysing them in detail. Say
13041-756: The eponymous Coppet group gathered under the aegis of the exiled writer and salonnière , Madame de Staël , in the period between the establishment of Napoleon 's First Empire (1804) and the Bourbon Restoration of 1814–1815. The unprecedented concentration of European thinkers who met there was to have a considerable influence on the development of nineteenth-century liberalism and, incidentally, romanticism . They included Wilhelm von Humboldt , Jean de Sismondi , Charles Victor de Bonstetten , Prosper de Barante , Henry Brougham , Lord Byron , Alphonse de Lamartine , Sir James Mackintosh , Juliette Récamier and August Wilhelm Schlegel . Among them
13202-430: The ethical primacy of the human being against the pressures of social collectivism ; the egalitarian element assigns the same moral worth and status to all individuals; the meliorist element asserts that successive generations can improve their sociopolitical arrangements, and the universalist element affirms the moral unity of the human species and marginalises local cultural differences. The meliorist element has been
13363-525: The federal Progressive Conservatives in 1983. Bob Runciman served as interim parliamentary leader, but Tory retained the actual leadership of the party. Tory eventually resigned in 2009, after losing a by-election in Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock , and Runciman became the party's interim leader. Bob Rae was named interim leader of the Liberal Party following the 2011 election , in which his party's previous leader, Michael Ignatieff ,
13524-573: The federal government to take provincial concerns such as hospital waiting-lists into account. McGuinty's performance at the summit was generally applauded by the Canadian media. The McGuinty government brought forward a number of regulatory initiatives in the fall of 2004. These included legislation allowing bring-your-own-wine in restaurants, banning junk food in public schools to promote healthier choices, outlawing smoking in public places and requiring students to stay in school until age 18. Following
13685-468: The federal government with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia as compromising the nature of equalization payments . In particular, McGuinty noted that immigrants in Ontario receive $ 800 in support from the federal government, while those in Quebec receive $ 3800. In the 2003 campaign, the Liberals denounced public-private partnerships (also known as "3P" deals) for infrastructure projects such as
13846-413: The figures named in the scandal were Tom Long , former Harris campaign chairman, Leslie Noble, former Harris campaign manager and Paul Rhodes , former Harris communications director. On May 18, 2004, Provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara released the McGuinty government's first budget. The centrepiece was a controversial new Health Premium of $ 300 to $ 900, staggered according to income. This violated
14007-539: The first use of liberalism appeared in English. In Spain, the liberales , the first group to use the liberal label in a political context, fought for decades to implement the Spanish Constitution of 1812 . From 1820 to 1823, during the Trienio Liberal , King Ferdinand VII was compelled by the liberales to swear to uphold the 1812 Constitution. By the middle of the 19th century, liberal
14168-439: The following major common facets of liberal thought: Enlightenment philosophers are given credit for shaping liberal ideas. These ideas were first drawn together and systematized as a distinct ideology by the English philosopher John Locke , generally regarded as the father of modern liberalism. Thomas Hobbes attempted to determine the purpose and the justification of governing authority in post-civil war England. Employing
14329-486: The food supply. Nature would then provide a check to growth in the forms of vice and misery. No gains in income could prevent this, and any welfare for the poor would be self-defeating. The poor were, in fact, responsible for their problems which could have been avoided through self-restraint. Several liberals, including Adam Smith and Richard Cobden , argued that the free exchange of goods between nations would lead to world peace. Smith argued that as societies progressed,
14490-448: The former version of Lockean equality . To contribute to the development of liberty, liberals also have promoted concepts like pluralism and tolerance. By pluralism, liberals refer to the proliferation of opinions and beliefs that characterise a stable social order . Unlike many of their competitors and predecessors, liberals do not seek conformity and homogeneity in how people think. Their efforts have been geared towards establishing
14651-513: The gospel. As assistant to Oliver Cromwell , Milton also drafted a constitution of the independents ( Agreement of the People ; 1647) that strongly stressed the equality of all humans as a consequence of democratic tendencies. In his Areopagitica , Milton provided one of the first arguments for the importance of freedom of speech—"the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties". His central argument
