Reform Party of Canada

The Reform Party of Canada (French: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest movement that eventually became a populist conservative party, with strong social conservative and fiscal conservative elements. It was initially motivated by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) government of Brian Mulroney. Led by its founder Preston Manning throughout its existence, Reform was considered a populist movement that rapidly gained popularity and momentum in Western Canada during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to attracting social conservatives, the party was popular among Western Canadians who were disillusioned with Mulroney's perceived prioritization of Quebec (during his attempts to reform the Constitution) as well as fiscal conservatives who were critical of the Mulroney government's tax increases and inability to reduce the budget deficit. In a 1989 by-election, Reform won its first-ever seat in the House of Commons before making a major electoral breakthrough in the 1993 federal election, when it supplanted the PCs as the largest conservative party in Canada. In opposition, the party advocated for spending restraint, tax cuts, reductions in immigration, and wider reform of Canada's political institutions such as the Senate. In the 1997 federal election, the party attempted to make a national breakthrough by running candidates in all provinces and territories. Although they became the Official Opposition, a Liberal majority and disappointment with the lack of Eastern seats led many members to question the future direction of the party. In an attempt to move beyond its Western Canadian regional base and broaden its platform to encompass ideas from Eastern Canada, the party changed its name to the Canadian Alliance in 2000. That same year, the Alliance lost an election to a third Liberal majority. In 2003, the Unite the Right movement culminated in the Alliance merging with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada. Reform's impact on the Conservative Party's leaders and policies has been significant; three of its four permanent leaders were once Reform Party members.