Evolution of Canadas party system
Introduction
A political system is defined as the typical structure of parties in a democratic country. Political parties play an essential role in linking society to the state. Members of the parties present different points of view in the community to the relevant authorities. In Canada, a political party is an organization whose main plan is to take part in public affairs. Parties are, in essence, vehicles for politicians to access electoral seats to control the government. To become a political party in the Canadian political system, the organization must have 250 electors and a nominated member in an electoral district.
Some of the functions of these parties include recruiting and electing political officeholders. Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected to represent the ordinary people. They are chosen members of the political parties. The party with the most representation in terms of the number of MPs forms the government. They also play a crucial role in interest articulation. They assemble their interests and those of the people and try to influence state policies. Political socialization is another function. The political parties assist citizens in understanding the political culture of Canada. They strive to improve the relationship between people and the government. They create awareness of the citizens’ rights and the duties of the government.
Evolution of Canadas party system
In early history, Canada was a two-party system where liberal parties, as well as conservatives, dominated electoral politics. Tories and Moderates were pre-confederation groups that formed the conservative party. Also, the French conservatives and English business interests were part of the groups from lower Canada, which is the modern-day Quebec. The first government was formed by the conservatives led by John A Macdonald. This was after Confederation, and it took governance from 1867 to 1921. It was until 1873 that Liberals won power after taking advantage of the Pacific scandal. During the scandal, the Conservative party was accused of giving out funds to receive political favors. However, in 1878, the Conservatives regained power and led until 1896. When Macdonald died in 1891, the party was very unstable and was led by several leaders until Wilfrid Laurier won in 1896 until 1911. (Dyck 2007)
Beginning 1920s, politics in Canada slowly shifted from being a two-party system to a multiparty system. New parties emerged, including the CCF/NDP and the Progressives impacting significantly on Canadian politics. These new parties, however, were not able to form the government because the Liberals and the Conservatives continued to dominate as the major political parties. In 1921, highly organized farmers became very active in politics and supported their progressive candidate to represent them in the House of Commons. During the first world war, agricultural policies supported by the progressive movement advocated for parliamentary reform and party discipline. However, in 1920, the members of the progressive movement dispersed some joining the liberal party and others joining the Conservative party. The rest joined the Co-operation Commonwealth Federation.
Various labor and farmer groups formed in 1932. In 1933, those groups together with the CCF dominated in the Regina Manifesto. In 1935 the party had the majority of the members represents in the federal house of commons. In 1944, the party was under Tommy Douglas in Saskatchewan. CCF proceeded to become the New Democratic Party. Although the NDP has never formed the government, it has had a significant influence on minority governments and has formed government at the provincial level.
Historically, the leading Canadian political parties have been the Liberal Party of Canada and the Conservative Party of Canada. Starting the 1990s, Canadian national politics adopted the multiparty system. With the liberals and conservatives still dominating in this period, they faced challenges by the continually growing numbers of the other parties. The stiff competition arose from a total of five parties that saw the liberals and conservatives no longer enjoying the dominance. The collapse of the progressive conservative party and the rise of new regional parties in Quebec and Western Canada in 1993 led to the multiparty system. In 1997 Canadians supported the opposition party, which later transformed into the Canadian alliance. In 2000, Preston Manning was replaced by Stockwell as the new leader. In 2003, the progressive conservative party and the Canadian coalition came together to form a single conservative party. (Makarenko 2008). In June 2004, Paul Martin won minority victory `under the liberal party of Canada.
Main Canadian political parties.
Canada has since had many political parties. They include the following; a liberal party of Canada under the ideology of liberalism and social liberalism founded in 1867 under the leadership of Justin Trudeau with 157 MPs. The Conservative party of Canada founded in 2003 under the doctrine of conservatism. Economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism under the direction of Andrew Scheer with 121 MPs. The new democratic party founded in 1961 under the ideology of social democracy and progressivism with 24 MPs with jag meet Singh as their leader. Bloc Quebecois under the leadership of Yves-Francois Blanchet. The green party of Canada founded in 1983 under the ideology of green politics lead by Jo- Ann Roberts with 3 MPs. People’s party of Canada under Maxime Bernier.
Others include; Animal protection party of Canada, founded in 2005, Canadian nationalist party founded in 2017, Stop Climate Change Party 2019, The united party of Canada 2019 veteran’s coalition party of Canada founded in 2019, among others.
The popularity of the political parties
To understand whether political parties are in decline or otherwise has to start with examining the ideology of leading political parties and how it has changed over time. The doctrine of a party keeps the party organs intact and attracts voters and supporters (Clarkson, 2014). Without a robust ideological base, there will be no reason to belong to a party. In this section, we examine the ideologies of the three main political parties in Canada. The three parties by previous popular support are the Progressive Conservative Party (PCP), the Liberal Party (LP), and the Modern Third Parties (MTP).
The PCP has the most extended history existing before Canada became a confederation and credited for appointing the first prime minister. It started by favoring high tariffs, being pro-business, and allegiance to Britain. It transformed in the 1940s to be more liberal. Their conservative stance has slowly faded since with the party supporting social welfare and human rights measures that are a strong point of the liberals. By the turn of the millennium in 2003, the stance of political parties was so grey that the PCP voted to merge with the Canadian Alliance Party, forming the Conservative Party of Canada that was not as conservative as it was at its founding.
Often, elected officials are required to implement their parties’ manifesto once in office. However, politics in many countries, just like Canada, have turned into perennial smear attack campaigns. Political parties, on many occasions, have turned political parties into a slandering and attacking their opponents and sabotaging each other instead of using that opportunity to sell their plan to potential voters. The political parties in Canada are on the decline. Research shows that new political parties are dying. They are highly influenced by the media, unions, and business groups. They are to be replaced by the parliamentary caucuses, and people are keen to explore other forms of representation other than one based on universal suffrage. Nowadays, policy forums are poorly attended, and elections are no longer a topic of discussion among party members, according to Alan Heisley. According to Donald Savoy, most party members no longer waste time on the policy. How to adapt the old ideas of political marketeering to the new realities of social media, Trudeau used viral video clips or poignant photos.
Categorizing Canadas party system
Since the 1990s, there has been a shift in favour of party leaders. The party leader thus becomes an institution that determines how the rest of the party members are likely to vote on important issues. The parties have also increasingly moved towards some form of direct representation with parties holding policy conventions where most of the decisions the party elected officials are expected to take are discussed and agreed. It is, however, not sure whether elected officials can be held accountable for such commitments.
Political parties are essential for the health and maturity of democracy in Canada. Emphasis has been put on social justice with an equal and inclusive culture. Many consider Canada as a stable democracy. The autonomy of political parties ought to be maintained because they determine the political competitions, which is a hallmark of a stable democracy. Canada can thus be best described as asocial democracy given that the Prime Ministers party and the majority of the parties support social and human rights policies. The New Democratic Party (NDP) epitomizes the political stand of parties in Canada being formerly left-wing but has, in the recent past, demonstrated to adhere to democratic socialism. Emphasis has been put on social justice with an equal and inclusive culture. Many consider Canada as a stable democracy.
Conclusion
Political parties, as have been known, are undergoing many changes due to the disruption that has emerged from social media and changes in the global community. In Canada, leaders who have managed to wade the storm, such as the current prime minister, have emerged on top. Leadership has turned out to be an essential determinant in the future of political parties in Canada.
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