Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada Parti libéral du Canada
Leader	Mark Carney
Deputy Leader	Mark Gerretsen
President	Suzanne Cowan
Founder	George Brown
Founded	1867; 158 years ago (1867)
Preceded by	Clear Grits, Parti rouge
Headquarters	Constitution Square, Ottawa, Ontario
Youth wing	Young Liberals of Canada
Ideology	Liberalism Social liberalism[1][2][3][4]
Political position	Centre[5][6] to centre-left[7][8]
International affiliation	Liberal International[9]
Colours	Red
Party members in the Senate[note 1]	0 / 105
Seats in the House of Commons	153 / 338
Website
liberal.ca
Political parties

The Liberal Party of Canada (French: Parti libéral du Canada) is a political party in Canada. The party is considered to be centre to centre-left. The party was the Official Opposition after it lost the 2006 election, until the NDP became the Official Opposition in 2011. They won the election in 2015. The current party leader is the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Provincial and territorial parties

Every provinces and one territory in Canada have its own Liberal Party. However, only the parties in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island are part of the federal Liberal Party. Some of the other provincial parties might have very similar political ideologies but they are different political parties. These parties might have different members and different funding.^[11]

Affiliated provincial parties, current seats, and leaders

Party	Seats/Total	Leader	Status
New Brunswick Liberal Association	21 / 49	Kevin Vickers	Official Opposition
Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador	20 / 40	Dwight Ball	Minority government
Nova Scotia Liberal Party	27 / 51	Stephen McNeil	Majority government
Prince Edward Island Liberal Party	6 / 27	Robert Mitchell	Third Party

List of leaders

Leaders

No.	Portrait	Name	Term start	Term end	Date of birth	Date of death	Notes
—		George Brown	1867	1867	November 29, 1818	May 9, 1880	Unofficial (The leader of the Clear Grits, a forerunner of the federal Liberal Party)
—		Edward Blake	1869	1870	October 13, 1834	March 1, 1912	Unofficial
1		Alexander Mackenzie	March 6, 1873	April 27, 1880	January 28, 1822	April 17, 1892	2nd Prime Minister (1st Liberal Prime Minister)
2		Edward Blake	May 4, 1880	June 2, 1887	October 13, 1833	March 1, 1912
3		Wilfrid Laurier	June 23, 1887	February 17, 1919	November 20, 1841	February 17, 1919	7th Prime Minister
—		Daniel Duncan McKenzie	February 17, 1919	August 7, 1919	January 8, 1859	June 8, 1927	Interim leader
4		William Lyon Mackenzie King	August 7, 1919	August 7, 1948	December 17, 1874	July 22, 1950	10th Prime Minister
5		Louis St. Laurent	August 7, 1948	January 16, 1958	February 1, 1882	July 25, 1973	12th Prime Minister
6		Lester B. Pearson	January 16, 1958	April 6, 1968	April 23, 1897	December 27, 1972	14th Prime Minister
7		Pierre Trudeau	April 6, 1968	June 16, 1984	October 18, 1919	September 28, 2000	15th Prime Minister
8		John Turner	June 16, 1984	June 23, 1990	June 7, 1929	September 18, 2020	17th Prime Minister
9		Jean Chrétien	June 23, 1990	November 14, 2003	January 11, 1934	living	20th Prime Minister
10		Paul Martin	November 14, 2003	March 19, 2006	August 28, 1938	living	21st Prime Minister
—		Bill Graham	March 19, 2006	December 2, 2006	March 17, 1939	August 7, 2022	Interim leader, Leader of the Opposition
11		Stéphane Dion	December 2, 2006	December 10, 2008	September 28, 1955	living	Leader of the Opposition
12		Michael Ignatieff	December 10, 2008	May 25, 2011	May 12, 1947	living	Interim leader until May 2, 2009 (when ratified as leader), Leader of the Opposition
—		Bob Rae	May 25, 2011	April 14, 2013	August 2, 1948	living	Interim leader
13		Justin Trudeau	April 14, 2013	March 9, 2025	December 25, 1971	living	23rd Prime Minister
14		Mark Carney	March 9, 2025	Incumbent	March 16, 1965	living	24th Prime Minister

Source: ^[12]

Notes

1. All Liberal senators were expelled from the party's parliamentary caucus in 2014. Remaining senators appointed by Liberal prime ministers sit as the Senate Liberal Caucus, which is not affiliated to or recognised by the Liberal Party.^[10]

References

1. The party became infused with social liberalism in the 1940s and 1950s. Law Commission of Canada (2011). Law and Citizenship. UBC Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780774840798.
2. Susan Prentice, "Manitoba's childcare regime: Social liberalism in flux". Canadian Journal of Sociology 29.2 (2004): 193-207.
3. Michael J. Prince, "Canadian disability activism and political ideas: In and between neo-liberalism and social liberalism". Canadian Journal of Disability Studies 1.1 (2012): 1-34.
4. Smith, Miriam (2005). "Social Movements and Judicial Empowerment: Courts, Public Policy, and Lesbian and Gay Organizing in Canada". Politics & Society. 33 (2): 327–353. doi:10.1177/0032329205275193. S2CID 154613468.
5. Amanda Bittner; Royce Koop (1 March 2013). Parties, Elections, and the Future of Canadian Politics. UBC Press. pp. 300–. ISBN 978-0-7748-2411-8.
6. Andrea Olive (2015). The Canadian Environment in Political Context. University of Toronto Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-4426-0871-9.
7. David Rayside (2011). Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity in Canada and the United States. UBC Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-7748-2011-0.
8. Richard Collin; Pamela L. Martin (2012). An Introduction to World Politics: Conflict and Consensus on a Small Planet. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4422-1803-1.
9. "Liberal Party of Canada Welcomes Liberal International to 2009 Convention". Liberal Party of Canada. March 6, 2009. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
10. Spencer, Christina (29 January 2014). "Justin Trudeau kicks all 32 Liberal senators out of caucus in bid for reform". National Post. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. Dyck, Rand (2012). Canadian Politics: Concise Fifth Edition. Nelson Education. pp. 217, 229. ISBN 978-0176503437.
12. "Profile: Liberal Party of Canada". Parlinfo. Library of Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2025.

Other websites

• Official website
• Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957
• Laws Relating to Labor: Record of the Liberal Government on Labor Regulation; A Progressive Policy in Which Ontario Leads
• Tory vs. Liberal legislation! in favor of the workers of Canada: a comparison / (Workingman)
• Includes various Liberal party publications from the 19th and 20th centuries