Conservative Party of Canada

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Conservative Party of Canada
Parti conservateur du Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada Logo Eng & Fr.svg
Party leader Erin O'Toole

President
Scott Lamb
vice-chairman Leona Alleslev
Emergence The Canadian Alliance merges
with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
founding December 7, 2003
Headquarters 1204-130 Albert Street
Ottawa , Ontario
K1P 5G4
Youth organization Young Conservatives
Alignment Conservatism
Neoconservatism
Economic liberalism
Federalism
Colours) blue
House of Commons
121/338
senate
24/105
International connections IDU
Asia Pacific Democrat Union
European party EKR (regional partner )
Website www.conservative.ca

The Conservative Party of Canada ( English Conservative Party of Canada ; French Parti conservateur du Canada ) is a conservative political party in Canada . It emerged in December 2003 from the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party with the Canadian Alliance . After the general election on May 2, 2011 , she established a majority government under the leadership of party chairman and prime minister Stephen Harper with 39.62% of the vote and 167 of 308 seats in the lower house . She has been in the opposition since her defeat in the general election on October 19, 2015 . Based on the British Conservative Party , the Canadian Conservatives are usually referred to as " Tories ". Before 1942 there was a predecessor party of the same name.

The Conservative Party of Canada is very close to the Republican Party in the United States.

Positions

The new Conservative Party brings together two opposing views on conservatism in Canada. The progressive conservatives took positions such as state-funded social programs, refused any closer ties to the US, and tried to shape Canada after centuries-old British institutions. In contrast, conservatism in Western Canada , represented by the Canadian Alliance, was based on American-style conservatism and thus on the Republicans . The Canadian Alliance advocated a reform of the political institutions (based on the American or Australian model) and more rights for the provinces.

The new party generally advocates a market economy- oriented order and offers itself as the political home of other conservative currents, such as B. ecologically minded conservatives, right-wing liberals, supporters of a Canadian republic and monarchists. Since most of the MPs come from the western provinces, the party program is strongly influenced by the philosophy of the Reform Party of Canada , although the Conservative Party tries to distance itself from its socially conservative image and deals more with issues such as the economy, the military, law and order and democratic Reforms.

In general, the Conservative Party advocates lower taxes, smaller state administrations, greater decentralization based on the (failed) Meech Lake Accord , higher defense spending, and harmonization of standards and regulations with those of the United States. She is against the legalization of cannabis and the registration of handguns. The aim is to reform the Senate and limit the Prime Minister's power.

history

Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay , the party leaders of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party, announced on October 16, 2003 the impending merger of their parties. On December 5th the members of the alliance voted with 96% and on December 6th the progressive conservatives with 90% voted for the union. Two days later the newly formed party was officially registered. Senator John Lynch-Staunton took over the party chairmanship on an interim basis. He was followed on March 20, 2004 by Stephen Harper, who prevailed against Belinda Stronach and Tony Clement at the party convention .

The party merger was intended to overcome the fragmentation of the right-of-center party landscape and to create a united right-wing opposition to the centrist Liberal Party of Canada . Not least because of the disagreement among the conservatives, the Liberals were able to win the lower house elections in 1993, 1997 and 2001. Various prominent progressive conservatives, including the former Prime Minister Joe Clark , did not join the new party because it positioned itself too far to the right with the merger. Three members of the Senate also refused to take this step, so that the party that had actually dissolved is still represented in parliament.

The Conservative Party was the official opposition ( Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition ; French L'opposition loyale de sa majesté ) in the Canadian House of Commons until January 2006 . In the election on June 28, 2004, she achieved 99 out of 308 seats in the House of Commons. On January 23, 2006, she won the parliamentary elections, but she missed the absolute majority with 36 percent of the vote. The new Prime Minister was Stephen Harper, who led a minority government for the next five years. In an early parliamentary election on May 2, 2011 , the Conservative Party won an absolute majority of the seats in the lower house for the first time. Four years later, however, the Conservatives suffered significant losses and, with 99 seats, only finished second behind the Liberals .

Election results

Results of the House of Commons elections:

choice seats
total 		candidates
data 		Weighted
seats 		be right proportion of
2004 308 308 99 3,994,682 29.62%
2006 308 308 124 5,374,071 36.27%
2008 308 307 143 5,207,553 37.63%
2011 308 307 167 5,832,401 39.62%
2015 338 338 99 5,597,565 31.89%
2019 338 338 121 6.239.227 34.34%

Party leader

Provinces and territories

The Conservative Party does not officially have any branches at the provincial or territorial level, but works with the branches of the former federal progressive-conservative party. In addition, there are ties to other conservative parties such as the Saskatchewan Party , the Avenir Québec Coalition and, to a certain extent, the right-of-center British Columbia Liberal Party (although a British Columbia Conservative Party does exist, but it is insignificant). The conservative parties at the provincial and territorial levels are organizationally independent of the federal party, but double membership is common.

Progressive-conservative offshoots

Progressive-conservative parties are in government in three provinces:

Opposition party:

Without parliamentary representation:

Other conservative parties

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Election results on www.cbc.ca, accessed on October 20, 2015.
  2. ^ Results of past general election - Elections Canada