The Tory Tradition In Canada

It should also be remembered that, until 1963, the Liberal Party – especially under the very long-serving Prime Ministers, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Mackenzie King -- on most issues solidly embraced the "traditionalist-centrist" consensus. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the pre-1960s precursor to the New Democratic Party (NDP) (Canada's social democratic "third party") while emphatically social-democratic in economics was, to a large extent, socially conservative, mostly upholding traditional notions of nation, family, and religion. Thus, it could be argued that the absolutely critical Canadian elections – when it really mattered whether Liberals or Conservatives prevailed – occurred in 1963 to 1980.

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Great research on the history of Canadian Conservatism in the last few decades. 4 parts have been posted so far on Free Dominion with more to come next week. As we discuss the future of Conservatism in Canada, it's worth looking back over the past to see what went wrong.