Canadian Alliance

The Canadian Alliance (French: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (French: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the Reform Party of Canada and inherited many of its populist policies, as well as its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons of Canada. The party supported policies that were both fiscally and socially conservative, seeking reduced government spending on social programs and reductions in taxation. The Alliance resulted from 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 led by Joe Clark in the late fall of 1998 rejected the initiative to "unite the right." After the Alliance led by Stockwell Day was defeated and a third consecutive Liberal majority government was won in the 2000 federal election, talks reopened and in December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties finally voted to merge into the Conservative Party of Canada.