Canadian Alliance Party
|
Canadian Alliance
Alliance canadienne |
|
|---|---|
| Former federal party | |
 |
|
| Founded | March 27, 2000 |
| Dissolved | December 7, 2003 |
| Preceded by | Reform Party of Canada |
| Merged into | Conservative Party of Canada |
| Ideology |
Conservatism (Canadian) Blue Toryism Right-wing populism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Green and Blue |
The Canadian Alliance (French: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (French: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a conservative and right-wing populist federal political party in Canada that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held it throughout its existence. The party supported policies that were both fiscally and socially conservative, seeking reduced government spending on social programs and reductions in taxation.
The Alliance was created out of the United Alternative initiative launched by the Reform Party of Canada and several provincial Tory parties as a vehicle to merge with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The federal Progressive Conservative Party rebuffed the initiative to "unite the right" in the late fall of 1998 when it elected Joe Clark as its leader. In December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties voted to disband and merge into the Conservative Party of Canada.
The Canadian Alliance's origins were in the Reform Party of Canada, which was founded in 1987 as a populist party supporting Western Canadian interests. However, soon after its formation it moved sharply to the right and became a populist conservative (largely socially conservative) party. Initially, the Reform Party was motivated by the perceived need for democratic reforms and by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. Led by its founder Preston Manning, the Reform Party rapidly gained momentum in western Canada and sought to expand its base in the east. Manning, son of longtime Alberta Premier Ernest Manning, gained support partly from the same political constituency as his father's old party, the Alberta Social Credit Party.
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