14812-452: The government to remain legitimate . While adopting Hobbes's idea of a state of nature and social contract, Locke nevertheless argued that when the monarch becomes a tyrant , it violates the social contract, which protects life, liberty and property as a natural right. He concluded that the people have a right to overthrow a tyrant. By placing the security of life, liberty and property as the supreme value of law and authority, Locke formulated
14973-407: The grounds that economic freedom is more important than social equality . Consequently, the ideas of individualism and laissez-faire economics previously associated with classical liberalism are key components of modern American conservatism and movement conservatism , and became the basis for the emerging school of modern American libertarian thought. In this American context, liberal
15134-462: The idea of a state of nature — a hypothetical war-like scenario prior to the state — he constructed the idea of a social contract that individuals enter into to guarantee their security and, in so doing, form the State, concluding that only an absolute sovereign would be fully able to sustain such security. Hobbes had developed the concept of the social contract, according to which individuals in
15295-681: The idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed". Scholars have also recognised many principles familiar to contemporary liberals in the works of several Sophists and the Funeral Oration by Pericles . Liberal philosophy is the culmination of an extensive intellectual tradition that has examined and popularized some of the modern world's most important and controversial principles. Its immense scholarly output has been characterized as containing "richness and diversity", but that diversity often has meant that liberalism comes in different formulations and presents
15456-592: The ideas of economics until the publication of John Stuart Mill 's Principles in 1848. Smith addressed the motivation for economic activity, the causes of prices and wealth distribution , and the policies the state should follow to maximise wealth . Smith wrote that as long as supply, demand , prices and competition were left free of government regulation, the pursuit of material self-interest, rather than altruism, maximises society's wealth through profit-driven production of goods and services. An " invisible hand " directed individuals and firms to work toward
15617-409: The law. Liberals also ended mercantilist policies, royal monopolies , and other trade barriers , instead promoting free trade and marketization. Philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition based on the social contract , arguing that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property , and governments must not violate these rights . While
15778-420: The leadership convention directly ratified the interim leader as the party's new permanent leader, but a convention must still take place in some form. By convention, if a competitive leadership race between sitting members of the party's caucus is taking place, the interim leader should normally be a caucus member who is not standing as a candidate in the leadership race, so they do not gain unfair advantage in
15939-505: The leadership of the Liberal Party . Daniel Duncan McKenzie was selected as the party's interim leader, serving until William Lyon Mackenzie King was selected as the party's leader later in the year. Jack Layton initially took a leave of absence from the leadership of the New Democratic Party in 2011 for cancer treatment, and Nycole Turmel was named the interim leader of the party; Layton died before his intended date of return to office, and Turmel continued as interim leader pending
16100-669: The leadership of the federal Progressive Conservatives. From November 1954 to February 1955 William Earl Rowe acted as interim Leader of the Opposition when Progressive Conservative leader George A. Drew was in poor health following an attack of meningitis . Drew returned but later fell ill again, and Rowe again became as interim leader of the opposition in August 1956. Drew resigned in September and Rowe became interim party and opposition leader until December, when John Diefenbaker
16261-466: The material means to benefit from those rights and call for a greater role for government in the administration of economic affairs. Early liberals also laid the groundwork for the separation of church and state. As heirs of the Enlightenment, liberals believed that any given social and political order emanated from human interactions , not from divine will . Many liberals were openly hostile to religious belief but most concentrated their opposition to
16422-415: The membership, forced the resignation of at least one leader, Hartley Dewart , and drove away many reform-minded Liberals who supported the federal party under William Lyon Mackenzie King but found the provincial party too narrow and conservative to support. The party was so disorganized that it was led for seven years (and through two provincial elections) by an interim leader , W.E.N. Sinclair , as there
16583-467: The most appropriate form of government, but all believed that liberty was natural and its restriction needed strong justification. Liberals generally believed in limited government, although several liberal philosophers decried government outright, with Thomas Paine writing, "government even in its best state is a necessary evil". As part of the project to limit the powers of government, liberal theorists such as James Madison and Montesquieu conceived
