Reform Party of Canada
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Parti réformiste du Canada |
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| founding | October 31, 1987 |
| fusion | March 25, 2000 (merged into: Canadian Alliance ) |
| Alignment |
Conservatism Neoconservatism Libertarian Conservatism Populism |
The Reform Party of Canada ( English Reform Party of Canada ; French Parti réformiste du Canada ) was a conservative political party in Canada , which existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a western Canadian protest party and tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold in the eastern provinces in the 1990s. The Reform Party was merged into the Canadian Alliance in March 2000 , which in turn merged with the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003 to form today's Conservative Party . The Reform Party's only leader during its entire existence was Preston Manning . The party had a reputation for being intolerant and extremist, as numerous parliamentarians and candidates repeatedly expressed themselves as xenophobic, homophobic and sexist.
history
The Reform Party was founded on October 31, 1987 in Winnipeg . Party chairman was Preston Manning , son of Ernest Manning , the longtime Prime Minister of Alberta . The Reform Party was an amalgamation of various interest groups from Western Canada that were dissatisfied with the government of the Progressive Conservative Party and the lack of consideration of Western Canadian interests at the national level. They accused the Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of caring too much for the needs of the French-speaking province of Québec , of being financially irresponsible and of not seeking institutional reform. In particular, they opposed the Meech Lake Accord , which they believe ignores the needs of the West and Canada as a whole.
Shortly after it was founded, the social and financial conservatives dominated the party, so that it increasingly moved to the right. The main new goals were to reduce taxes and government spending in the social field. In the general election in 1988, the Reform Party stood for the first time, but none of the 72 candidates were elected. The party represented controversial views such as the abolition of official bilingualism and the push back of multiculturalism. In 1989 she won a by-election in Alberta for the first time and entered parliament. In the same year Stanley Waters won the first (legally non-binding) Senate election in Alberta.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the Reform Party was very popular, as Mulroney's government was extremely unpopular with the population because of the introduction of the national value added tax ( Goods and Services Tax ), high unemployment and the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. From 1991 onwards, the reform party gave up its previous claim to be merely a representative of the West and instead sought the role of a national party. However, she was also supported by the right-wing extremist group Heritage Front , which should make it impossible for her to gain a foothold in the more liberal eastern provinces for years.
In the 1993 general election, the progressive-conservative party almost disappeared from the political map. The reform party was able to increase its share of the vote eightfold to almost 19%, won 52 seats and became the third largest party in the lower house . However, only in the West could it benefit from the disintegration of the progressive conservatives; in the Atlantic provinces , Ontario and Québec it was not represented at all. During the election campaign, the Reform Party made negative headlines when a candidate made xenophobic and anti-Semitic statements. The party leadership distanced itself, but the intolerant and extremist image remained. This intensified in the following years, as numerous MPs repeatedly opposed the rights of minorities, women, homosexuals and indigenous people .
A group around the future Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to reduce the influence of the extremist wing and publicly criticized members of their own party. Since Preston Manning did not want to intervene in this matter, Harper left the party in January 1997 and gave up his parliamentary seat. In the general election in June 1997, the reform party was able to increase its share of the vote slightly, gained eight seats and became the strongest opposition party. However, it could not post a single success east of Manitoba . Nor could it establish itself as the sole alternative to the Liberal Party , as the progressive conservatives had regained strength under Jean Charest .
It was increasingly foreseeable that the reform party would remain a protest party limited to the West for years to come. Manning called for the conservative forces to join forces to form a "United Alternative" that was strong enough to oust the Liberal Party from government. As a result of two party congresses, the Reform Party decided in January 2000 to dissolve itself and to re-establish it as the Canadian Alliance . On March 25, 2000 the party was dissolved. The program of the new Canadian Alliance was a mixture of positions of the Reform Party and those of the more moderate progressive conservatives.
Election results
Results of the House of Commons elections :
| choice | seats total |
candidates data |
Weighted seats |
be right | proportion of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 295 | 72 | 0 | 275,767 | 2.09% |
| 1993 | 295 | 207 | 52 | 2,559,245 | 18.69% |
| 1997 | 301 | 227 | 60 | 2,513,080 | 19.35% |
See also
Web links
- Reform Party of Canada ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
Individual evidence
- ^ Results of past general election - Elections Canada.