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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Sep 5, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents
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Conservative Party of Canada, conservative Canadian political party. The party was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party. The idea for a merger of Canada’s main conservative parties arose in the 1990s when national support for the Progressive Conservatives dwindled and the Reform Party (later the Canadian Alliance) was unable to expand its national support beyond its base in western Canada. Following the third successive election victory of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2000, support for establishing a united conservative party increased, and in December 2003 more than 90 percent of the members of both the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives endorsed a merger. The Conservative Party of Canada was officially registered with Elections Canada (an independent agency established by the Canadian Parliament to regulate elections and political parties) on December 8, 2003.
In 2004, in its first federal general election, the party won nearly 30 percent of the vote and 99 seats in the House of Commons, emerging as the official opposition to a Liberal minority government. In the subsequent election of January 2006, the Conservatives were elected to lead a minority government, and their leader, Stephen Harper, became prime minister. Harper proved adept at coalition building, and in November 2006 he co-opted members of the opposition Bloc Québécois with a motion that recognized the distinct national identity of the Québécois people while still asserting Quebec’s place in a united Canada. Hoping to build on those gains, Harper called early federal elections for October 2008, but the Conservatives failed to gain a parliamentary majority, though they added 19 seats to their to 2006 election results, reaching a total of 143 seats and remaining a minority government. Conservative stock rose as Canada ably weathered the global economic downturn that began in 2007, but failure to release budgetary information to Parliament led to the party’s being found in contempt in March 2011. In response, Liberal opposition leader Michael Ignatieff sponsored a no-confidence vote that brought down the Harper government. In the federal election held on May 2, 2011, however, the Conservatives captured 166 seats (up 23 from 2008), enabling Harper to win a clear majority for the first time in his prime ministership.
More From Britannica Canadian Federal Election of 2008: Conservative Party of CanadaIn August 2015 Harper called for an election. For much of the campaign it was a close three-way race, but, when voters went to the polls, they handed the Liberal Party 184 seats, enough for it to form a majority government. The Conservatives finished second with 99 seats. Rona Ambrose, an MP for an Alberta riding, then served as interim party leader until May 2017, when Andrew Scheer, an MP from Saskatchewan, was elected leader. Scheer led the party into the 2019 federal election, in which it won a narrow victory in the popular vote but did not win enough seats to wrest power from the Liberals. Scheer was replaced as leader by Erin O’Toole, who staked out a moderate position in the 2021 snap federal election, in which the Conservatives once again narrowly won the popular vote but dropped two seats as the Liberals achieved a plurality in the House of Commons to preserve minority rule.
The party generally supports conservative social and economic policies, a strong federal system of government, and the use of Canada’s armed forces in international peacekeeping missions.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeff Wallenfeldt.