16744-404: The nation's good as an unintended consequence of efforts to maximise their gain. This provided a moral justification for accumulating wealth, which some had previously viewed as sinful. Smith assumed that workers could be paid as low as was necessary for their survival, which David Ricardo and Thomas Robert Malthus later transformed into the " iron law of wages ". His main emphasis was on
16905-496: The new liberty as the freedom to act rather than to avoid suffering from the acts of others, Green wrote the following: If it were ever reasonable to wish that the usage of words had been other than it has been ... one might be inclined to wish that the term 'freedom' had been confined to the ... power to do what one wills. Rather than previous liberal conceptions viewing society as populated by selfish individuals, Green viewed society as an organic whole in which all individuals have
17066-542: The next two years. Once the accord expired, an election was called and Peterson won a strong majority government with 95 seats, its most ever. Peterson's government ruled in a time of economic plenty where occasional instances of fiscal imprudence were not much remarked on. Peterson was a close ally of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on the Meech Lake Accord , but opposed Mulroney on the issue of free trade . The majority Liberal government of 1987 to 1990
17227-613: The next year, leaving the provincial Liberals in the hands of Oliver Mowat . Mowat served as Premier of Ontario until 1896. While the Tories became a narrow, sectarian Protestant party with a base in the Orange Order , the Liberals under Mowat attempted to bring together Catholics and Protestants, rural and urban interests under moderate, religiously liberal leadership. The Liberals were defeated in 1905 after over thirty years in power. The party had grown tired and arrogant in government and became increasingly cautious. As well,
17388-468: The north-west. The party adopted a position in favour of uniting Britain's North American colonies, a concept that led to Canadian Confederation . After 1867, Edward Blake became leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. The party sat in opposition to the Conservative government led by John Sandfield Macdonald . Blake's Liberals defeated the Tories in 1871 , but Blake left Queen's Park for Ottawa
17549-775: The notion of separation of powers , a system designed to equally distribute governmental authority among the executive , legislative and judicial branches. Governments had to realise, liberals maintained, that legitimate government only exists with the consent of the governed , so poor and improper governance gave the people the authority to overthrow the ruling order through all possible means, even through outright violence and revolution , if needed. Contemporary liberals, heavily influenced by social liberalism, have supported limited constitutional government while advocating for state services and provisions to ensure equal rights. Modern liberals claim that formal or official guarantees of individual rights are irrelevant when individuals lack
17710-464: The parties is in a leadership race. In most circumstances, a leader who has decided to step down gives extended notice, and a leadership convention is organized to choose their successor. The outgoing leader remains in the position for the duration of the leadership campaign, and then hands over power to the successor shortly after the convention. However, sudden vacancies may occur for a variety of reasons. Wilfrid Laurier died in 1919, while holding
17871-534: The party and made it appealing to urban voters and immigrants who had previously supported the cautious government of Tory Premiers John Robarts and William Davis . Peterson was able to form a minority government from 1985 to 1987 due to an accord signed with the Ontario NDP. Under this accord, the NDP agreed not to trigger an election via a non-confidence vote in exchange for the Liberals implementing certain agreed upon policies and not calling an election for
18032-474: The party elected former Cabinet Minister Steven Del Duca as leader, who defeated five other candidates on the first ballot at the leadership convention . In the 2022 general election , the Liberals finished second in popular vote but gained only one seat, once again falling short of official status by four seats. After failing to win in his own riding, leader Steven Del Duca announced his resignation as party leader. John Fraser returned as interim leader until
18193-457: The party organizes and holds a leadership convention . By virtue of lacking a mandate from the party membership, however, an interim leader is not generally seen as possessing the authority to truly put his or her own ideological and organizational stamp on the party, and is thus effectively limited to a caretaker role in most cases. There have been a number of instances where instead of a competitive leadership race between multiple candidates,
18354-452: The party's caucus or the party executive. An interim leader may also be appointed while a leader is on a leave of absence due to poor health or some other reason, and then relinquish the position upon the leader's return. An interim leader has all the rights and responsibilities of an elected party leader, with the exception that the person does not have the discretion to choose the timing of their departure — an interim leader serves only until
