Reform Party of Canada Parti réformiste du Canada | |
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Founder | Preston Manning |
Founded | October 30, 1987 |
Dissolved | March 27, 2000 |
Succeeded by | Canadian Alliance |
Ideology | |
Political position | Right-wing |
Colours | Green |
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in Canada |
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The Reform Party of Canada (French: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist[1][2] and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest movement that eventually became a populist conservative party, with strong Christian right influence and social conservative elements. It was initially motivated by the perceived need for democratic reforms and by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party).
Led by its founder Preston Manning throughout its existence, Reform was considered a populist movement that rapidly gained popularity and momentum in Western Canada. In 1989, the party won its first-ever seat in the House of Commons before making a major electoral breakthrough in the 1993 federal election, when it successfully supplanted the PCs as the largest conservative party in Canada. In opposition, the party advocated for spending restraint, tax cuts, restrictions on immigration, and wider reform of Canada's political institutions. The party also generated controversy for statements made by its members on immigration, LGBT issues and Quebec. In the 1997 federal election, the party attempted to make a national breakthrough by running candidates in all provinces and territories. Although they became the Official Opposition, a Liberal victory and disappointment with the lack of Eastern seats led many members to question the future direction of the party.
In an attempt to move beyond its Western Canadian regionalist base and broaden the party's platform in order to encompass ideas from Eastern Canada, the party changed its name to the Canadian Alliance in 2000, which merged with the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003 to form the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada.
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