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The Four Political Parties of Canada

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The Four Political Parties of Canada
The Four Political Parties of Canada

In a country as vast and as culturally diverse as Canada, many different political opinions can be found stretched across the country. From the affluent neighbourhoods of West Vancouver to the small fishing towns located on the east coast of Newfoundland, political opinions and affiliations range from the left wing to the right wing. To represent these varying political views, Canada has four official national political parties to choose from: the Liberals (who are currently in power), the Progressive Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the
Reform Party. What is particularly interesting is that none of the latter three parties compose Her Majesty 's Official Opposition in the House of Commons. The
Bloc Quebecois, a Quebec separatist party who only ran candidates in the province of Quebec in the last federal election in 1993, won 54 seats in that province, and claimed the title of Her Majesty 's Loyal Opposition over the
Reform Party, who garnered only 52 seats. Because the Bloc ran candidates only in Quebec, it would be difficult to think of them being a national political party, even though they hold a significant number of seats in the national legislature. This paper will examine the significant early history of Canada 's four main national political parties, and then will analyse their current state, referring to recent major political victories/disasters, and the comparison of major economic policy standpoints, which will ultimately lead to a prediction of which party will win the next federal election in Canada. Starting on the far left, there is the New Democratic Party of Canada.
Today 's modern New Democratic Party was originally called the Co-operative
Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and was founded in 1932. Originally led by a man by the name of James Shaver Woodsworth, the CCF was formed by several radical farming groups who found out that they had more similarities with each other than just their



Bibliography: (1996) A Fresh Start for Canadians [Online]. Available: http://www.reform.ca/FreshStart/summary.html [1997, Feb.25]. Guy, John J. People, Politics and Government. Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 1995. Harrison, Trevor. Of Passionate Intensity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995. (1996) Liberal Party of Canada [Online]. Available: http://www.liberal.ca/english2/policy/red_book/chapter1.html [1997, Feb.25]. Macquarrie, Heath. The Conservative Party. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1965. McMenemy, John, Winn, Conrad. Political Parties in Canada. Montreal: McGraw- Hill Ryerson, 1976. Morton, Desmond. The New Democrats, 1961-1986. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., 1986. (1996) New Democrats of Canada [Online]. Available: http://www.fed.ndp.ca/fndp/fairtaxnow.html [1997, Feb.25]. Ottawa, 1997. (1996) Progressive Conservative Youth [Online]. Available: http://www.openface.ca/PCU/library4.html [1997, Feb.25].

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