18515-403: The party's defeat in the 2012 provincial election , in which he lost his seat. As a result, Jean-Marc Fournier was named interim leader. Joy MacPhail served as interim leader of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia from 2001 to 2003, following the party's defeat in the 2001 provincial election , in which Ujjal Dosanjh lost his seat. She served until Carole James was selected as
18676-482: The party's fundraising operation, launching the Ontario Liberal Fund. He personally rebuilt the party's platform to one that emphasized lowering class sizes, hiring more nurses, increasing environmental protections and "holding the line" on taxes in the buildup to the 2003 election. McGuinty also made a serious effort to improve his debating skills, and received coaching from Democratic Party trainers in
18837-520: The party's interim leader until the party's first leadership convention selected Stockwell Day . Similarly, after the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives merged in 2003, Senator John Lynch-Staunton was named interim leader of the new Conservative Party until the first leadership convention selected Stephen Harper . In 1983, Joe Clark received only 66.9 per cent support in an internal leadership review process conducted by
18998-409: The party's new leader began to attract widespread public support. When Charest subsequently decided to stand as a candidate, he resigned as leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives , and Elsie Wayne became the party's interim leader. Similarly, Thomas Kennedy served as interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 1948 to 1949, after George Drew resigned to contest
19159-408: The party's new leader in 2003. John Tory was defeated in the 2007 Ontario election , in which he ran in a different seat than the one where he was an incumbent. He stayed on as leader, despite facing some internal criticism — notably, a leadership review in 2008 gave him just 66.9 per cent support, the very same result which Joe Clark had deemed not sufficient to justify staying on as leader of
19320-427: The party's popular support, but with a situation where the party had to be almost immediately prepared to either take over the government or face an election, many party members felt that the party did not have the time to go through a conventional leadership race. After some internal debate, leadership candidates Dominic LeBlanc and Bob Rae withdrew from the race, and the only remaining candidate, Michael Ignatieff ,
19481-438: The party's support for extending separate school funding to include Grades 11–13. The Tories opposed this extension until 1985, when they suddenly reversed their position. This reversal angered traditional Conservative voters, and may have contributed to their defeat in the 1985 election . The Ontario Liberal Party first broke the Tories' hold on the province in 1985 under the leadership of David Peterson . Peterson modernized
19642-562: The press , freedom of assembly , and freedom of religion . Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern history . Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment , gaining popularity among Western philosophers and economists . Liberalism sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege , state religion , absolute monarchy , the divine right of kings and traditional conservatism with representative democracy , rule of law, and equality under
19803-573: The proper relationship between liberty and democracy. As they struggled to expand suffrage rights , liberals increasingly understood that people left out of the democratic decision-making process were liable to the " tyranny of the majority ", a concept explained in Mill's On Liberty and Democracy in America (1835) by Alexis de Tocqueville . As a response, liberals began demanding proper safeguards to thwart majorities in their attempts at suppressing
19964-409: The province. Peterson himself was heavily defeated in his own London-area riding by the NDP challenger. By the 1995 election , the NDP government had become very unpopular due to perceived mismanagement, a few scandals, and because of the severe downturn in the economy. The Liberal Party was expected to replace the unpopular NDP, but it ran a poor campaign under leader Lyn McLeod , and was beaten by
20125-550: The provincially owned electricity companies to Freedom of Information laws and enacted a ban on partisan government advertising. The McGuinty government also benefited from a scandal involving the previous Progressive Conservative government's management of Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One, which broke in the winter of 2003–04. It was revealed that a number of key figures associated with Mike Harris's "Common Sense Revolution" had received lucrative, untendered multimillion-dollar consulting contracts from these institutions. Among
20286-461: The relationship between unemployment, money and prices back in the 1920s. Keynes was deeply critical of the British government's austerity measures during the Great Depression . He believed budget deficits were a good thing, a product of recessions . He wrote: "For Government borrowing of one kind or another is nature's remedy, so to speak, for preventing business losses from being, in so severe
