Conservative Party of Canada Parti conservateur du Canada | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | CPC PCC[a] |
Leader | Pierre Poilievre |
President | Stephen Barber |
Deputy leaders | |
Senate leader | Don Plett |
House leader | Andrew Scheer |
Founders | |
Founded | December 7, 2003 | (Historical: July 1, 1867)
Merger of | |
Headquarters | 1800–66 Slater Street Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H1 |
Membership (2022) | 678,708[1] |
Ideology | Conservatism (Canadian) Economic liberalism |
Political position | Centre-right to right-wing |
Regional affiliation | Asia Pacific Democracy Union |
Continental affiliation | Union of Latin American Parties (associate party) |
International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
Colours | Blue |
Senate | 12 / 105 |
House of Commons | 120 / 338 |
Website | |
conservative | |
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; French: Parti conservateur du Canada, PCC), colloquially known as the Tories or simply the Conservatives, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) and the Canadian Alliance, the latter being the successor of the Western Canadian–based Reform Party. The party sits at the centre-right to the right of the Canadian political spectrum, with their federal rival, the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada, positioned to their left.[2] The Conservatives are defined as a "big tent" party, practising "brokerage politics"[d][5][6][7] and welcoming a broad variety of members, including "Red Tories" and "Blue Tories".[8][9][10][11]
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the original Conservative Party of Canada formed numerous governments and had multiple names. However, by 1942, the main right-wing Canadian force became known as the Progressive Conservative Party. In the 1993 federal election, the PC Party's Western Canadian support transferred to the Reform Party. When it became clear that neither the PC Party nor the Reform Party or Canadian Alliance (the latter being the successor to the Reform Party) could beat the incumbent Liberals that had governed since the 1993 election, an effort to unite the right-of-centre parties emerged. In 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the PCs merged, forming the Conservative Party of Canada.
During the Conservative Party's governance of Canada from 2006 to 2015, its economic policies included reducing sales tax, reducing income taxes, reducing business taxes, balancing the national budget, creating the tax-free savings account (TFSA), and creating the Universal Child Care Benefit. In social policy, the government eliminated the long-gun registry, introduced mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, raised the age of consent to 16 years of age, permitted the construction of several pipelines, and withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol. The government also supported the State of Israel, negotiated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).[12][13][14][15]
Under its first leader, Stephen Harper, the party governed with two minority governments after the federal elections of 2006 and 2008. It then won a majority government in the 2011 federal election before being defeated in the 2015 federal election by a majority Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau. Despite winning a plurality of the vote in each election, the party remained in opposition after losing the 2019 and 2021 elections under its second and third leaders, Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole respectively. Pierre Poilievre was elected leader in the 2022 leadership election.
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Two historically dominant political parties have avoided ideological appeals in favour of a flexible centrist style of politics that is often labelled brokerage politics
...most Canadian governments, especially at the federal level, have taken a moderate, centrist approach to decision making, seeking to balance growth, stability, and governmental efficiency and economy...
Canada's party system has long been described as a "brokerage system" in which the leading parties (Liberal and Conservative) follow strategies that appeal across major social cleavages in an effort to defuse potential tensions.