Political Leaders: Canada

Leaders of Canada

[To the list of countries]
[To the ZPC Homepage]

Look for biographies of the leaders (in Spanish) at CIDOB website. A set of lists providing the rulers of the provinces and territories are available at the site Rulers as Part I and Part II.

Note: the British Monarch is the head of the State and is represented by a Governor-General.

Current parties: ADQ: Action Démocratique du Québec; BQ: Bloc Québécois; CPC: Conservative Party of Canada; LP: Liberal Party of Canada; NDP: New Democratic Party; PQ: Parti Québécois; PLQ: Parti Libéral du Québec;

Late parties: CA: Canadian (Reform Conservative) Alliance (> CPC); CCF: Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (> NDP); CLC: Canadian Labour Congress (> NDP); MSA: Mouvement Souveraineté-Association (> PQ); PC: Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (> CPC); RP: Reform Party (> CA); RN: Ralliement National (> PQ)

Prime Ministers

William Lyon Mackenzie King  23 Oct 1935 - 15 Nov 1948 (+1950) LP
Louis Stephen Saint Laurent  15 Nov 1948 - 21 Jun 1957 (+1973) LP
John George Diefenbaker      21 Jun 1957 - 22 Apr 1963 (+1979) PC
Lester Bowles Pearson        22 Apr 1963 - 20 Apr 1968 (+1972) LP
Pierre Elliott Trudeau       20 Apr 1968 -  4 Jun 1979 (+2000) LP
Charles Joseph (Joe) Clark    4 Jun 1979 -  3 Mar 1980         PC
Pierre Elliott Trudeau        3 Mar 1980 - 30 Jun 1984 (+2000) LP
John Napier Turner           30 Jun 1984 - 17 Sep 1984         LP
Martin Brian Mulroney        17 Sep 1984 - 25 Jun 1993         PC
Avril Phaedra (Kim) Campbell 25 Jun 1993 -  4 Nov 1993         PC
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien  4 Nov 1993 - 12 Dec 2003         LP
Paul Joseph Martin (Jr.)     12 Dec 2003 -  6 Feb 2006         LP
Stephen Joseph Harper         6 Feb 2006 -                     CPC

Governors-General

Augustus A. G. Cambridge 
 (Earl of Athlone)           21 Jun 1940 - 12 Apr 1946 (+1957) 
Harold Alexander (Viscount 
 Alexander of Tunis)         12 Apr 1946 - 28 Feb 1952 (+1969) 
Vincent Massey               28 Feb 1952 - 15 Sep 1959 (+1967) 
George Philias Vanier        15 Sep 1959 -  5 Mar 1967 (+1967) 
Daniel Roland Michener       17 Apr 1967 - 14 Jan 1974 (+1991) 
Jules Léger                  14 Jan 1974 - 22 Jan 1979 (+1980) 
Edward Richard Schreyer      22 Jan 1979 - 14 May 1984         
Jeanne Sauvé                 14 May 1984 - 29 Jan 1990 (+1993) 
Ramon John (Ray) Hnatyshyn   29 Jan 1990 -  8 Feb 1995 (+2002) 
Roméo LeBlanc                 8 Feb 1995 -  7 Oct 1999         
Adrienne Clarkson             7 Oct 1999 - 27 Sep 2005         
Michaëlle Jean               27 Sep 2005 -

(Source: Rulers, by Ben Schemmel)

Ministers of Foreign Affairs

William Lyon Mackenzie King  1935-1946 (+1950) LP
Louis Stephen Saint Laurent  1946-1948 (+1973) LP
Lester Bowles Pearson        1948-1957 (+1972) LP
John George Diefenbaker      1957      (+1979) PC
Sidney Earle Smith           1957-1959 (+)     PC
Howard Charles Green         1959-1963 (+1989) PC
Paul Joseph Martin (Sr.)     1963-1968 (+1992) LP
Mitchell William Sharp       1968-1974 (+2004) LP
Allan Joseph MacEachen       1974-1976         LP
Donald Campbell Jamieson     1976-1979 (+1986) LP
Flora Isabel MacDonald       1979-1980         PC
Mark MacGuigan               1980-1982 (+1998) LP
Allan Joseph MacEachen       1982-1984         LP
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien 1984              LP
Charles Joseph (Joe) Clark   1984-1991         PC
Barbara Jean McDougall       1991-1993         PC
André Ouellet                1993-1996         LP
Lloyd Norman Axworthy        1996-2000         LP
John Paul Manley             2000-2002         LP
William (Bill) Graham        2002-2004         LP
Pierre Stewart Pettigrew     2004-2006         LP 
Peter Gordon MacKay          2006-2007         CPC
Maxime Bernier               2007-2008         CPC
David Emerson                2008              CPC 
Lawrence Cannon              2008-

(Source: Rulers, by Ben Schemmel)

Speakers of the House of Commons

Gaspard Fauteux              1945-1949 (+1963) LP
William Ross Macdonald       1949-1953 (+1976) LP 
Louis-René Beaudoin          1953-1957 (+1970) LP
Daniel Roland Michener       1957-1962 (+1991) PC 
Marcel Joseph Aimé Lambert   1962-1963 (+2000) PC
Alan Aylesworth Macnaughton  1963-1966 (+1999) LP 
Lucien Lamoureux             1966-1974 (+1998) LP 
James Alexander Jerome       1974-1979         LP 
Jeanne Sauvé                 1980-1984 (+1993) LP
Cyril Lloyd Francis          1984              LP 
John William Bosley          1984-1986         PC 
John Allen Fraser            1986-1994         PC 
Gilbert Parent               1994-2001         LP
Peter Stewart Milliken       2001-             LP

