Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada is one of Canada's three political parties that operate at the federal level. Founded in 1867, the Liberal Party is older than its rivals: the Conservative Party and New Democratic Party. Politically, it falls between them. Its policies have skewed slightly left of center, but there have been periods over the years when the party was politically centered or right of center.

The party has been one of the most dominant in the history of democratic developed nations. It was particularly strong during the twentieth century. After a downturn early in the twenty-first century, it rebounded in the 2015 elections.

Policies that the party has advocated include same-sex marriage, universal health care, and bilingualism (giving both English and French official standing as national languages). Some prominent Liberals are William Lyon Mackenzie King, Wilfrid Laurier, Pierre Trudeau, and his son, Justin Trudeau.

Background

In Canada's three-party system, the party with the most seats in Parliament is called the party in power. It does not need a majority to gain that title. The party with the second most representation is known as the opposition party.

The Liberal Party has its roots in an early nineteenth-century party called the Reformers. The group united with others that felt the government should be held to a standard of responsibility. The Liberal Party was officially formed on July 1, 1867. In its early years, it struggled to keep up with its rival, the Conservative Party. Only one of Canada's first six prime ministers was a Liberal Party member; he was Alexander Mackenzie.

The second Liberal prime minister was Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh man to hold the office. Laurier was a native French speaker, and he grew up around politics. His time in office was viewed mostly favorably at the time, and modern historians consider him one of Canada's greatest leaders. He worked to bridge the cultural divide between English- and French-speaking Canada.

The next Liberal prime minister was William Lyon Mackenzie King. King became the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history, holding the office for most of the 1920s through the 1940s. He led Canada through World War II (1939–1945), helped it gain a greater degree of independence, and invested in scientific research.

Louis St. Laurent succeeded King as prime minister. During his tenure, Newfoundland officially became part of Canada. The nation joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) under his leadership.

After the Liberal Party lost control of the office for six years, Lester Pearson became its next prime minister. The Liberals did not always hold the power in Parliament while he was prime minister, yet the party introduced very significant policy. It was under Pearson that Canada first introduced universal health care. Student loans were also a possibility for the first time. Pearson's Liberal Party created Canada's iconic maple leaf flag.

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Pierre Trudeau succeeded Pearson as prime minister. He served more than 15 years, split into two nonconsecutive tenures. He was a bold, polarizing figure. During his time in office, the French-speaking province of Quebec made strong pushes to be recognized as a nation independent of the rest of Canada. Trudeau led the effort to maintain Quebec's status as a Canadian province. While he drew a great deal of praise for his ability to keep Canada united, others accused him of disrespecting Quebec's culture.

John Turner followed Trudeau, but served only a few months. It was nearly a decade before a Liberal became prime minister again, with Jean Chrétien taking office in 1993. Although Chrétien was popular and political academics speak highly of his achievements, he was plagued by controversy. A split in the party emerged, and after a decade in office, Chrétien resigned, leaving his Liberal rival Paul Martin to replace him. Martin worked to improve Canada's financial status. However, the entire Liberal Party suffered from declining popularity and struggled to assert itself in the early twenty-first century.

As the 2015 elections approached, Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper mounted an aggressive campaign. Many political scientists and pundits theorized that Canadian politics were naturally growing more polarized, with people leaning strongly left or right, and abandoning the center. In this political environment, they argued, a center-oriented party could not survive when rivals to both the left and right existed. With this in mind, Harper attacked the Liberal Party, even praising the New Democratic Party, trying to paint it as the only left-leaning party Canada needed going forward.

Despite Harper's efforts, the Liberals won their greatest victory in years, gaining power in Parliament, while Justin Trudeau became the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history. He also became the first son of a former prime minister to take the office.

The Liberals' strong victory in the face of predicted downfall confused many political thinkers. A common explanation was that Harper's campaign was too aggressive, appearing to voters that he was less concerned with meeting their needs than with defeating his opponents.

US president Donald Trump made several statements and pursued policies to ban refugees from certain countries and regions from entering the United States in 2017. Amid the controversy that followed, Trudeau publicly announced that refugees were welcome in Canada. The statement was instantly divisive, with supporters voicing appreciation for his willingness to assist others and provide an example in contrast to Trump's order, while detractors described it as capitalizing on the reactions to Trump's behavior, and also questioning whether Canada's system of evaluating immigrants was doing all it could to keep citizens safe. The issue was cast into the spotlight when a Somali immigrant in Canada was charged with attempted murder and assault.

In August 2021, President Trudeau called for a snap election, hoping that his handling of the global coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic would convince the country to elect a majority Liberal Party government. While Trudeau retained his office following the election, the Liberal Party won only 158 seats, enough to let the party continue to hold a minority government but failing to win a parliamentary majority.

The Liberal Party supports universal health care, having proposed several budget plans to direct resources toward it. It has emphasized supporting the workforce in many of its policies and proposed a tax cut for the middle class, a reduction of employment insurance premiums, a decrease in prescription drug prices, and an investment into public transportation. The party has also emphasized environmental sustainability and dedicated resources to renewable energy research. It has proposed plans to lower nationwide greenhouse gas emissions and to reform the process used to evaluate environmental impact by making it stricter.

In January 2025, Trudeau announced that he would be stepping down as both the leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister. He stated that he intended to remain in office until his party selects a replacement. Trudeau made this announcement after steadily losing popularity within his own party during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Many politicians blamed Trudeau for failing to manage the rising costs of necessities that began during the pandemic.

Bibliography

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