As industrialize was growing in Canada concerns that foreign manufactures, mainly the U.S., would make it impossible for Canadian factories to compete with them. So the Canadian government passed the National Policy. This policy called for high tariffs on imports with the intent of helping factories in central Canada. This policy was well received in central Canada, but not favored in western Canada. Western farmers were dissatisfied that because of the National Policy,they were forced to buy equipment at higher prices, but sell grain at competitive prices on the international market. After a free trade policy failed in 1911, western farmers started aggressively adopting new political ideologies. There was interest in the European socialist Fabian Society, from the United States the socialist Non-Partisan League and of course progressivism. After World War 1 when the Canadian Government passed a budget that seemly neglected the farmers, the farmers across Canada began to organize politically. In 1919 these political organizations, largely called the “United Farmers”, had won many by-elections and even the Ontario Provincial election, but still lack an unifying national body. Then Thomas Crerar the minister of agriculture, resigned, and in 1920 with help from his supporters founded the Progressive Party of Canada.
Initially, the Progressive Party received strong support nationally. Winning 58 of 235 seats in 1921, the Progressive Party was gaining support of ex-member of the Liberal Party. Then disagreements arose on the direction of the party, prompting Crerar to resign as party leader. This ultimately leaded to the demise of the Progressive Party. In 1922 Robert Forke was named leader of the party. Forke, concentrated campaigning in western Canada which caused big losses in seats from central and eastern Canada. Party infighting also continued to grow when the more radical progressives broke away from the party in 1924 to form the socialistic Ginger Group. Forke resigned in 1926, and the party remained without a national leader and continued to lose national support until the party dissolved in 1930’s. Many members returned support to the Liberal Party which made the Liberals Canada’s most powerful political party. The more extreme members, such as the Ginger Group and the United Farmers, formed the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation(later to be renamed the New Democratic Party of Canada). Provincially the progressives were losing influence as well. Most provinces that had been strongly in favour of the progressives shifted support to the provincial CCF parties. The Manitoba Progressives were the longest lasting of the provincial progressive parties.
Having trouble gaining support and desperate to unseat the federal Liberals, the National Conservative Party, in 1942, persuaded Progressive Manitoba Premier John Bracken to hold leadership of the conservatives. Bracken accepted on the condition that the party change its name to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The Conservatives agreed, but it didn’t have the effect that they hoped for. Progressives continued to join the Federal Liberals and the CCF and the Conservatives would not form the government again until 1958.
Progressivism, just like it did in the U.S., was able to root itself into all the major political parties in Canada. Going back to Part 1 of this series this answers the question on why all these different parties end up doing the same thing in the end. The main difference between these parities is the rate and degree they progress to left wing politics. So now that we know where they come from, next we will look on how they sifted the mainstream of our culture to the left.
Next: Part IV March 17, 2010
Sources:
Wikipedia
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