20447-534: The results of the 2012 leadership election . Glen Clark was forced to resign the leadership of the British Columbia New Democratic Party , and the premiership , after a criminal investigation against him was announced. He was succeeded by Dan Miller , who served until Ujjal Dosanjh won the resulting leadership convention. In 2000, after the Reform Party was folded into the new Canadian Alliance , Deborah Grey served as
20608-449: The rise of social liberalism, classical liberalism was called economic liberalism . Later, the term was applied as a retronym , to distinguish earlier 19th-century liberalism from social liberalism. By modern standards, in the United States , the bare term liberalism often means social liberalism, but in Europe and Australia , the bare term liberalism often means classical liberalism. Classical liberalism gained full flowering in
20769-555: The same right to liberty. In other words, no one is inherently entitled to enjoy the benefits of liberal society more than anyone else, and all people are equal subjects before the law . Beyond this basic conception, liberal theorists diverge in their understanding of equality. American philosopher John Rawls emphasised the need to ensure equality under the law and the equal distribution of material resources that individuals required to develop their aspirations in life. Libertarian thinker Robert Nozick disagreed with Rawls, championing
20930-453: The same thing. Some advocates of Say's law who disagree with Keynes have claimed that Say's law can be summarized more accurately as "production precedes consumption" and that what Say is stating is that for consumption to happen, one must produce something of value so that it can be traded for money or barter for consumption later. Say argues, "products are paid for with products" (1803, p. 153) or "a glut occurs only when too much resource
21091-487: The spoils of war would rise, but the costs of war would rise further, making war difficult and costly for industrialised nations. Cobden believed that military expenditures worsened the state's welfare and benefited a small but concentrated elite minority, combining his Little Englander beliefs with opposition to the economic restrictions of mercantilist policies. To Cobden and many classical liberals, those who advocated peace must also advocate free markets. Utilitarianism
21252-695: The subject of much controversy, defended by thinkers such as Immanuel Kant , who believed in human progress, while suffering criticism by thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who instead believed that human attempts to improve themselves through social cooperation would fail. The liberal philosophical tradition has searched for validation and justification through several intellectual projects. The moral and political suppositions of liberalism have been based on traditions such as natural rights and utilitarian theory , although sometimes liberals even request support from scientific and religious circles. Through all these strands and traditions, scholars have identified
21413-425: The subsequent convention. Brian Mason , who succeeded Pannu to the leadership in 2004, also took the position of interim leader before securing the full leadership at convention. Danny Williams resigned the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador , similarly choosing to step down immediately rather than serving until a leadership convention, and Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale
21574-492: The term "liberalism", including classical , egalitarian , economic , social , the welfare state , ethical , humanist , deontological , perfectionist , democratic , and institutional , to name a few. Despite these variations, liberal thought does exhibit a few definite and fundamental conceptions. Political philosopher John Gray identified the common strands in liberal thought as individualist , egalitarian, meliorist and universalist . The individualist element avers
21735-432: The time their second-highest total in 50 years. McGuinty's second term as opposition leader was more successful than his first. With the Liberals consolidated as the primary opposition to Harris's Progressive Conservatives, McGuinty was able to present his party as the "government in waiting". He hired a more skilled group of advisors and drafted former cabinet minister Greg Sorbara as party president. McGuinty also rebuilt
21896-425: The two parties are organizationally independent and have separate, though overlapping, memberships. The provincial party and the Ontario wing of the federal party were organizationally one entity until members voted to split in 1976. The Liberals lost official party status in the 2018 Ontario provincial election ; they had fallen to only seven seats, the worst defeat of a governing party in Ontario history. Prior to
22057-465: The union of religious and political authority, arguing that faith could prosper independently without official sponsorship or administration by the state. Beyond identifying a clear role for government in modern society, liberals have also argued over the meaning and nature of the most important principle in liberal philosophy: liberty. From the 17th century until the 19th century, liberals (from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill ) conceptualised liberty as
