Liberalism in Canada

Liberalism has been a strong force in Canadian politics since the late 18th Century. While Canada has the same features of other liberal democracies in the Western democratic political tradition, it is, in some respects, an exemplar of liberalism. This article gives an overview of liberalism in Canada. It includes a brief history of liberal parties with substantial representation in parliament.

Liberalism in Canadian history

Historically, Canada is a nation of two liberalisms. Prior to the 1960s, Canadian politics were classically liberal, i.e., there was a focus on individual liberty, representative government, and free markets. This brand of liberalism can be traced to the arrival in Canada of the United Empire Loyalists and the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The Constitutional Act established representative government through the elected assemblies of Upper and Lower Canada. While the Loyalists were faithful to British institutions and opposed to American republicanism, they were committed to North American ideals of individual liberty and representative government. This brand of liberalism was prominent though the Liberal government of Wilfrid Laurier, which advocated such policies as free trade with the United States, and beyond.

The second liberalism began, roughly, in the 1960s with the election of Lester B. Pearson as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and can be traced through the politics of Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, and Paul Martin. This liberalism is what is properly called in a global context social liberalism, or what contemporary North American use of the word signifies as liberalism: liberal democracy, social progressivism, multiculturalism, diplomacy in foreign policy, and a regulated free market economy (during the Trudeau era the Liberals arguably supported a mixed economy). In this second sense, Canada is presently one of the more liberal countries in the Americas. By contrast, prior to the 1960s, Canada was one of the most liberal countries in the world in the first sense.

Liberal parties

Liberal parties developed in both the French and English speaking parts of Canada, and led to the formation of the Liberal Party of Canada. Liberal parties exist on a provincial level, but while they mostly share similar ideologies, not all provincial parties are officially affiliated with the federal party.

In Canada, a "capital-L" "liberal" refers to the policies and ideas of the Liberal Party of Canada/"Parti Libéral du Canada" (member LI), the most frequent governing party of Canada for the last century and one of the largest liberal parties around the world. The Quebec Liberal Party ("Parti libéral du Québec") combines liberalism with more conservative ideas. Only federal parties are included in the following timeline. The sign ⇒ indicates a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme, it isn't necessary for parties to have explicitly labelled themselves as a liberal party.

Timeline

Canadian Party / Patriot Party / Red Party

*1806: Liberals in the Francophone part of Canada formed the Canadian Party ("Parti Canadien")
*1826: The party is renamed Patriot Party ("Parti Patriote") and is led by Louis-Joseph Papineau
*1848: The party is further reorganised into the Red Party ("Parti rouge")
*1867: The PR merged into the present-day ⇒ Liberal Party of Canada

Reform Party

*1841: The Upper Canada Reform Party is formed
*1855: Radical members formed the ⇒ Clear Grits.
*1867: The Reform Party merged into ⇒ Liberal Party of Canada

Clear Grits / Liberal Party of Canada

*1855: Radical members of the ⇒ Reform Party formed the Clear Grits
*1867: The Clear Grits merged with the ⇒ Reform Party, the ⇒ Red Party and provincial liberal parties into the present-day Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal leaders

*Louis Joseph Papineau
*Liberal Party of Canada: Alexander Mackenzie - Edward Blake - Wilfrid Laurier - William Lyon Mackenzie King - Louis St. Laurent - Lester Bowles Pearson - Pierre Elliott Trudeau - John Napier Turner - Jean Chrétien - Paul Martin - Stéphane Dion.

Liberal thinkers

*Mario Bunge - Argentinian-Canadian professor of philosophy.
*Michael Ignatieff - political philosopher and current Member of Parliament for the Ontario riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore and Deputy Leader of the federal Liberal Party.
*Will Kymlicka - Canadian liberal thinker included in Contributions to liberal theory
*Jan Narveson - Canadian political philosopher and defender of libertarianism, or classical liberalism, currently Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Waterloo

ee also

* Small-l liberal
* Red Tory
* Conservatism in Canada
* Socialism and Social Democracy in Canada
* Republicanism in Canada
* Monarchism in Canada
* Fascism in Canada
* Anarchism in Canada
* History of Canada
* Politics of Canada
* List of political parties in Canada