Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons (Canada)

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The Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, more commonly known as the Opposition House Leader, is a member of the Official Opposition, not to be confused with the Leader of the Official Opposition, but is generally a senior member of the frontbench. The House Leader is responsible for questioning the Government House Leader on the forthcoming business of the House of Commons, negotiating with the Government House Leader and other parties' house leaders on the progress of business in the House, and managing the Official Opposition's business in the House of Commons.

The position of Opposition House Leader evolved in the 1950s as each Opposition party began to designate a particular MP to question the Government House Leader on upcoming House business. The title of Opposition House Leader became official in 1963, and in 1974, a special annual indemnity was attached to the position of House Leader in each of the opposition parties.

Notable Opposition House Leaders include Stanley Knowles of the New Democratic Party and its predecessor, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation; Herb Gray of the Liberal Party (also a Government House Leader); and Erik Nielsen of the Progressive Conservative Party.

List

Legend

Colour	Party
	Liberal
	Conservative (21st century)
	Progressive Conservative
	Canadian Alliance
	Reform
	Bloc Quebecois
	New Democratic Party

#	House Leader[1]	Party	Party Leader	Tenure
1	Lionel Chevrier	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent Lester B. Pearson	October 14, 1957 – February 5, 1963
2	Gordon Churchill	Progressive Conservative	John Diefenbaker	May 16, 1963 – April 21, 1965
3	Michael Starr	Progressive Conservative	John Diefenbaker Robert Stanfield	April 22, 1965 – April 23, 1968
4	Ged Baldwin	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	July 27, 1968 – September 20, 1973
5	Thomas Bell	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	September 21, 1973 – May 9, 1974
	Ged Baldwin (second time)	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield Joe Clark	August 14, 1974 – February 24, 1976
6	Walter Baker	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	February 25, 1976 – March 26, 1979
7	Allan MacEachen	Liberal	Pierre Trudeau	October 9, 1979 – December 14, 1979
	Walter Baker (second time)	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	April 14, 1980 – September 8, 1981
8	Erik Nielsen	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	September 9, 1981 – February 8, 1983
9	Doug Lewis	Progressive Conservative	Erik Nielsen (interim)	February 10, 1983 – September 6, 1983
	Erik Nielsen (second time)	Liberal	Brian Mulroney	September 7, 1983 – April 5, 1984
10	Ray Hnatyshyn	Progressive Conservative	Brian Mulroney	April 6, 1984 – July 9, 1984
11	Herb Gray	Liberal	John Turner	September 18, 1984 – February 7, 1990
12	Jean-Robert Gauthier	Liberal	Herb Gray (interim)	February 7, 1990 – January 29, 1991
13	David Dingwall	Liberal	Jean Chrétien	January 30, 1991 – May 8, 1993
14	Michel Gauthier	Bloc Québécois	Lucien Bouchard Gilles Duceppe (interim)	November 10, 1993 – February 17, 1996
15	Gilles Duceppe	Bloc Québécois	Michel Gauthier	February 17, 1996 – March 15, 1997
16	Suzanne Tremblay	Bloc Québécois	Gilles Duceppe	March 17, 1997 – April 25, 1997
17	Randy White	Reform	Preston Manning	June 20, 1997 – January 30, 2000
18	Chuck Strahl	Reform Canadian Alliance	Preston Manning Deborah Grey (interim) Stockwell Day	January 31, 2000 – April 24, 2001
19	John Reynolds	Canadian Alliance	Stockwell Day	April 24, 2001 – December 17, 2001
	Randy White (second time)	Canadian Alliance	John Reynolds (interim)	December 18, 2001 – April 3, 2002
	John Reynolds (second time)	Canadian Alliance	John Reynolds (interim) Stephen Harper	April 4, 2002 – December 22, 2003
20	Loyola Hearn	Conservative	Grant Hill (interim)	January 8, 2004 – March 21, 2004
	John Reynolds (third time)	Conservative	Stephen Harper	March 22, 2004 – January 27, 2005
21	Jay Hill	Conservative	Stephen Harper	January 28, 2005 – February 5, 2006
22	Ralph Goodale	Liberal	Bill Graham Stéphane Dion Michael Ignatieff	February 10, 2006 – September 6, 2010
23	David McGuinty	Liberal	Michael Ignatieff	September 7, 2010 – March 26, 2011
24	Thomas Mulcair	New Democratic Party	Jack Layton Nycole Turmel (interim)	May 26, 2011 – October 12, 2011
25	Joe Comartin	New Democratic Party	Nycole Turmel (interim)	October 13, 2011 –

See also

• Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Canada)
• Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)
• Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada

References

1. ^ [http://www.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Compilations/OfficersAndOfficials/PoliticalOfficers/HouseOfCommons/ParliamentaryLeaders/Opposition.aspx Officers and Officials of Parliament: Opposition House Leaders