22218-617: The winners in both world wars and the Cold War . Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized important individual freedoms , such as freedom of speech and freedom of association ; an independent judiciary and public trial by jury ; and the abolition of aristocratic privileges. Later waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights. Liberals have advocated gender and racial equality in their drive to promote civil rights, and global civil rights movements in
22379-444: The world . The fundamental elements of contemporary society have liberal roots. The early waves of liberalism popularised economic individualism while expanding constitutional government and parliamentary authority. Liberal , liberty , libertarian , and libertine all trace their etymology to liber , a root from Latin that means " free ". One of the first recorded instances of liberal occurred in 1375 when it
22540-433: Was a rural, conservative rump with a southwestern Ontario base, and were often further to the right of the moderate Red Tory Conservative administrations. In 1964, the party changed their name from the "Ontario Liberal Association" to the "Liberal Party of Ontario". In September 1964, the party elected Andy Thompson as its leader. While the leadership election garnered some attention, it looked like Thompson would have
22701-533: Was also limited to relatively small and homogenous male societies, where they could congregate in one place to transact public affairs. In contrast, the Liberty of the Moderns was based on the possession of civil liberties , the rule of law, and freedom from excessive state interference. Direct participation would be limited: a necessary consequence of the size of modern states and the inevitable result of creating
22862-687: Was also one of the first thinkers to go by the name of "liberal", the Edinburgh University -educated Swiss Protestant, Benjamin Constant , who looked to the United Kingdom rather than to ancient Rome for a practical model of freedom in a large mercantile society. He distinguished between the "Liberty of the Ancients" and the "Liberty of the Moderns". The Liberty of the Ancients was a participatory republican liberty, which gave
23023-431: Was appointed as interim leader of the party following a vote by caucus members, riding association presidents, and party executives. In the 2018 municipal election later in the year, six of the defeated Liberal MPPs — Bill Mauro , Kathryn McGarry , Jim Bradley , Mike Colle , Granville Anderson and Dipika Damerla — were elected to municipal office as mayors, city councillors or regional councillors. In March 2020,
23184-464: Was defeated in his own riding. In one case, Ontario Liberal Party interim leader W.E.N. Sinclair led his party through two consecutive elections in 1926 and 1929. He was interim leader from 1923 to 1930 since, due to the party's state of disorganization, there was no leadership convention held in that period to choose a successor to Wellington Hay . When a convention was finally held, Sinclair drew little support and withdrew before balloting began. He
23345-411: Was elected party leader. An interim leader, Nycole Turmel was appointed to lead the NDP on July 28, 2011, while Jack Layton was on a medical leave of absence to fight cancer. She continued in the position following Layton's death on August 22, 2011. Following the 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute , Stéphane Dion 's continued leadership of the federal Liberals was felt to be an impediment to
23506-431: Was elevated to the interim leadership of the party and to the premiership. In certain circumstances, a party may also have an interim parliamentary leader who is not officially the party's leader, particularly when the party leader is not a sitting member of the legislature. Herb Gray served as parliamentary leader of the Liberals following the selection of Jean Chrétien as leader in 1990, until Chrétien could run in
23667-547: Was immediately named interim leader. His leadership was formally ratified at a party convention in May 2009. Pam Barrett resigned the leadership of the Alberta New Democrats in 2000, but for health reasons she opted not to retain the leadership until her successor could be chosen, instead announcing that her resignation was effective immediately. Raj Pannu was named interim leader, and was then acclaimed leader at
23828-402: Was insufficiently supportive of the war effort . The battle between Hepburn and King split the Ontario Liberal Party and led to Hepburn's ouster as leader. It also contributed to the party's defeat in the 1943 election , which was followed by the party's long stint in opposition. The Liberals declined to a right wing, rural rump. The "Progressive Conservatives" under George Drew established
23989-410: Was less innovative than the previous minority government. The Liberals' increasing conservatism caused many centre-left voters to look at the Ontario NDP and its leader Bob Rae , and consider the social-democratic NDP as an alternative to the Liberals. The Liberals went into the 1990 election with apparently strong support in the public opinion polls. This support quickly evaporated, however. On