Speakers of the Senate

James Horace King            1945-1948 (+1955) LP
Elie Beauregard              1949-1953 (+1954) LP
Wishart McLea Robertson      1953-1957 (+1967) LP
Mark Robert Drouin           1957-1962 (+1963) PC
George Stanley White         1962-1963 (+1977) PC
Maurice Bourget              1963-1966 (+1979) LP
Sydney John Smith            1966-1968 (+1976) LP
Jean-Paul Deschatelets       1968-1972 (+1986) LP 
Muriel McQueen Fergusson     1972-1974 (+1997) LP
Louise Marguerite Lapointe   1974-1979 (+2002) LP
Allister Grosart             1979-1980 (+1984) PC
Jean Marchand                1980-1983 (+1988) LP
Maurice Riel                 1983-1984         LP
Guy Charbonneau              1984-1993 (+1998) PC
Roméo Leblanc                1993-1994 (+2009) LP
Gildas Molgat                1994-2001 (+2001) LP
Daniel Philip Hays           2001-2006         LP
Noël Kinsella                2006-             CPC

Leaders of LP

William Lyon Mackenzie King  1919-1948 (+1950) 
Louis Stephen Saint Laurent  1948-1958 (+1973) 
Lester Bowles Pearson        1958-1968 (+1972) 
Pierre Elliott Trudeau       1968-1984 (+2000) 
John Napier Turner           1984-1990         
Herbert Eser (Herb) Gray     1990              (interim)    
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien 1990-2003         
Paul Joseph Martin (Jr.)     2003-2006         
William (Bill) Graham        2006              (interim) 
Stéphane Maurice Dion        2006-2008
Michael Ignatieff            2008-             (interim)

Leaders of PC (1867-2003)

John Bracken                 1942-1948 (+1969) 
George Alexander Drew        1948-1956 (+1973) 
John George Diefenbaker      1956-1967 (+1979) 
Robert Lorne Stanfield       1967-1976         
Charles Joseph (Joe) Clark   1976-1983         
Erik Nielsen                 1983      (+2008) (interim)
Martin Brian Mulroney        1983-1993         
Avril Phaedra (Kim) Campbell 1993              
Jean James Charest           1993-1998         
Elsie Wayne                  1998              (interim)
Charles Joseph (Joe) Clark   1998-2003         
Peter Gordon MacKay          2003

The PC ceased to exist on 8 Dec 2003 as it merged with the CA. Nevertheless, on 9 Jan 2004 a group of members opposed to the merger filed application to register a new party called as the old one: the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Leaders of RP and CA (1987-2003)

Ernest Preston Manning       1987-2000         
Deborah Grey                 2000              (interim)
Stockwell Burt Day           2000-2001         
John Douglas Reynolds        2001-2002         (interim)
Stephen Joseph Harper        2002-2003

The RP, founded on 31 Oct 1987, was disbanded and replaced by the new CA on 25 Mar 2000. The CA ceased to exist on 8 Dec 2003 in the merger with the PC and the registration of the new CPC.

Leaders of CPC

John Lynch-Staunton          2003-2004         (interim)
Stephen Joseph Harper        2004-

The CPC was registered on 8 Dec 2003 as the merger of the PC and the CA.

Leaders of CCF and NDP

Major James Coldwell         1942-1960 (+1974)
Hazen Argue                  1960-1961 (+1991)     
Thomas Clement Douglas       1961-1971 (+1986)
David Lewis                  1971-1975 (+1980)
John Edward (Ed) Broadbent   1975-1989         
Audrey McLaughlin            1989-1995         
Alexa McDonough              1995-2003         
John Gilbert (Jack) Layton   2003-

The NDP was founded on 17 Jun 1961 as the merger of the CCF (founded 1932) and the CLC.

Leaders of BQ

Lucien Bouchard              1990-1996         
Gilles Duceppe               1996              (interim) 
Michel Gauthier              1996-1997         
Gilles Duceppe               1997-

The BQ started on 25 Jul 1990 as an informal coalition of members of PC and LP. It registered as a party on 11 Sep 1993.

Presidents of PQ

René Lévesque                1968-1985 (+1987) 
Pierre-Marc Johnson          1985-1988         
Jacques Parizeau             1988-1996         
Lucien Bouchard              1996-2001         
Jean-Bernard Landry          2001-2005         
André Boisclair              2005-2007         
François Gendron             2007              (interim)
Pauline Marois               2007-

The PQ was born on 11 Oct 1968 as the merger of MSA and RN.

Leaders of PLQ

Joseph-Adélard Godbout       1936-1950 (+1956) 
Georges-Émile Lapalme        1950-1958 (+1985) 
Jean Lesage                  1958-1970 (+1980) 
Robert Bourassa              1970-1976 (+1996)
Gérard Levesque              1976-1978 (+1993) (interim)
Claude Ryan                  1978-1982 (+2004) 
Gérard Levesque              1982-1983 (+1993) (interim)
Robert Bourassa              1983-1993 (+1996)
Daniel Johnson               1993-1998         
Jean James Charest           1998-

Leaders of ADQ

Jean Allaire                 1994              
Mario Dumont                 1994-

The ADQ was founded in Jan 1994 by splinters of the PLQ.

[To the list of countries]