24150-404: Was not enough money or a sufficient level of organization, and too many divisions within the party to hold a leadership convention . By 1930, the Liberals were reduced to a small, rural and prohibitionist rump with a base in south western Ontario. After a series of ineffective leaders, the Liberals turned to Mitchell Hepburn , an onion farmer, federal Member of Parliament and former member of
24311-478: Was one of the progenitors of the idea, which was long central to classical liberalism and has resurfaced in the globalisation literature of the later 20th and early 21st centuries, that free trade promotes peace. Smith's economics was carried into practice in the 19th century with the lowering of tariffs in the 1820s, the repeal of the Poor Relief Act that had restricted the mobility of labour in 1834 and
24472-417: Was one short of the requirement to retain official status in the Ontario legislature, and was also the only remnant of Wynne's cabinet. Wynne herself barely held onto her own seat by 181 votes. Accepting responsibility for the worst showing in the party's 161-year history and the worst defeat of a sitting government in Ontario, Wynne resigned as Liberal leader on election night. On June 14, 2018, John Fraser
24633-431: Was seen as a political justification for implementing economic liberalism by British governments, an idea dominating economic policy from the 1840s. Although utilitarianism prompted legislative and administrative reform, and John Stuart Mill's later writings foreshadowed the welfare state, it was mainly used as a premise for a laissez-faire approach. The central concept of utilitarianism, developed by Jeremy Bentham ,
24794-532: Was succeeded by Mike Harris following a leadership convention. Jean Charest became interim leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives following the party's defeat in the 1993 election , in which Kim Campbell lost her own seat. At the next leadership convention in 1995, Charest was acclaimed to the full leadership of the party. Additionally, having subsequently become leader of the Quebec Liberal Party , Charest resigned as leader following
24955-400: Was succeeded by future Premier Mitchell Hepburn . Sometimes an outgoing leader decides to resign immediately in order to ensure party unity, because they have accepted an appointment or chosen to stand as a candidate for (or been elected to) another position. Following the resignation of Daniel Johnson as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party in 1998, the prospect of Jean Charest becoming
25116-518: Was that public policy should seek to provide "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". While this could be interpreted as a justification for state action to reduce poverty , it was used by classical liberals to justify inaction with the argument that the net benefit to all individuals would be higher. His philosophy proved highly influential on government policy and led to increased Benthamite attempts at government social control , including Robert Peel 's Metropolitan Police , prison reforms ,
25277-402: Was that the individual could use reason to distinguish right from wrong. To exercise this right, everyone must have unlimited access to the ideas of his fellow men in " a free and open encounter ", which will allow good arguments to prevail. In a natural state of affairs, liberals argued, humans were driven by the instincts of survival and self-preservation , and the only way to escape from such
25438-461: Was triggered by the Ontario New Democratic Party 's decision to reject the 2014 Ontario Budget. The Liberal Party under the leadership of Kathleen Wynne won 58 seats in the Legislature, and formed a majority government. In 2015, the Liberals proposed to sell 60 per cent of the province's $ 16-billion share of the province's electricity distribution utility, Hydro One . Hydro One Brampton and Hydro One Networks' distribution arm would be spun off into
25599-599: Was used as a politicised term for parties and movements worldwide. Yellow is the political colour most commonly associated with liberalism. The United States differs from other countries in that conservatism is associated with red and liberalism with blue. In Europe and Latin America, liberalism means a moderate form of classical liberalism and includes both conservative liberalism ( centre-right liberalism) and social liberalism ( centre-left liberalism). In North America, liberalism almost exclusively refers to social liberalism. The dominant Canadian party
25760-416: Was used to describe the liberal arts in the context of an education desirable for a free-born man. The word's early connection with the classical education of a medieval university soon gave way to a proliferation of different denotations and connotations. Liberal could refer to "free in bestowing" as early as 1387, "made without stint" in 1433, "freely permitted" in 1530, and "free from restraint"—often as
25921-678: Was well-established alongside republicanism in the United States . In Victorian Britain , it was used to critique the political establishment, appealing to science and reason on behalf of the people. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, liberalism in the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East influenced periods of reform, such as the Tanzimat and Al-Nahda , and the rise of constitutionalism , nationalism , and secularism . These changes, along with other factors, helped to create
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